Best way to get some heat to a small office now bedroom.

pinballlooking · 11-04-14, 09:21 PM

I have a small office that is about 8’x9’. My son’s room is on the other side. I installed a 9,000 BTU inverter mini split in my son’s room a couple months ago and it is working great.

My farther in-law is now staying with us and his bed room is in the small office. We are only heating with mini splits now so the office does not get any heat. He does not like to sleep with the door open so no heat gets in that way.

I was considering installing a celling square vent in both rooms then putting in a 4” vent fan making it thermostat controlled to get some heat in that room.
I was thinking about using flexible vent hose in the attic to keep the noise down.

He does like it cooler than my son but that is good.
Has anyone done anything like this? Any suggestions?

I just saw a post where someone use something like this to control the fan.
WIN100 5- & 2- Day Programmable
1 Heat / 1 Cool Outlet Thermostat
http://www.luxproducts.com/thermostats/win100.php

As I research more I see the pellet heating guys using this. with the above Thermostat.
http://www.amazon.com/Broan-512-6-In...V48TE1SFP2B28K
with a Variable speed controller
http://www.amazon.com/NuTone-57W-Var...bxgy_hi_text_y

SDMCF · 11-05-14, 12:10 AM

I did something similar so that when I use the wood-burning stove in the kitchen I can move some of the heat to my office. There is a small hallway between the kitchen and office so I had to move heat about 5 feet. I installed a ceiling level duct between the rooms and used a 4" extractor fan to move the hot air. The result was less than impressive. It did make a difference but didn't move as much heat as I hoped. If I were doing it again I would definitely use a larger fan.

ecomodded · 11-05-14, 09:44 AM

How about split the mini split one more time. install one more indoor unit off the same outdoor unit. That would make your father inlaw feel special , if not equal to your son with his fancy new heat pump , haha.

pinballlooking · 11-05-14, 10:38 AM

He does not like it very warm in his room. His room is too small for another MS head. My sons MS can easily handle both rooms. His Mini Split is super-efficient 27 seer I am not going to mess with that.

jeff5may · 11-05-14, 10:46 AM

How about an electric blanket?

MN Renovator · 11-05-14, 02:23 PM

Ditto. I love my mattress pad heater. I've come home with the temperature at my away setback of 40f, fired up my mattress pad heater, checked my emails, jumped in bed, and slept warm. I'd imagine it isn't anywhere near as cold as that in the office if the rest of the house is heated. I think a heated blanket or mattress pad heater is perfect. It would use less energy than a mini-split and is appropriate if he only keeps the door shut when sleeping and otherwise doesn't have complaints about the temperature.

On the other hand, space heaters are evil and everyone who I ever know who has had one(tenants or anyone who doesn't pay full utilities) always cranks it way beyond the temperature of the rest of the building and would probably wildly exceed the usage of the mini-splits in the rest of the house and unfortunately probably reduce the amount of heat needed in those rooms as the space heater room would supply heat to the mini-split spaces. ...ask me how I know - I kicked out a tenant after a winter of that crap, now the lease agreement specifically forbids things like space heaters, shower head, or light bulb replacements.

pinballlooking · 11-05-14, 02:29 PM

I like the mattress pad heater idea. I don’t even have to cut a hole in the wall to try it out. I have him opening the door in the day time to let heat in the room.

Is there a brand that you recommend or are they all similar.

MN Renovator · 11-05-14, 02:34 PM

They are all fairly similar. It seems most of them have a 10 hour shutoff on them. If I go forever without sleep(24+ hours awake) and fall asleep, I've sometimes woken up after it has shut off. It wasn't alarming or anything to wake up with it off but I do think that after it was off and I cooled off a bit that I woke up earlier than I otherwise would have.

If I found one that didn't have this shutoff, I'd probably replace mine. ..otherwise I think they are all more or less the same.

pinballlooking · 11-10-14, 12:15 PM

I talked to him and he is keeping his door open in the day time now. This really helps. He has two comforters and he said he is good for now. If he needs more heat I will get him a heated mattress pad.
Thanks for the suggestions this is much better than cutting a hole in my wall.

pinballlooking · 11-19-14, 09:44 AM

He went to my sister in- laws house for a couple weeks and it has been cold. I ordered the low voltage mattress pad heater today.
He is coming back Monday so I will have it in his room ready to go. I think this will make a big difference. I will feel better knowing he is not too cold in there.

11-04-14, 09:21 PM	#1
pinballlooking Super Moderator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: SC Posts: 2,923 Thanks: 172 Thanked 564 Times in 463 Posts	Best way to get some heat to a small office now bedroom. I have a small office that is about 8’x9’. My son’s room is on the other side. I installed a 9,000 BTU inverter mini split in my son’s room a couple months ago and it is working great. My farther in-law is now staying with us and his bed room is in the small office. We are only heating with mini splits now so the office does not get any heat. He does not like to sleep with the door open so no heat gets in that way. I was considering installing a celling square vent in both rooms then putting in a 4” vent fan making it thermostat controlled to get some heat in that room. I was thinking about using flexible vent hose in the attic to keep the noise down. He does like it cooler than my son but that is good. Has anyone done anything like this? Any suggestions? I just saw a post where someone use something like this to control the fan. WIN100 5- & 2- Day Programmable 1 Heat / 1 Cool Outlet Thermostat http://www.luxproducts.com/thermostats/win100.php As I research more I see the pellet heating guys using this. with the above Thermostat. http://www.amazon.com/Broan-512-6-In...V48TE1SFP2B28K with a Variable speed controller http://www.amazon.com/NuTone-57W-Var...bxgy_hi_text_y Last edited by pinballlooking; 11-04-14 at 10:14 PM..

