do ducted aircon's let alternative heat out

[lizzie]

sorry for the obscure title.

i'm having trouble heating our new house. it has ducted aircon, which i'm not keen on using as a heating source as i find the heat "clammy", and instead we have an open gas log fire installed in the victorian fireplace.

if you stand in front of the fire it gives out plenty of heat, but i can't see to get the house warm. i've put heavy curtains (read: blanket) over the windows and blocked up the above picture rail vents.

the only other escape route i can think of is up the ducted aircon outlet vents. we had ducted in our other house and there was a similar problem (hard to heat via box wood fire).

would this be right? if so, how can i stop the heat from escaping up the vents and out? if i can help it, i don't want to block the vents up as i do flick the aircon on occasionally if the day is overly cold.

any suggestions.

 

[Propertunity]

we have an open gas log fire installed in the victorian fireplace.

lizzie, I suspect like most wood open fires that the heat is escaping up the chimney ?? possibly

if you stand in front of the fire it gives out plenty of heat,

that is only radiant heat - comes from the thing being red hot but won't heat the house up - just the things within a few feet. But where is the hot air going?

the only other escape route i can think of is up the ducted aircon outlet vents.

If it is not going up the chimney, then maybe out the ducts? Hold a lighted candle near the vent. See if there is a draft going into the vent.

if so, how can i stop the heat from escaping up the vents and out? if i can help it, i don't want to block the vents up

If it is the vents, many of them are able to be screwed shut by hand with just a couple of twists clockwise (if you have that type).

 

[lizzie]

lizzie, I suspect like most wood open fires that the heat is escaping up the chimney ?? possibly

If it is the vents, many of them are able to be screwed shut by hand with just a couple of twists clockwise (if you have that type).

it's a gas "pretend" log fire with the chimney nearly entire blocked off (only small gap so it barely draws for gas vapour venting).

i'll have a look and see if the vents can be closed.

 

[James Allen]

Without boring you with the laws of psychrometrics, a heating source will not change the moisture content of the air, so whether you heat the house by the A/C or the fire if it is to the same tempreture the humidity inside will be the same. Unless it is a unflued gas fireplace in which case it will add alot of moisture to the air because the burning gas releases the water vapour from it.

It could be the "clamyness" is caused more by odor than moisture, which can be fixed by a service and getting the indoor unit cleaned.

The ducting arrangement in a standard domestic system is a closed loop so if hot air does enter the ducting only a small amount of heat will be lost as the air makes it's way to the area in the house with the lowest pressure.

I think you will find the best solution for distributing the hot air that your fire produces is to run the ducted unit on "fan" mode. This means that just the fan on the indoor unit is runningand will move the air around your house, it will work better if the return air grille for the ducted system is close to the room that contains the fire. This will consumes very small amount of energy, depending on the size of the unit it will be around 300-500 watts.

 

[lizzie]

ah - thanks ...

 

[The Fence]

Lizzie...is the house insulated...?

We lived in a old farmhouse for years and froze in winter and baked in summer even with gas heating and a air-con they had to be on flat out all the time.....

This house is insulated in ceiling and walls and what a difference it makes....put the heater on for about an hour then turn it right down or even off.....hope you find a solution and get snuggly again...

 

[lizzie]

definately insulated every wall in the joint is double brick and rendered (inside and out) so it's making our renovation desires rather interesting - can't just knock a wall out - and batts in the ceiling.

although is a polished timber floor on piers and i need more/bigger rugs. that's next weeks job when the next 55 day int free cc period starts

 

[lizzie]

nothing like a day spent painting skirtings and window surrounds, when a howling southerly is blowing, to discover where all the drafts are coming from.

i'd been round the entire place with window insulation tape around 3 weeks ago and thought i'd got it all - but the french doors in our bedroom - despite being insualation taped and snaked underneath - are whistling like a colandar. icicles on my nose from painting around the glass insert fiddly bits.

him not sure what to do about it ...