Custom Central Heating Return Grille Questions

[sworrubs]

Hi there,

My parents have had gas central heating installed which in itself is great however the large white plastic return grille is somewhat of an eye sore in a house that's filled with wood.
I thought it might be interesting to try my hand at designing them a custom return grille out of wood but am sure there'll be a few technical details I'll need to be aware of such as required air flow etc. Can anyone shed any light on the sorts of things I would need to take into account/traps I'll probably fall into?

I am currently looking at laser cutting fretwork in an Arts & Crafts/William Morris style but don't want an aesthetically pleasing grille that breaks the central heating!

Thanks for your help,
Scott

 

[ianmcd]

if you look at the existing grill it should be stamped with the free air area, usually along the bottom, if not you will have to measure the free area and as long as the new one is the same you should be ok (providing the existing one is sized correctly)

PS what is the make and model of the new boiler that requires this vent ?

 

[sworrubs]

Thanks Ian,

The setup is in NZ while I'll be designing the grill over in the UK and getting it made. In a perfect world I had been hoping to get it done without my parents knowing so that it could be a gift however I think practicalities might rule that out. I'd be working from photos and dimensions but by the sounds of it I'll need more info than that...

Assuming I can match the free air area, do you see any problems with using wood? I am coming at this from a quite a naive position and just want to check things such as whether it may be prone to warping etc. when used as a grill.

Thanks again!

 

[Galoka]

Well wood should be fine, as long a suitable hardwood is used. Though it might need to be bigger than the plastic one, as the wood sections are likley to be larger than the plastic, so the whole thing would need to be larger to get the same free area

The free area of vent that the boiler requires is probably stated in boiler installation instructions, so you might be able to find that out online, or with a phonecall if you know the make/model of the boiler