ceiling air vent

[Michelle64]

I am building a simple hot/cold air transfer system in order to pass both cold or hot air from living area to 2 bedrooms. I will have a wood heater and also a reverse cycle air con that i want to pipe to closed door rooms if needed. I expect i will need a ceiling vent sucking air from the living room ceiling, either flexible or solid ducting to take that air in a 3m straight line from living room to the first bedroom, then a 90 degree turn, then a 9m  straight line to to the second bedroom. I want to have the fan on a switch in living room, and have the ability to easily open or close each bedroom vent as needed to cater to temp preferences. I see that these vents have an open/close feature, but i can see how that actually works. https://www.bunnings.com.au/haron-international-150mm-round-jet-diffuser-ceiling-vent_p0811074

 I want to work out a way to open and close the vents without leaving the floor. 

I don't expect the system to operate like a ducted air con system, just to help with moving the heat/cool to the rooms.

I would appreciate any advice on whether the cheaper flexible ducting would suffice, and whether i would then need to have some sort of right angle piece or just curve the flexible ducting around the corner. Is it the sort of material i can cut into, in order to vent to the first room from the one duct. 

Thanks for any help with this. 

Michelle 

[EricL]

Hello @Michelle64 

You can technically use ordinary foil ducting to transfer cold air from one room to another, but it’s not the most effective option. Foil ducting is typically designed for ventilation rather than efficient air transfer, so it may not insulate well enough to keep the air cool over a distance. If the ducting runs through a warm area, you’ll likely lose a lot of the cool air before it reaches the other room. Please keep in mind that the further the room is the more powerful fan you'll need to push the air to the other side.

In this particular instance, I suggest engaging the services of an air-con specialist who offers ducting services or is familiar with aircon ducting. It would be a shame to put all that effort in only to realize that over 50 percent of the cold air is being lost during transit. Whereas a properly built ducting will give you efficient transfer of cold air with none of it being wasted.

Let me call on our experienced members @Dave-1 and @Nailbag for their recommendations.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.    

Eric