Bone head or brilliant idea?

[wood butcher]

My NC 30 is working really well at heating the mail room on the main floor of our old school house. I have been trying to get the heat down stairs to the basement where our bedrooms are and have not succeeded yet. Upstairs is at about 22C and the basement can get to 15C. I have tried the fans blowing up the stairs towards the stove with no luck. This is where the crazy idea comes in. Is it possible to PULL the air back across the stove top, down the back and though a duct in the floor into the basement? I can come up with some crazy ideas but this could be the best =). Any suggestions, about the idea not my mental state.

 

[bogydave]

Difficult to do for sure. Heat wants to go up.
It might work, give it a try.
May need a stove in the basement.

 

[rottiman]

Not a problem to pull the air down the duct. Willing to bet you won't like how "cool" it will be when it gets there.

 

[dafattkidd]

I think it's pretty impossible to move hot air down stairs.

Maybe the only way is to have a duct that runs from the stove room (probably best if it is in the floor directly in front of the stove) and runs to the downstairs area. The duct will need a fan pulling that air down. Best if it pulls hot air from in front of the stove to a vent that pushes warm into a lower vent in the basement area. Even if so I think its a long shot and will not be sufficient. That's my two cents. Good luck.

 

[BrotherBart]

It can be done, but isn't worth it. Three or four years ago I put the commercial bazillion CFM industrial fan I was using to cool the warehouse at the top of the basement door with the 30 cruising along to see about heating my basement office. If worked. But the electric bill for that fan would have been a monster.

Turned it off after a few hours and just lit the wood stove down there.

 

[SlyFerret]

If you figure out how to make hot air go down stairs, I would love to hear about it!!

If I put my air mover fan in the stove room and point it down the stairs, I can get the lower level of my split up to 70... but I have to listen to and trip over the fan.

If I can find one that won't void the UL listing in the Majestic zc fireplace that is down there, my best bet will probably be to put in a pellet insert that can be controlled with a thermostat to heat that room.

-SF

 

[snowleopard]

I think of your situation as a happy problem: you have a great excuse to install another stove!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

It is always difficult to work against Mother Nature.

 

[remkel]

I think the effort and expense of getting hot air to go down would be not worth the effort. The moment it gets to the lowest point, it will naturally want to rise again.

 

[wood butcher]

I agree with all of the posts above but the experiment has started. The stove is getting back up to temp and I will see if I can pull the hot air down to make any difference in the basement. Here goes the battle with the Mother!