11-05-14, 02:29 PM	#7
pinballlooking Super Moderator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: SC Posts: 2,923 Thanks: 172 Thanked 564 Times in 463 Posts	I like the mattress pad heater idea. I don’t even have to cut a hole in the wall to try it out. I have him opening the door in the day time to let heat in the room. Is there a brand that you recommend or are they all similar. Last edited by pinballlooking; 11-23-15 at 01:29 PM..

11-10-14, 12:15 PM	#9
pinballlooking Super Moderator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: SC Posts: 2,923 Thanks: 172 Thanked 564 Times in 463 Posts	I talked to him and he is keeping his door open in the day time now. This really helps. He has two comforters and he said he is good for now. If he needs more heat I will get him a heated mattress pad. Thanks for the suggestions this is much better than cutting a hole in my wall. Last edited by pinballlooking; 11-10-14 at 03:16 PM..

11-05-14, 12:10 AM	#2
SDMCF Apprentice EcoRenovator Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Finland Posts: 125 Thanks: 5 Thanked 35 Times in 34 Posts	I did something similar so that when I use the wood-burning stove in the kitchen I can move some of the heat to my office. There is a small hallway between the kitchen and office so I had to move heat about 5 feet. I installed a ceiling level duct between the rooms and used a 4" extractor fan to move the hot air. The result was less than impressive. It did make a difference but didn't move as much heat as I hoped. If I were doing it again I would definitely use a larger fan.

11-05-14, 09:44 AM	#3
ecomodded Supreme EcoRenovator Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Vancouver Island,Canada. Posts: 1,037 Thanks: 116 Thanked 100 Times in 87 Posts	How about split the mini split one more time. install one more indoor unit off the same outdoor unit. That would make your father inlaw feel special , if not equal to your son with his fancy new heat pump , haha.

11-05-14, 10:38 AM	#4
pinballlooking Super Moderator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: SC Posts: 2,923 Thanks: 172 Thanked 564 Times in 463 Posts	He does not like it very warm in his room. His room is too small for another MS head. My sons MS can easily handle both rooms. His Mini Split is super-efficient 27 seer I am not going to mess with that.

11-05-14, 10:46 AM	#5
jeff5may Supreme EcoRenovator Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: elizabethtown, ky, USA Posts: 2,428 Thanks: 431 Thanked 619 Times in 517 Posts	How about an electric blanket?

11-05-14, 02:23 PM	#6
MN Renovator Less usage=Cheaper bills Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 939 Thanks: 41 Thanked 116 Times in 90 Posts	Ditto. I love my mattress pad heater. I've come home with the temperature at my away setback of 40f, fired up my mattress pad heater, checked my emails, jumped in bed, and slept warm. I'd imagine it isn't anywhere near as cold as that in the office if the rest of the house is heated. I think a heated blanket or mattress pad heater is perfect. It would use less energy than a mini-split and is appropriate if he only keeps the door shut when sleeping and otherwise doesn't have complaints about the temperature. On the other hand, space heaters are evil and everyone who I ever know who has had one(tenants or anyone who doesn't pay full utilities) always cranks it way beyond the temperature of the rest of the building and would probably wildly exceed the usage of the mini-splits in the rest of the house and unfortunately probably reduce the amount of heat needed in those rooms as the space heater room would supply heat to the mini-split spaces. ...ask me how I know - I kicked out a tenant after a winter of that crap, now the lease agreement specifically forbids things like space heaters, shower head, or light bulb replacements.

11-05-14, 02:34 PM	#8
MN Renovator Less usage=Cheaper bills Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 939 Thanks: 41 Thanked 116 Times in 90 Posts	They are all fairly similar. It seems most of them have a 10 hour shutoff on them. If I go forever without sleep(24+ hours awake) and fall asleep, I've sometimes woken up after it has shut off. It wasn't alarming or anything to wake up with it off but I do think that after it was off and I cooled off a bit that I woke up earlier than I otherwise would have. If I found one that didn't have this shutoff, I'd probably replace mine. ..otherwise I think they are all more or less the same.

11-19-14, 09:44 AM	#10
pinballlooking Super Moderator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: SC Posts: 2,923 Thanks: 172 Thanked 564 Times in 463 Posts	He went to my sister in- laws house for a couple weeks and it has been cold. I ordered the low voltage mattress pad heater today. He is coming back Monday so I will have it in his room ready to go. I think this will make a big difference. I will feel better knowing he is not too cold in there.