I have a heat pump with oil backup, forced air, in the house. Growroom in basement which isn't heated or cooled. A duct going upstairs runs across the growroom ceiling. I just need a little cooling in the summer and a little heat in the winter. Can I put a vent in the duct to heat and cool the room? The return runs right next to the duct I'd like to access, so it doesn't make sense to me to use that. That means I'd be running with no return. Thoughts appreciated.
Tap into Home HVAC from Basement?
- Thread starter RB56
- Start date
another idea is to use some flex tubing so you can separate the heat/cooling vent from the return duct. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-6-in-x-8-ft-Semi-Rigid-Aluminum-Duct-A068-4-AHD/205046831
There's good circulation through the growroom, which is actually 2 rooms (veg and flower) back to back. Intake from basement in veg room, also where the HVAC ducts are, actively exhausted into flower room, which in turn exhausts from flower room into the basement.
T
TreehouseJ
Also curious. I've got a return running overhead my tent's ac exhaust which I would now very much like to poke a hole in.
nukklehead
Active member
I assume your exhaust is well scrubbed before you direct exhaust into basement?... I would put a "T" into the duct with a dampener in it and you can "fine tune" with the dampener how much air is deposited in the grow room.. you have to cut into the duct line but this is my redneck suggestion..
Doesn't hurt that the cashiers are hot ass fuck at the home Depot by my house.
These ppl in here are prob lost on what you're sayin!! Lmfao 
couple things- is your heat pump a split system with cassettes on the walls or a conventional system that is ducted into your house? obv. if its split then you won't gain any cooling benefits from tapping into duct that is only attached to your oil furnace.
that being said, there's nothing wrong with tapping into the supply duct. the only side effect will be that you lower the amount of heat that will be going to whatever room is upstairs. add a damper to the "T" in your grow room and you can easily tweak things to find a balance in the grow room and upstairs. If your room is below ground and reasonably insulated it shouldn't take too many btu's to keep it at decent temps.
As far as not having a return.... You can passively vent the positive pressure into the basement or you could easily cut a T into the return duct and again use a damper to dial in the right amount of negative pull. If you put thermostatic dampers on the supply line feeding your upstairs room and after the T into your grow room then they would only draw when needed as opposed to your grow always having an open supply. These are onlu $100 and easy to install. You can put manual dampers on the returns just to tweak it.
that being said, there's nothing wrong with tapping into the supply duct. the only side effect will be that you lower the amount of heat that will be going to whatever room is upstairs. add a damper to the "T" in your grow room and you can easily tweak things to find a balance in the grow room and upstairs. If your room is below ground and reasonably insulated it shouldn't take too many btu's to keep it at decent temps.
As far as not having a return.... You can passively vent the positive pressure into the basement or you could easily cut a T into the return duct and again use a damper to dial in the right amount of negative pull. If you put thermostatic dampers on the supply line feeding your upstairs room and after the T into your grow room then they would only draw when needed as opposed to your grow always having an open supply. These are onlu $100 and easy to install. You can put manual dampers on the returns just to tweak it.
Outstanding - thank you.
