getting the warmth to other rooms ?

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trx680

Member
Sep 27, 2011
101
Petersburg Virginia
I bought a woodstove insert about a month ago. Works great heating the living room, but I need that heat to go into the rest of the house, especially the two bedrooms. I have a 2 bed 1 bath rancher. I have a heatpump that keeps the whole house warm. The thermostat is in the livingroom so when I run the woodstove the heatpump never comes on and the bedrooms get cold.

I'm looking for some ideas on how to get that warmth into the bedrooms.


Any ideas?


thanks !!!
 
Simple answer is to put a fan on the floor in the hallway blowing the heavy, cool air back into the stove room.
 
This is why I set my stove/insert into the fireplace as a freestanding. That said, I keep a small 12 inch box fan in the hallway. It pulls the heat back into the bedrooms (76 degrees in the hallway) by pushing cooler air towards the stove whereas the heat at the ceiling level rushes back into the rooms.
 
Don't discount the fan idea... One fan pushes heat throughout my 2300sf 2-story in surprising ways. Search on it here- the key is to use the fans to push the cold air around, not the hot.
 
Follow the advice here moving cold air toward your stove room. Try different locations at low speed. The cooler air will displace the heated air in your stove room. Try the reverse also!

Be patient, but realize that heated air does not readily move horizontally.

Keep warm and burn safely!
 
+1 on all of the comments above. Do a search on this as there are many discussions and validations and I can add mine to them. Doesn't need to be a big fan but it does need to be pushing cool air into the stove room. Sounds counterintuitive but hang some small strips of tissue paper in the top of the doorway and see which way the warm air is moving.
 
+2 on all the comments above. My house is alot smaller than yours, but doing it this way works really well.
 
I just blow the hot air down the hall to the bedrooms, shut bedroom doors to keep from getting too hot. I tried that blowing cold air to the stove last winter and will never waste my time doing that again, I tried it half the winter last year.


Now we put the fan behind stove blowing down the hall worked for 25 yrs and still does.
 
I have done both. Small corner fan at the top of the doorway leading out and a box fan at the floor packing the cold air in.


Matt
 
Yup, moving the cold air towards the stove will induce a convection current that moves warm air back to replace it.

It might take a couple fans, carefully placed, but should work. Low speed is usually plenty.

Can you tell us more about the layout of the house?

-SF
 
SlyFerret said:
Yup, moving the cold air towards the stove will induce a convection current that moves warm air back to replace it.

It might take a couple fans, carefully placed, but should work. Low speed is usually plenty.

Can you tell us more about the layout of the house?

-SF
Click to expand...
without drawing a diagram theres the livingroom
then a short hallway, about 10 feet long
bath on one side of the hall
bedroom on the other side
bedroom at the end of the hall

not much room for a fan on the floor

LIVING
ROOM
B H
A A
T L BED
H L
ROOM
BED

ROOM
 
Pushing the cold air towards the stoves with fans on the floor did the trick for me.
 
trx680 said:
SlyFerret said:
Yup, moving the cold air towards the stove will induce a convection current that moves warm air back to replace it.

It might take a couple fans, carefully placed, but should work. Low speed is usually plenty.

Can you tell us more about the layout of the house?

-SF
Click to expand...
without drawing a diagram theres the livingroom
then a short hallway, about 10 feet long
bath on one side of the hall
bedroom on the other side
bedroom at the end of the hall

not much room for a fan on the floor

LIVING
ROOM
B H
A A
T L BED
H L
ROOM
BED

ROOM
Click to expand...

I like this. Pretty good diagram for "without drawing a diagram" :)
 
Craig, that seems to be a thread on stacking wood! Good one though.
 
trx680 said:
SlyFerret said:
Yup, moving the cold air towards the stove will induce a convection current that moves warm air back to replace it.

It might take a couple fans, carefully placed, but should work. Low speed is usually plenty.

Can you tell us more about the layout of the house?

-SF
Click to expand...
without drawing a diagram theres the livingroom
then a short hallway, about 10 feet long
bath on one side of the hall
bedroom on the other side
bedroom at the end of the hall

not much room for a fan on the floor

LIVING
ROOM
B H
A A
T L BED
H L
ROOM
BED

ROOM
Click to expand...

Give it a try. Temporarily try placing a fan on the floor at the far end of the hallway, pointed toward the stove room. It can be a regular table or box fan, run on low speed. If that works there are compact fans that may be more suitable. Stanley makes this one that some folks have reported liking for this purpose. It's aslo sold under the Lasko brand: http://www.amazon.com/Stanley-High-Velocity-Blower-Fan-655702/dp/B0001BJDUQ
 
cptoneleg said:
I just blow the hot air down the hall to the bedrooms, shut bedroom doors to keep from getting too hot. I tried that blowing cold air to the stove last winter and will never waste my time doing that again, I tried it half the winter last year.


Now we put the fan behind stove blowing down the hall worked for 25 yrs and still does.
Click to expand...

This works for everyone else so apparently there is some variable involved here. Perhaps you used a pedestal fan? If so, that would cause bad results. Just a small fan sitting on the floor running on low speed does the trick.


Like you, we also tried blowing the warm air towards the rear of the house and it was a lot longer than the 25 years you report. I scoffed when I first read about the fan trick of blowing the cool air rather than the warm. Yet, I was willing to at least try it and to my amazement, it worked even better than anything I had ever expected to work. When one understands what actually happens when it is done right then it is easy to understand why it works. I'd highly suggest you give this one more try.
 
well, after so many of you all agreeing on the fan trick I ventured out to Target...no fans, Walmart....no fans, Home Depot....no fans. I guess its the wrong time of year to be selling fans. No one had them. The only fans I have are pedestal fans that sit about 4-5 feet high. What I'll do for now is try to use the woodstove blower to blow the heat towards the fan and use the fan to blow the heat down the hallway....hopefully into the bedrooms. I'll have to order a fan. I like that stanley fan that amazon has.

thanks guys !!!!

btw, for long term I was thinking about having my HVAC friend hook up something. What I had in mind is a HVAC return vent in the living room with a small blower in the attic, and then ducts in the attic to vents in the ceiling in the bathroom and both bedrooms. I'd have a HVAC type thermostat in the master bedroom to control the blower. I'd have it set so that when I use the woodstove the living room gets hot and prevents the heatpump from turning on, then the bedroom will get cold and the thermostat will trigger the blower to come on.

