Browse Forums Heating, Cooling & Insulation 1 Jun 11, 2009 8:32 pm Greetings All, I have been searching around the forum but can't find anything to help our situation. We currently live in a house that has the living /dining on the lower level and three bedrooms on a second level. Currently we are trying to heat the house with a combustion heater and reverse cycle air conditioner, which is located on the lower level. The problem is that we can't heat the lower level to a comfortable level and the heat does on transfer up into the second level. I should add for completness that it is not a double story; ie bedrooms on top of living, but the living is on the lower level and the bedrooms on top of a garage which is along side the living area. At the moment we have to rely on electricity as there is no natural gas in our estate, and its not on the horizon to be offered. So the question I raise is what would be the best and most efficient way to heat the ice box that we are living in. Can gas central heating work on bottled gas or do we have to rely on electricity. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Re: Heating Advice 3Jun 12, 2009 7:10 pm As Carmel said, ducted space heating or blow heating which heats the air will always send the heat up the stairs, you need a radiant heat source on the ground floor to make this work (Or block off the stairs). Hydronic radiators would work, oil filled radiators, night storage heaters (cheapest method) - or simple bar heaters. Ed "ECOECO" At 'EcoEco', we design windows, we design the best windows, we do it for you, so that when you’re happy we are happy. Tel. 1800 326 326 Re: Heating Advice 4Jun 12, 2009 9:43 pm I will probably have the same issue as I will be building a 2 storey house this year sometime. Does anyone know what kind of heating works well in 2 storey homes? Its kinda open-plan so I'd assume that the heat will go upwards and dont really want this to happen. I dont want to block off the stairs, so that cant be an option... Any ideas? Re: Heating Advice 5Jun 12, 2009 10:36 pm We have lived in a "tri level" house for 15 years. We have an Osburn 2400 wood heater, and also a portable gas heater which we rarely use. Our climate is very col in winter (lows of -8 degc), and largely we live in t-shirts in winter, and the kids are forever kicking their blankets off. Our house has family room and garage on lower level, and bedrooms above. Middle level has entry, kitchen, and casual dining. Also formal lounge and dining but this is closed off with doors. All other is open plan. We dont have any forced circulation because the design is good for day and night living. If forced circulation to even the "whole of house" temp is required this is simply a matter of getting inline fans installed from upper to lower levels. you may lose some wardrobe or other pace to do it but it would work. BTW. we just sold our house, and are now looking for a dryer. the wood heater dries all the clothes overnight in the upper gallery. And its low cost heating. Re: Heating Advice 6Jun 13, 2009 12:12 am Quote: I will probably have the same issue as I will be building a 2 storey house this year sometime. Does anyone know what kind of heating works well in 2 storey homes? Its kinda open-plan so I'd assume that the heat will go upwards and dont really want this to happen. I dont want to block off the stairs, so that cant be an option... Any ideas? Fighting the laws of physics - well thats not going to be very cost effective. You will also find that to acheive your enegy rating will be more expensive. Re the poster of this threads issue. You need to stop the heat flowing upward to stop it in the most effectrive manner. Other options are as sdiscussed - to use a heat transfer system to move the heat back down to the lower level - Ceiling fans in the right spot might help if they can move it back down. Blocking it off is the best method. - It's that old Physics in action again. Hot air rises. Re: Heating Advice 7Jun 13, 2009 1:40 am Yak_Chat Quote: I will probably have the same issue as I will be building a 2 storey house this year sometime. Does anyone know what kind of heating works well in 2 storey homes? Its kinda open-plan so I'd assume that the heat will go upwards and dont really want this to happen. I dont want to block off the stairs, so that cant be an option... Any ideas? Fighting the laws of physics - well thats not going to be very cost effective. You will also find that to acheive your enegy rating will be more expensive. Re the poster of this threads issue. You need to stop the heat flowing upward to stop it in the most effectrive manner. Other options are as sdiscussed - to use a heat transfer system to move the heat back down to the lower level - Ceiling fans in the right spot might help if they can move it back down. Blocking it off is the best method. - It's that old Physics in action again. Hot air rises. I have ceiling fans installed at the top of the 2nd storey stairs (before mentioned gallery). Found them to be completely ineffective, and actually creates "draughty" conditions on the lower floor. As said before, i would recirculate the warm air from the highest point to an accessible point that is as far from the stairwell as possible. You could have the fan connected to a thermostat which would automate it a bit. The radiant heat from a combustion heater should suffice, but this obviously depends on its location. Re: Heating Advice 8Jun 13, 2009 11:22 am Quote: I have ceiling fans installed at the top of the 2nd storey stairs (before mentioned gallery). Found them to be completely ineffective, and actually creates "draughty" conditions on the lower floor. As said before, i would recirculate the warm air from the highest point to an accessible point that is as far from the stairwell as possible. You could have the fan connected to a thermostat which would automate it a bit. The radiant heat from a combustion heater should suffice, but this obviously depends on its location. The issue with fans at the top os the stairs i that it does not have a warm pool of air to move to another area - it has rising air and it basically ciculate the air and as you experienced - introduces cold air. If a ceiling fan can be loctaed in an area that hot air gathers - then a slow turning fan in reverse mode can push that air back to where it is more useful. as for temperature sense/on/off heat transfer fans - these are readily available devices from the right suppliers. and yes a combustion heater if very effective at warming the whole area while it is running - but the upper area tend to get a lot hotter than the lower ones. Re: Heating Advice 9Jun 13, 2009 11:06 pm Yak_Chat Quote: Other options are as sdiscussed - to use a heat transfer system to move the heat back down to the lower level Why not combine the existing system with this solution - add another RCAC return air grille in the upper storey where most of the hot air accumulates. However, the best solution is to zone off the upper storey so you don't end up heating the entire air mass of the house. Are there any other reasons why the lower storey is cold? Are you losing heat in directions apart from upward? Uninsulated walls? Uncovered windows? External ducts? Unblocked vents? Air leaks? Versaloc is a mortarless besser block system that still needs a properly engineered footing. If you just do a 400x200 footing it will fail in time. At 17m long you need it… 1 17699 Does anyone have a suggestion for a good hydronic in slab heating speacialist who may be able to help me with an existing system and wether or not it may need a seperator… 0 4882 Thank you so much for the effort. We will use it to talk with builder. We also had idea of building duplex instead and seeking suggest ions. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=106744 11 13833 |