any heating-air pros on here?

henapple

I'm wanting to tap into the upstairs unit and drop a vent into the cave. Not to heat it...just to help.

JRWhitee

Isn't Husker in that line of business?

SGH

@henapple‌
Give @NPHuskerFL‌ a shout. He is a expert in that field. I'm more than sure that he can help.

Little Steven

How many amps does it draw?

dldawes1

Just wanting to add a 8" flex duct or what do you have in mind??

jhl192

Consider a infrared heater. Works for up to 1000sq ft. It won't steal heat from upstairs and only heats when you want it to.

Little Steven

I agree. Not only will it not steal hot air but it won't screw up the cold air return.

Skiddymarker

Little Steven said:

I agree. Not only will it not steal hot air but it won't screw up the cold air return.

Just like an egg, air out=air in, can't vent heat into a room unless you have a return. It is very hard to drive heat down, unless you have in plenum fans. I like the infrared heater idea as suggested by @jhl192. 

lkapigian

I can help 35 years HVAC in Ca professional member HVAC Talk . Com The cave is the basement? Common to the house?

Eggcelsior

In terms of heaters, I grabbed one at Costco to protect my pipes after my freezing incident last winter. It has ceramic coils and works quite well. I'll look it up once I get home.

henapple

lkapigian said:

I can help 35 years HVAC in Ca professional member HVAC Talk . Com

The cave is the basement? Common to the house?

No its just a single car drinking area...er, cooking area. I use a double propane heater that does great when I'm there. I just want something safe to keep it above freezing. It's insulated but the 20 degree and below will freeze things sometimes. Gratefully, not the Woodford.

lkapigian

If it's separate from the house, I say no, as there is no way to replace the air your using. Your house will go negative and infiltration will increase pulling ambient into the house....can you post a picture of the area

henapple

Reworking my "kitchen"...

SmokeyPitt

They make these little guys with thermostats so you could just set it for like 40-50 degrees when you are not there. 

http://www.lowes.com/pd_538731-70250-LS-8WIQH-LB-IN_4294765336__

henapple

lkapigian said:

If it's separate from the house, I say no, as there is no way to replace the air your using. Your house will go negative and infiltration will increase pulling ambient into the house....can you post a picture of the area

Even with a damper?

henapple

SmokeyPitt said:

They make these little guys with thermostats so you could just set it for like 40-50 degrees when you are not there. 

http://www.lowes.com/pd_538731-70250-LS-8WIQH-LB-IN_4294765336__

Can't open

lkapigian

Sweet.....is it all exposed?....first easy thought is a suspended unit heater if you have natural gas, I also have a 50kbtu Dayton Radiant heater made for hanging you can have...you can hook that to a stat as long as you have natural gas

lkapigian

That's a single car garage?.... You could add a supply and return from the main unit, I still would not recommend that unless fully enclosed....if that is a single car garage, perfect application for a ductless mini unless your running well below freezing... Other options are nat gas direct vent wall heater you can get from the big box stores

lkapigian

henapple said:

If it's separate from the house, I say no, as there is no way to replace the air your using. Your house will go negative and infiltration will increase pulling ambient into the house....can you post a picture of the area

Even with a damper?

I see it done all the time, and it is always at some expense. Yes you can do it with a damper ( I'd go electric) but if you don't add a return and that door is closed your house will go negative which will affect the draft of combustion appliances in your home

dldawes1

Does the door to the cave that goes into the rest of the house get opened/stay open when you are not in the cave?  This would eliminate the pressure issue from running a dampered duct to the room. ( I think). 

sumoconnell

If you have beans in your chili you can blue flame the place. )

henapple

lkapigian said:

That's a single car garage?.... You could add a supply and return from the main unit, I still would not recommend that unless fully enclosed....if that is a single car garage, perfect application for a ductless mini unless your running well below freezing... Other options are nat gas direct vent wall heater you can get from the big box stores

It is enclosed. ..speak in terms like I'm stupid...I'm not sure why running an extra vent with a damper will affect the unit. I have gas but the only house petro we have is propane.

lkapigian

My apologies @henapple ........the reason I asked is that if we are taking air from a separate area and not returning the same amount of air we took. The area we took the air from goes negative. You can certainly add a supply, and if a door to the house is not open to return the air, you may want to consider adding a return.. If you do keep the door from the house closed add a supply and return with a simple 24 volt spring open damper so you can throw a switch or install a thermostat I certainly meant no offense, again my apologies @henapple

travisstrick

Call an hvac guy in Alaska. They know how to do it.

