- posted
14 years ago
How is this not a fire hazard?
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- posted
14 years ago
If you mean it could be weird if there was already a fire, then maybe. Otherwise, no.
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- posted
14 years ago
Seems more like a privacy hazard to me.
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- posted
14 years ago
When I was a youngster we lived in a 2 story house. Heat was a cookstove in the kitchen. Used wood and coal. To get heat to upstairs bedrooms there were holes in ceiling with metal grates to allow rising heat to warm upstairs. A fan like this sure would have helped. We did have electric power.WW
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- posted
14 years ago
Could you give us a hint as to what you think the problem is?
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- posted
14 years ago
It would probably shut off if fire hit it, I'm sure there is a thermal fuse in the motor. I've installed then in convince store cash register booths to ventilate them when the bullet resistant glass windows are closed.
TDD
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- posted
14 years ago
I'd be more worried about flooding. With a vent system like that your walls will no longer be watertight - if the plumbing gives out your house will sink like a stone. Or something.
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- posted
14 years ago
A hot air plenum booster fan would be a lot cheaper, but then you would still have to get the 2 grilles to cover the holes.
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- posted
14 years ago
I am sure if it were installed incorrectly it could be a hazard, just like any electrical appliance. But it doesn't appear to be any more a fire hazard than your typical wall outlet.
Hank
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- posted
14 years ago
I think he means to install it in a home, not in a ship with watertight compartments and hatches. It would probably be set in the wall near the ceiling. If floodwaters get that high, the house is already toast, or in this case, soup.
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- posted
14 years ago
I've 2 in the walls of my livingroom to transfer heat from the woodstove. Excellent results.
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- posted
14 years ago
I have a better question:
How IS it a fire hazard? At least, how is it any more of a fire hazard than any electrical box or lighting fixture installed in a wall in the last 100 years or so?
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- posted
14 years ago
I certainly should have made my question more specific.
I've heard that laundry chutes (throw clothes down from second floor into a basket in the basement) are now illegal in many states because they create a draft for a fire. From that standpoint, this seems like a fire's dream.
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- posted
14 years ago
I've *heard* that pigs can fly. But that doesn't mean cows can.
Jim
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- posted
14 years ago
- These are for same-floor through-wall use, not between floors. You could get some chimney effect, but it would not be as pronounced. Most residential doors don't seal that well anyway, and often are left open, even at night. (Yeah, I remember fire safety from grade school, but I'd rather avoid the stubbed toes and smashed nose when getting up at night. Don't dare turn on a light, or my brain starts the reboot sequence, and I am done sleeping for the night.)
- Code in many areas, and wise designers in other areas, have long specified that laundry chutes have spring loaded, or unbalanced 'fail closed' lids on top and/or bottom, to avoid chimney effect. Chutes are not illegal (anywhere I know of), they just aren't very popular any more, since people that can afford a custom home prefer a main-floor or bedroom-floor laundry setup. Chutes and small kids are not a good combination, especially if there are small pets in the house. Attractive nuisance, etc.
- Old houses with coal furnaces often had a big-ass grate in the middle of house to allow heat to rise, and old public buildings often had open stairwells. In many cases, when furnace got updated, the grate got plugged, or modified so it didn't actually pass through the floor layer. (Close ceiling below, and box in duct to make a low-pressure heat outlet or something.) In buildings, even if stairwell is still open on lowest public floor, all floors above now have stairs walled in with fire doors. They want stairwells to be positive pressure now, to keep smoke out.
-- aem sends...
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- posted
14 years ago
you know, if a house is on fire, a little 6 inch hole in the wall is hardly a matter. What about that 32x80 hole in the hallway to the bedroom?
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- posted
14 years ago
Those were in the days of what was called "Balloon Construction". Most houses today aren't built that way. Today the floors sit atop the outside walls which inherently provide a Fire stop. In Balloon Construction, the floors rested on boards that were nailed to the inside of the exterior walls.
For anybody that wouldeb concerned about the chimney effect, just put a 2x4 above and below the fan. That would stop any chimney effect that would be produced in the event of fire.
Hank
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- posted
14 years ago
Pigs can fly. If you don't believe me, just look up the next time a police helicopter flies over. :-)
Hank
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- posted
14 years ago
There are various versions of this...
Another month ends. All targets met. All systems working. All customers satisfied. All staff happy. All pigs ready to fly.