Some thought

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suprz

suprz

Member
Sep 24, 2012
219
Rhode island
First let me say i am sorry if this topic has been already been discussed . My home is a raised ranch. (Dont know the sq ft) but the jotul is on the top floor and is relatively close to the stairs. I would like to move the heated air to the downstairs if possible and wanted opinions on some of my ideas. Right now there is a chandelier hanging down from the ceiling directly over the landing when you walk into the house. This landing is where you can take the stairs to go up, or to go down. I was thinking of putting a ceiling fan in place of the chandelier to force the hot air downwards and then could use a pedestal fan to blow that air down the stairs and into the lower level. I know it wouldnt be too efficient because of the natural effect of the fans cooling the air, but with the furnace thermostat upstairs and not kicking on when the stove has it nice and toasty up there, it makes for some chilly temps in the basement. Now, i am not heating entirely with the little jotul, i am just using it for nights and weekends right now. We based the purchase of the stove for that purpose so i understand that i will never heat the entire house with it and that is fine with us, i am just throwing ideas out there about taking the edge off the lower levels

Thanks!
 
I'm guessing there is living space in the basement and no separate zone for heat down there? If there is a family room or such, perhaps an oil filled electric radiator for when you want to use the space while the stove is going? Or install electric baseboards?

Moving heat from upstairs to the downstairs is generally a losing battle.

pen
 
I have a similar style house. If your going to be there for for lets say.....over 5 years I would seriously think about putting your stove downstairs if you spend alot of time down there. Mine is down stairs in my "man cave". Small fan at bottom of landing pointing towards the stove helps the natural flow of warmer air upstairs. Something to think about anyway.
 
if this is truly supplemental heat and you are not attempting to make it exclusive then you can easily move your thermostat and block off the upstairs ducts from furnace heat. Moving a thermostat is a lot easier than an stove or hot air "south".
 
I suspect the ceiling fan won't make a large difference, but could be wrong. My concern is that even if the heat is blown downward, will it diffuse sideways into the basement or just rise up again in the stairway? There is a purpose built fan for this that you might try: http://www.theairpear.com/model25.html. Someone else makes a kit with a fan up high in the ceiling space and a fabric tube that blows the heat out low. Maybe you could do a variation on this with a small inline duct fan mounted high with an insulated duct running down from it and into the basement space?

Moving the thermostat is ok, but blocking vents is discouraged because it often imbalances the system. In the worst case scenario that can damage the blower motor. A best solution if there is a furnace is to zone the system with thermostatically controlled dampers. Or just put an oil filled radiator in the basement area and turn it on when heat is desired.
 
If you could gather the warm air above the stove and blow it into the basement you may have some success. If the do the ceiling fan thing i would also open a passagesway far from the stove to blow the cooler air from your basement up into the 2nd floor to encourage the warm air to move down into the lower level from the stove. Either way its a bit easier to move warm air up and cool air down.
 
Hello Suprz, I'm in a similar situation. Also have a raised ranch (all built so similarly) although my insert is going where your stove is now, just downstairs. So my issue is revsersed. Thinking about putting a fan at the top of the entryway to draw air up from the downstairs.

In any event, I just wanted to tell you that the fan doesn't actually cool off any air. It feels cooler because a greater rate in thermal transfer. So if you're not standing in front of a wind current, it would be distributing the heat. Someone mentioned that the eddys created might not make the path to the downstairs real well, but something is better than nothing.

You could try suspending a box fan or something put it on low and see if it helps downstairs over time :Shrug:

Also Suprz, that doesn't have anything to do with a Toyota Supra does it?: :]
 

No, it has something to do with my old car, 1990 chevy z24 cavalier 3.1 V6 5 speed. Eibach springs (3 inch drop) that car handled like it was on rails! I miss that car sometimes...
 
Ahh, I see. Good to see you're a car guy at least. BW I didn't know that car came with a stick, that must have been pretty sweet!
 
We have a similar house and we use electric baseboard heat downstairs when it is in use. In our lower level we have a mancave type room, laundry room, extra bedroom and a bathroom. Each room has it's own electric baseboard. For the most part, the thermostat set at 50 and the heat never comes on because the space naturally never get's lower than that. We use the man cave room some nights and the electric heat goes on at night in that particular space - then off when the TV is not in use. The extra bedroom is only used when we have guests, The bathroom is used so the heater turned on when showers taken and then heat off when we are done. The small infrared heaters also work well if you did not want to go to the expense of installing baseboard electric heat. I was thinking of a small gas stove heater to run off propane for the man cave but still in the thinking about it stages. Will have to check the gas boards on Hearth to learn more about it.
 
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If you can figure out how to make heat go down, let me know. I'm in a similar situation in my split level.

My stove is on the mid level in the living room. Heats the mid level and upper level well. The family room (my home office) is on the lower level and stays chilly.

I'm still in a shoulder season pattern so I'm using an electric space heater down there while I work. Once it gets cold and I can keep the stove going, I use an air mover fan to blow warm air from the stove room down the stairs. It works OK, but the fan sitting on the floor is in the way and I get tired of the noise.

-SF
 
I like the idea of the gas or pellet stove in the lower level, that heat will rise and aid in the whole heating process. A ceiling fan in the foyer also a good idea for air movement. In the summer time in may help draw some cooler air for the lower level and keep humidity levels more even as well. The electric heat will cost much more, or does here in WI anyway.
 
My plan, when I can work it into the budget, is to replace my majestic wmc42 fireplace in the lower level with a zero clearance pellet stove. I would probably connect the pellet stove to a thermostat.

-SF
 
Well, i started up the jotul this morning around 7:30am and it was 66 degrees upstairs, by 8:30 it was 72 degrees , and i let the fire die out around 12noon and it was 74 degrees and t-shirts weather upstairs! (34 degrees and rainy/sleet outside) restarted the stove about 4:30pm and just used 3 biobricks and just came downstairs just now, (7:16pm) and the stove has coals in it now and it is back at 75 degrees upstairs. The furnace never came on today at all. I am glad that biobricks exist! I am out of seasoned wood for this year....
 
Wow. 66 is an impressive starting point. We leave the temps around 57 degrees normally. Would like to see 62-63 with the insert.

LOL 57... You know I have an oil furnace. Haha
 
It gets to 57 in this house and the lady of the manse would be checking into a hotel. And I would join her.
 
Used to have my office in the basement of our two story house. Did a shot at blowing heat down there one time. Brought in the industrial warehouse fan and it got it done. And sounded like a turbo-prop taking off and cost a fortune in electricity. Gave up and installed the Jotul F3 down there. The office isn't down there any more but a pellet stove is. Fire it when I need to work down there and shut it down when I am done.
 
I think you'll have a tough time blowing hot air down the stairs. However, I will point out that the fan will not cool the air. The moving air will feel cooler because it will remove heat from an object (or from you) faster than still air, but the moving air will still be at the same temperature as it was when it was not moving. Your hot air will still be hot after the fan pushes it down the steps, but that means it will try to rise as soon as it escapes the effect of the fan. Usually i read advice that says it is easier to push cold air toward the stove than to push hot air away, but in your case I don't know how to do that.
 
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