Air Return From Finished Attic

That is why you need a cold air return image 1.

Air return from finished attic.

I also included a fresh air return with motorized damper to bring in outside air. This isolates the attic from the rest of the home which means the attic isn t part of the conditioned envelope. Essentially that allows the warm air to circulate better. Open floor trusses used as return air plenums can draw air from any place connected to that floor.

Essentially you re bringing the attic into the rest of the house. Supply air from furnaces and air conditioners should be on outside walls. For the system to work you have to re circulate the air back to the furnace. Building codes vary by location but most require at least a 7 foot clearance for attic expansions.

That would then reduce the flow of conditioned air to that space. Nail a piece of sheet metal onto the back of a stud cavity. To meet all three goals insulating your finished attic ventilating the roof and maximizing headroom use a combination of dense batt insulation rigid foam sheeting and air chutes. I finished our basement with a cold air return located near the floor.

Hot air heating systems function best if there is at least one cold air return on each floor of the house. If the supply ducts are in the floor then the return air should be located up high. It s much better to place it low to suck out the cold stratified air. What is different in the basement is that most of the ductwork is on the ceiling.

One of the most effective ways to convert your attic space into a spare bedroom is to remove the insulation from the floor and add insulation to the attic ceiling. If you had no return air in your room you would create a positive pressure. The return air vent openings need to be on the opposite side of the room so the conditioned air is pulled across the room. It is close to the furnace and actually on an adjacent wall.

Air handler platforms used as return air plenums can draw air from vented attics and crawlspaces through other connected framing cavities. If you leave a cold air return opening on the ceiling. That s measured after you finish the ceiling if you don t have enough height you ll have to raise the roof line and that adds a lot to your construction costs. The basement is no exception to the rule.

Most codes require a specified minimum amount of headroom and it s tough to meet this requirement when insulating a finished attic especially since most. This pulls the air across your body.