Heat not going upstairs as expected...

Basement will need to be insulated for sure. A fan to return cold air from the floor above will encourage basement air tio rise, but the answer is to have a stove on the 1st floor.

b_newhall said:

We bought a Quadra Fire 1200i pellet stove insert that we put in our fireplace in the basement. It is heating downstairs just fine we have it on 70 degrees. Upstairs stays a good 10 degrees cooler, and feels even cooler do we really need to crank it up to like 80 downstairs? We have 3 registers in the floor one above the stove one half way down at the hall and one at the end of the hall they are equally spaced and in a row inline with the stove. The stairwell to the basement is in the garage so no way we can let the heat up that way. The basement is a large open space that is mainly concrete and unfinished, eventually we will be finishing it.

Any tips or suggestions are really appreciated.

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In short, yes, you will have to crank it up to 80 if you want 70 upstairs. The other thing I think was mentioned is that you lose a huge amt of BTU's without the walls/floor being unfinished/uncovered. Get that basement insulated well and you'll notice a greater difference upstairs.

Ideally, you want the stove in the room you are trying to heat. A basement install is usually better suited for wood/coal. You're going to have to crank it and get proper air flow with a network of fans to move it. Or, move it upstairs.

b_newhall said:

Would putting a ceiling fan on reverse on the 1st floor help draw the heat up? So when we finish the walls we should insulate between the concrete and tongue and groove?

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You want to stud out the walls and fill the void with foam and THEN put the T&G on.

The registers you speak of should have the feel of cold air returning if there is circulation thru your house. Cold air moves easier than warm air and fans to pull it down will be more efficient than trying the opposite (I know it sounds wrong but ask any heating person). Close the registers that will drain from your main living area or at least experiment to enhance one or the other room that you prefer. Insulated basement a must with thermal breaks to the basement wall(no wood touching). All in all, you should have expected these results to some degree.

edit...whoops, the entry from the garage is bad news...can you install steps in the house like most houses? Sure keeps getting more complicated.

It's just about a must to insulate the basement, otherwise you're primarily heating the concrete and only secondarily heating your upstairs. When you insulate the walls, don't forget the floor... even just a carpet with some padding underneath it.
Is there any other way of moving the heat into the upstairs other than the three registers? How big are they?

Can you install a vent fan below one of the floor vents to blow cold air into the basement? Code and insurance issues?

BIH

I got one 6" duct work form the front of stove up fivefeet and 15 feet across the cellar and up floor register. The stove is a king 5510. This morning 28 deg. out 68 inside. on heat range #2 out 5. Burning greenteams. I'm heating 700sq down stairs and 700sq up stairs. I think the key to heating form cellar is some duct work. I'v run it last year that way and now. My cellar is unfinished.

The key is getting an airflow established, the hot air has to be able to go up and the cold air has to be able to fall below it and to the stove.

The reason for insulating the basement (actually any area) is to allow the stove to actually be able to exceed the heat loss of the area it is attempting to heat.

If either of the above two things is missing you will not be able to heat the desired area.

I have a basement install and heat a bit more than 1800 square feet with the stove.

The house has a half wall along one side of the stairwell, the way it is situated provides decent air flow, the temperature difference is about 5 degrees.

Usually if you have a basement fireplace you have a first floor /living room fireplace, unless you hang around there alot it's not wise to use a pellet stove in the basement, get a woodstove down there and move the pellet upstairs, I used to heat my entire cape with wood, basement was 90+ upstairs upper 70's and 3rd level in the 60's

Depending on how you heat your home with the stove there may not be that great of an advantage to insulating the concrete. Concrete walls burried and covered on the outside will not wick away heat like an exterior wall exposed to outside air. For sure there is loss but not nearly as much. The walls will heat and radiate into the ground and back into the room. You won't gain anything by insulating your floors either. your sill plate should be well insulated however, and any drafts/holes sealed. That's a common area to forget or not seal well. I would never discourage someone from saving even a single BTU but 3" of sprayfoam is expensive unless your planning on making that quality living space. Definately on the sill plate or end of joists.

10 degrees is pretty good. You may be able to do better but I've got 80 in the stove room and 65 in the bedrooms. I can get it to even out when I burn 24/7 but that's only for about 2 days/week.

I would consider putting a quiet exhaust fan in one of those floor grates. that will pull the cool air down. The warm air from the stove will quickly replace it by going up remaining grates. I am impressed that your are getting heat upstairs with only a 10 degree loss. Putting a pellet stove in an uninsulated area is usually very unsatisfactory. Even when installed in the living areas, if that area is poorly insulated, the stove is little more than a space heater. If all the areas you intend to heat with a pellet stove are well insulated, you can usually heat large areas. I heat 2000 sq ft with no problem, but in a well insulated home with a fan pulling cool air toward the stove.
If it were not for the fact that you intend to finish the area the stove is in, then a pellet furnace or a wood stove would be a better performer for your situation.

btuser said:

Depending on how you heat your home with the stove there may not be that great of an advantage to insulating the concrete. Concrete walls burried and covered on the outside will not wick away heat like an exterior wall exposed to outside air. For sure there is loss but not nearly as much. The walls will heat and radiate into the ground and back into the room. You won't gain anything by insulating your floors either. your sill plate should be well insulated however, and any drafts/holes sealed. That's a common area to forget or not seal well. I would never discourage someone from saving even a single BTU but 3" of sprayfoam is expensive unless your planning on making that quality living space. Definately on the sill plate or end of joists.

10 degrees is pretty good. You may be able to do better but I've got 80 in the stove room and 65 in the bedrooms. I can get it to even out when I burn 24/7 but that's only for about 2 days/week.

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Sorry to disagree but any avenue of heating up the earth is a lost cause. Thermal breaks are very necessary. Livin' in Canada,we figured it out after awhile.

If i am understanding this right you have 3 registers equally spaced out... and a door that is closed with a unfinished basement?
I am sorry but that's not the ideal situation... but it can work to a degree... first and foremost, you will see a huge difference from insulation...
Second where you will need a fan on top of one of he vent to blow air into he basement .. then I would try another fan to pull air up.... when you aren't in the basement run the stove at a higher temp ...you gotta experiment a little to find the right combo... try blasting the stove for an hr to see if it will raise upstairs temps quickly etc.... you might need a fan to blow air from one end of the house to the vent close to the stove ...which should cause the warm air to come up through the vent furthest from the stove..

Rather than put all that money in the basement that you may not use much.
If that insert is a zero clerence also. You could just build a enclosure upstairs in a room you enjoy ahead of time and just move the insert after you have that ready upstairs so you can enjoy it.

It would be alot less costly than doing the basement.

I just built in my quad castile insert basicaly a 2 foot deep box on the side of the house, just a thought.

I have a 1 & 1/2 story Cape Cod Farm house built in 1890..remodeled 4 times until I striped it down to studs 5 years ago.
Ahh.. new wiring,plumbing,sewer and water.
The only thing I didn't focus on was duct work.

I am paying the price now..I have a similar deal..I heat the middle floor and up stairs with the pellets ..but the basement gets COLD.
No big deal until it gets like 20 below Zero..which can happen for 2 months every year.

I would LOVE a warm basement..safe water supply and no frozen pipes..then just run the main furnace fan during those cold spells
as I do now and circulate that air.

As I have it now my basement is around 55 my main living area is 74 and upstairs where we sleep is around 70..we open and shut our bedroom window to get more or less.stove on lowest setting.
When the 40 below stuff hits..I run a electric/oil heater in the basement and furnace fan is on full time.Stove goes to level 4

Now my furnace fan isn't on at all. 20's and 30's aint that bad,