Idea help to heat/insulate this bathroom !!!

[ajaynejr]

Hint: There should be no insulation between an enclosed pipe (including a drain pipe) and the interior wallboard/flooring/ceiling paneling.

Hint: The only way the unheated garage will ever get above outside temperature in winter is due to heat leakage or seepage from heated interior space above or to the side. If you are not going to use the garage space as living space (or for storing materials that can't stand the cold), it is better to concentrate on providing adequate heat in the living space and not worry about heating the garage.

Hint: If there are pipes in an exterior wall and an access panel on the inside, it is a good idea to have the panel open all winter. Also, cabinets along outside walls with plumbing inside or in the wall behind should have the doors left open in winter.

 

[Jeff Handy]

It is very common to run a small flex duct with heated air into a cold plumbing space like that.
Or to the area under the tub, or both.

The heavier stiff foil type, like for a dryer vent.
Not the thin foil wrapped over a steel coil frame like a Slinky.

Even better is an insulated duct, like you might use for a bath fan vent in the attic.

You might need to rip insulation out to expose the whole area, to see what exactly is going on.
And to plan your route for a flex duct from the nearest warm air supply.

Sometimes you can use a joist space as part of that duct, if it runs from the heating duct area out to where you need heated air.

You also might want to add another duct leaving that space and going to the return duct.
Or leading just to finished interior space, like the wall of the stairs, whatever.
The airflow is better if warm air pressure has somewhere to escape back to the house.

You can also add a small duct booster fan on that new warm air flex vent, to help pull in sufficient air.
Add a switch, to operate only when you want it on. Like fall through spring only.
And add a damper, in case you want to shut off the vent in the summer.

You can also slightly choke back the heat registers downstairs.
That will send more warm air pressure upstairs.

And finally, insulation in the wrong place can cause pipe or drain freezing.
Insulation needs to keep cold outside air away from pipes, but heated air needs to reach them.

 

[Billbill84]

Ok guys with the info provided here I think instead of tearing out stuff to just add more insulation probably won't do much so I'm leaning on trying to pump some warm air into that box in garage ceiling that the cold is likely coming from. I think I have a great idea but not sure if it will work. Look at the pics and please don't mind the drawing that was from earlier in the post when I was trying to show y'all the setup. This new idea is updated with green so here it goes... right next to that garage door behind that wall just to the right is a bathroom with a super hot floor duct (basement furnace is nearly directly below it). That floor vent is very strong so it may be able to handle this idea. Floor vent is directly on the other side of that 5ft garage wall to the right of door. I'm thinking that I may be able to figure out a way to tap into that vent from garage side right about the stem wall and run a duct straight up the wall across the ceiling and cut a hole in that box on ceiling and tie it in right there!!! Not sure if this is against any kind of code or something but it may work! Maybe even box it in and put a damper valve to close it off in summer. I tried to show this idea in the pics with green drawings. Thoughts?

 

[Jeff Handy]

First of all, you have to keep the garage up to fire code.
So everything has to be covered in 5/8 drywall and properly taped and mudded.

And no direct air venting or mixing from garage into the house, in case running car exhaust could get into the house.

Secondly, like I mentioned earlier, you might be able to use a joist space running across the garage ceiling as part of that new heating duct.

Whatever you do, try to bring warm air in the easiest and closest way.
A long duct running through the garage will cool off quickly.

And will look weird, take up space, get hit by your suv, whatever.

 

[Billbill84]

First of all, you have to keep the garage up to fire code.
So everything has to be covered in 5/8 drywall and properly taped and mudded.

And no direct air venting or mixing from garage into the house, in case running car exhaust could get into the house.

Secondly, like I mentioned earlier, you might be able to use a joist space running across the garage ceiling as part of that new heating duct.

Whatever you do, try to bring warm air in the easiest and closest way.
A long duct running through the garage will cool off quickly.

And will look weird, take up space, get hit by your suv, whatever.

Hmm yeah you bring up some very valid points. I'm sure you get what I'm imagining but here's two better pics showing. Anyway, I would prefer to somehow use upstairs for this but all the supplies are in the ceilings and the air flow is already pretty weak up there and no where to tie into a duct. It's warm flow just weak.

 

[Jeff Handy]

Looks like you need to have an hvac pro come out to advise you on this.

 

[Jeff Handy]

I was hoping you could tap into a duct as it reaches the floor level upstairs.
So a joist space between first and second floors, as a route from duct to cold pipes.

Not to try to bring it down from the ceiling.

 

[Jeff Handy]

Anyway, my brain is picked clean, so I leave you to soldier on here, good luck.

 

[Billbill84]

I was hoping you could tap into a duct as it reaches the floor level upstairs.
So a joist space between first and second floors, as a route from duct to cold pipes.

Not to try to bring it down from the ceiling.

That's a great idea! Funny part is that I was actually pondering on doing that but not while thinking on solving the cold pipes issue just wanted more flow up there, didn't put 2&2 together haha. Opening the wall upstairs where duct comes up thru, and capping off the supply abandoning everything above that except the returns. Rip up carpet and sub floor and install ducts and registers in floor of every room up there. That will also put less work on my furnace as it doesn't have to push the extra 9ft plus lengthy attic flex ducts anymore so flow may be slightly increased as well. Only hard part would be how the heck would I navigate around all the floor joists?? Maybe the schematic I drew up below is overkill could just maybe branch off one or two.

 

[nealtw]

floor joist are going one way or the other so you never get lucky enough to run a duct thru there so it would have to be a drop in the ceiling below,

 

[Billbill84]

floor joist are going one way or the other so you never get lucky enough to run a duct thru there so it would have to be a drop in the ceiling below,

Hey thanks for the insight. What do u mean by a drop in the ceiling below? The registers on main level are in the floor