Too late, should have installed radiant and this would not be a problem now. Radiant heat keeps the heat where it is needed, closer to the floor.
No brand name of fan but will agree on is needed. I have seen this done with duct work and a Small constant run fan. I guess the home is completed now?

Hi tk03--thanks for the thoughts.

Well, not exactly. We are still a shell: hvac rough will begin this week.

Radiant was our orig plan. We had a staple under-floor system designed, then framed the house.

Then the well was drilled, and turned out to be a naturally flowing artesian -- lots of 54º water in January.

That threw us into geothermal. But no system can reliably produce 130º water to produce 85º floor temps. And it was too late to modify all the thresholds, etc. for an above-floor system that would run properly at lower water temp.

So we looked to a hybrid--maintain the hi efficiency, propane-fired boiler and radiant system, and use the water source for cooling.

When geo prices started coming in, two separate systems had to be ruled out. Even a conventional a/c system with a conventional radiant system was pushing our financial bounds.

The best compromise was to head for an all air-delivered system, driven by a ground source water-air pump.

Believe me, you are preaching to the choir about the comfort (and to a degree, efficiencies) of radiant.

So we are trying to make the most out of an air delivered system, and want to make sure it gets engineered and installed to maximize comfort.

I am still not sure how to handle the loft overlooking the 18' high great room--and avoid fans in the process. My hvac contractor said he plans to install return(s) in the loft and that shd take care of the too warm in summer issue.

Thanks for your feedback. --Mark

That heat will really flow up there fast . That return in the open ceiling area needs to be way up near the pick and also large to pick up all the heat you will
get up there. You will have to run your blower full time to keep the hot air down, or a slow moving fan. you say you want a small fan. I like the larger fans moving slow. They are quite and move more air at a a real slow speed.
Later paulbm

We have a similar sounding set up. We use a normal size fab in the loft. Downflow in cooling months and reverse flow in heating months - med. speed.

We have 2 carrier VS systems, so we keep the fan at the kitchen/loft/upstairs end running at 'low' in the cooling months and auto in heating months, unless a guest is in the upstairs bedroom then we set it at low again, just in case for their comfort. We have returns in the 2 rooms up there at one big one at top of stairs at entrance to the loft.

Big but... it's an ICF home with spray foam attic floor as well as the joists beneath the vaulted ceiling. Thus, the temp diff is not that great. In cooling, when it's 77F downstairs at head level, it's 79-80 in the loft (both shot with an IR digital thermometer). In heating, when it's 71 downstairs, it's 73 upstairs. By the way, that's a glass insert with a 3in undercut in it in the loft wall.

Good luck!

I am also in the process of finding a low profile no light ceiling fan for our house. I have found a low profile ceiling fan without lights. It seems to be slightly bigger than bathroom fan units. For your needs, the square footage is fine but to provide good cooling to a room of that volume I don't know. Maybe contact the manufacturer.

Here is a link that might be useful: Low Profile Ceiling Fan

Mark,

If at all possible, run a return in the wall directly to the system serving this area. A duct of 8" round or similar should give you the airflow needed for comfort. As mentioned earlier, if the blower is set to auto and airflow will cycle allowing the air to stratify again when off.

Greenheck makes inline fans which can be mounted in any position. You could have a separate/standalone "Ventilation system" with grilles and ductwork for destratification, but connecting to the main/central air system would be best.

Hope that helps,

Stay Cool/Warm

Dan