SmokeyPitt

henapple said:

SmokeyPitt said:

They make these little guys with thermostats so you could just set it for like 40-50 degrees when you are not there. 

http://www.lowes.com/pd_538731-70250-LS-8WIQH-LB-IN_4294765336__

Can't open

Lets try that again


http://m.lowes.com/pd/LifeSmart-Infrared-Cabinet-Electric-Space-Heater-with-Thermostat/50094538

NPHuskerFL

Just for shits and grins. Sorry I didn't see the thread I was working in a factory all day with no reception. I've read what the goal is... Don't want to freeze nads off while drinking PBR and egging in the garage. Without reinventing the wheel. After reading responses and understanding you use LP for heat. You could achieve this several ways which honestly sounds like all of them have been suggested. But, here I'll try to weigh in. »»»Most upfront cost out of pocket mini split. But, they work extremely well but, I'm not getting the sense you want to drop several $K on this.
»»»If dropping a supply in the room I'd definitely want a return»»» I did this for a gentleman for his garage (he has a 21SEER heat pump///not gas) long story short we installed a 8" supply and 8" return on a 2ndary 45VA transformer which was installed into the air handler and so long as the unit was already running he would get air or heat. Installed 2 dampers (one on each duct). The dampers we chose for this application were spring close power open and had I believe a less than 2% bleed by . You could install a digital Tstat to control or go ultra cheap like he did and use a light switch or very genetic toggle switch.
»»»If AC is of no concern (it is here in FL but, maybe not there) then a radiant heat unit wouldn't be a bad fit and they make them in Nat or LP gas.

SkinnyV

Skiddymarker said:

Little Steven said:

I agree. Not only will it not steal hot air but it won't screw up the cold air return.

Just like an egg, air out=air in, can't vent heat into a room unless you have a return. It is very hard to drive heat down, unless you have in plenum fans. I like the infrared heater idea as suggested by @jhl192. 

Is this true? I have a register in the basement on the ceiling and it drives down the heat just fine...the room gets so hot we actually keep it closed. There is no return air I can see, the furnace is in the room right next door so is the air it grabs on while it runs count as the return?

We have 2 returns upstairs and that's all I see.

NPHuskerFL

If it's just going to be used for heat and you have no desire for AC in the space then I'd probably look at radiant heat. Whether it be a portable type unit shown from Lowe's or a permanent hanging mounted unit.

NPHuskerFL

SkinnyV said:

Skiddymarker said:

Little Steven said:

I agree. Not only will it not steal hot air but it won't screw up the cold air return.

Just like an egg, air out=air in, can't vent heat into a room unless you have a return. It is very hard to drive heat down, unless you have in plenum fans. I like the infrared heater idea as suggested by @jhl192. 

Is this true? I have a register in the basement on the ceiling and it drives down the heat just fine...the room gets so hot we actually keep it closed. There is no return air I can see, the furnace is in the room right next door so is the air it grabs on while it runs count as the return?

We have 2 returns upstairs and that's all I see.

It may be/have a free draw return vs a ducted return.

grege345

I took a piece of paper and put it on top of my return and it sucked fast to the grate. Added another return and it eased up quite a bit.

nolaegghead

220 volt radiant heater ceiling mounted with a remote thermostat and a ceiling fan.  Don't F with gas or your HVAC system.  220 volt is more efficient, although you could do it with 120 volt.  You're welcome.