Try to draw in air from cooler outside areas but note that doing so may not be practical due to prevailing winds.
Air space along side of chimney in attic.
It s easy to see your point about eliminating ductwork from the attic.
Plug all open joist spaces under insulated side walls.
O is air conditioning the 1st floor effective with floor venting if i run ductwork in the basement.
Hot air rises so locate an attic vent at the highest part of your attic.
For exterior chimneys a 1 inch minimum air space must be maintained between the chimney and combustibles.
With the metal types check with the manufacturer as some are still tested with the loose attic insulation shield firestops and should be left as is.
Access the attic through a crawl space in the ceiling using a stepladder or use or the attic stairs.
It was common practice to offset the chimney on one side of a wall say the kitchen for a kitchen wood stove and leave the living room wall flush.
A two room addition on the 1st floor has limited attic space and a 4 crawl space.
Ideally both metal and masonry chimneys should be airsealed for energy conservation purposes air leakage and to stop house moisture getting to the attic with the escaping house air.
Long piece from a batt of fiberglass insulation and place it at the bottom of a 13 gallon plastic garbage bag.
Make the air move over as long a path as possible.
Then when they got to the attic they made a small correction to make the chimney exit at the ridge.
Heated rooms built into attics often have open cavities in the floor framing under the walls.
Windows a few feet apart don t do much.
To air seal around combustion flues use fire rated caulk and ul rated collars or sheet metal cut to fit and sealed with fire rated caulk while maintaining proper clearance between flue and combustible materials.
Construct a sheet metal shield around combustion flues to maintain 3 inches of clearance between the flue and attic insulation.
However i have two questions if i want to centrally air condition my entire house.
Measure the four sides of the chimney where it goes through the ceiling framing and add up the.
Right or wrong that s just the way they did it up until 75 to 100 years or so ago.