There are times when I work night shift and sleep during the day with the door closed. So no heat will be able to make it into the room via a fan circulating the heat.

just a thought !!!
 
I recall one year also needing a small fan during the winter. None on shelves. Went to a hardware and asked. Sure enough, they had plenty in the store room and it took only a few minutes for someone to dig one out.
 
trx680 said:
well, after so many of you all agreeing on the fan trick I ventured out to Target...no fans, Walmart....no fans, Home Depot....no fans. I guess its the wrong time of year to be selling fans. No one had them. The only fans I have are pedestal fans that sit about 4-5 feet high. What I'll do for now is try to use the woodstove blower to blow the heat towards the fan and use the fan to blow the heat down the hallway....hopefully into the bedrooms. I'll have to order a fan. I like that stanley fan that amazon has.

thanks guys !!!!

btw, for long term I was thinking about having my HVAC friend hook up something. What I had in mind is a HVAC return vent in the living room with a small blower in the attic, and then ducts in the attic to vents in the ceiling in the bathroom and both bedrooms. I'd have a HVAC type thermostat in the master bedroom to control the blower. I'd have it set so that when I use the woodstove the living room gets hot and prevents the heatpump from turning on, then the bedroom will get cold and the thermostat will trigger the blower to come on.

There are times when I work night shift and sleep during the day with the door closed. So no heat will be able to make it into the room via a fan circulating the heat.

just a thought !!!
Click to expand...

You could try it but if you just run a heat vent to wherever and your door is closed..it won't work..no cold air return.
Even with one or the door open,I doubt the results would be all that good.
 
trx680 said:
well, after so many of you all agreeing on the fan trick I ventured out to Target...no fans, Walmart....no fans, Home Depot....no fans. I guess its the wrong time of year to be selling fans. No one had them. The only fans I have are pedestal fans that sit about 4-5 feet high. What I'll do for now is try to use the woodstove blower to blow the heat towards the fan and use the fan to blow the heat down the hallway....hopefully into the bedrooms. I'll have to order a fan. I like that stanley fan that amazon has.

thanks guys !!!!

btw, for long term I was thinking about having my HVAC friend hook up something. What I had in mind is a HVAC return vent in the living room with a small blower in the attic, and then ducts in the attic to vents in the ceiling in the bathroom and both bedrooms. I'd have a HVAC type thermostat in the master bedroom to control the blower. I'd have it set so that when I use the woodstove the living room gets hot and prevents the heatpump from turning on, then the bedroom will get cold and the thermostat will trigger the blower to come on.

There are times when I work night shift and sleep during the day with the door closed. So no heat will be able to make it into the room via a fan circulating the heat.

just a thought !!!
Click to expand...

Maybe look in thrift stores for a fan or could you borrow one for a few days? Try the fan trick first as described. Often duct runs as described are less successful due to heat loss in the duct run, especially when they run through cold areas. If the fan trick works, is there any wall space at the end of the hallway or does it have the bedroom door directly in line with it? The reason I ask is that I could see getting a 120v, 5" computer fan and mounting it on standoffs, low on the wall, blowing toward the stove if that was possible.
 
BeGreen said:
trx680 said:
well, after so many of you all agreeing on the fan trick I ventured out to Target...no fans, Walmart....no fans, Home Depot....no fans. I guess its the wrong time of year to be selling fans. No one had them. The only fans I have are pedestal fans that sit about 4-5 feet high. What I'll do for now is try to use the woodstove blower to blow the heat towards the fan and use the fan to blow the heat down the hallway....hopefully into the bedrooms. I'll have to order a fan. I like that stanley fan that amazon has.

thanks guys !!!!

btw, for long term I was thinking about having my HVAC friend hook up something. What I had in mind is a HVAC return vent in the living room with a small blower in the attic, and then ducts in the attic to vents in the ceiling in the bathroom and both bedrooms. I'd have a HVAC type thermostat in the master bedroom to control the blower. I'd have it set so that when I use the woodstove the living room gets hot and prevents the heatpump from turning on, then the bedroom will get cold and the thermostat will trigger the blower to come on.

There are times when I work night shift and sleep during the day with the door closed. So no heat will be able to make it into the room via a fan circulating the heat.

just a thought !!!
Click to expand...

Maybe look in thrift stores for a fan or could you borrow one for a few days? Try the fan trick first as described. Often duct runs as described are less successful due to heat loss in the duct run, especially when they run through cold areas. If the fan trick works, is there any wall space at the end of the hallway or does it have the bedroom door directly in line with it? The reason I ask is that I could see getting a 120v, 5" computer fan and mounting it on standoffs, low on the wall, blowing toward the stove if that was possible.
Click to expand...


the bedroom door is at the very end of the hallway. I'd actually have to place the fan in front of that door to draw air out of that bedroom to keep that room circulating too ( I guess )
 
Found a small fan in Ace Hardware today for $20. Sits on the floor and it can tilt toward the ceiling. Have it in my cathedral ceiling living room where stove is, seems to be helping to even out the heat. I know I could use a ceiling fan, this is a much cheaper option for now!
 
Used the fan trick it works great. Definitely try it.
 
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