Pantry ventilation

[cliffcharb]

During our kitchen remodel a few years back we went with a walk in pantry that’s about 8x8. The door only has about a 1/4” clearance to the floor. As the pantry stayed warmer than the house we had AC ducted to it with the company telling us it would stay cold in there since they used a dedicated duct line to it.
Since that hasn’t been the case I’ve been thinking about adding a through wall vent. How would you determine the proper size? The only wall available for this vent would go on the wall leading to the kids bedrooms/bathrooms, so aesthetics are important. I’d assume towards the ceiling would be best, unless I could hide it behind the tv nook?

 

[duneslider]

If you prop the door open half an inch does it help. I bet just trimming the bottom of the door another 1/4" would help.

 

[Firebrick43]

Why not add a louvered section to the door?

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Home-Fashion-Technologies-28-in-x-80-in-Louver-Louver-Primed-Solid-Wood-Interior-Closet-Bi-Fold-Door-1202880200/202979765?MERCH=REC-_-pipsem-_-312316560-_-0-_-n/a-_-n/a-_-n/a-_-n/a-_-n/a

 

[cliffcharb]

We typically leave one side open. The hinges are soft closing so we cant leave it cracked open though.

 

[mike93lx]

Why is the pantry getting warm? And enough to matter?

 

[PCustoms]

Why is the pantry getting warm? And enough to matter?

I'm guessing all the heat from the refrigerator (and possibly the TV) is dumping into the pantry.

Unless it's HOT and causing melted/spoiled food is ignore it personally

 

[cliffcharb]

I'm guessing all the heat from the refrigerator (and possibly the TV) is dumping into the pantry.

Unless it's HOT and causing melted/spoiled food is ignore it personally

There is a small fridge in the pantry which probably adds some heat. Also one wall is the exterior lanai wall, albeit insulated.
Yes I have issues with some foods spoiling quick which is why I’m thinking of a way to remove the hot air. I’ve thrown in some thermometers and temps get up to 80-82 during the day, when the house is 76-77

 

[PCustoms]

There is a small fridge in the pantry which probably adds some heat. Also one wall is the exterior lanai wall, albeit insulated.
Yes I have issues with some foods spoiling quick which is why I’m thinking of a way to remove the hot air. I’ve thrown in some thermometers and temps get up to 80-82 during the day, when the house is 76-77

4-5 degree delta doesn't seem crazy.

What kind of spoilage?

 

[finn]

Food isn’t going to to “spoil” at 82 degrees unless it’s something that should be refrigerated anyway.

Cut an additional half or three quarters of an inch off the bottom of the door. Nobody is going to notice that.

Alternatively, dump the self closing hinges in favor of conventional hinges, install a vent panel in the lower part of the door, or buy a louvred door.

Any one of those options is preferable to venting into a child’s bedroom, or, worse yet, a potentially humid bathroom.

 

[Bunsen Honeydew]

The fridge in the pantry is the major part of the problem as far as heat goes. The fridge next to it is a contributing issue.
Installing something like this in the door top and bottom to facilitate air circulation could help. Available in many sizes and finishes.
With the mini fridge in that small area, it is always going to be warm.
I once had to use a closet size temporary office. Just having the computer tower in there made it a sweat box.
If it gets hot even with the door open, find another home for the mini fridge.

 

[zak77]

There are lots of room-to-room & floor-to-floor fans on the market that'd probably fix your issue. I recently got a room-to-room fan from vevor and it seems to work ok for the job. You may need to install an intake vent somewhere though.

 

[PossumDog]

I've used the bottom of the door vents from tamarack. They also have through the wall vents:

Perfect Balance | Return Air Pathway | Return Grille

www.tamtech.com

Another site I use for similar products is hvacquick. They have the tamarack products and also a wider selection including electrified booster vents:

HVACQuick - AirFlow Boosting

Either way it would be better to put the exhaust vent on the opposite side of the freezer from the supply duct so you can 'wash' the warm air away.

 

[duneslider]

Is this over a basement, or crawl space? If it is closed up and you aren't open to any suggestions for adding a vent, you need to add a return air path for the hvac system. If it is fully closed up the hvac can't blow into the room because there isn't a path for the air. If you add a return air path it will keep it nice a cool. Unfortunately, a lot of hvac people just don't understand what they are doing.

 

[ripperd]

Food isn’t going to to “spoil” at 82 degrees unless it’s something that should be refrigerated anyway.

Cut an additional half or three quarters of an inch off the bottom of the door. Nobody is going to notice that.

Alternatively, dump the self closing hinges in favor of conventional hinges, install a vent panel in the lower part of the door, or buy a louvred door.

Any one of those options is preferable to venting into a child’s bedroom, or, worse yet, a potentially humid bathroom.

For things like bread the shelf life difference is actually pretty large at 70 degrees vs like 80 degrees. The mold and such grows significantly faster at higher temperatures.

Agree on cutting the bottom more or adding louvers. May want louvers at top and bottom, only at the bottom won't really get much air movement (warm air rises and gets stuck at the top).

 

[Jacko264]

Can you cut a hole in the floor with a vent over it ? If not
as already said a vent in the door remember heat rises
so maybe a vent at the top of the door ?
G

 

[cliffcharb]

Appreciate the suggestions and opinions.

 

[BillK]

During our kitchen remodel a few years back we went with a walk in pantry that’s about 8x8.

I would take the door off and finish the opening. I would get annoyed at having to open the door to get to the pantry items anyway