Cant get the heat upstairs

[wxhitmanxw]

I just had a woodstove installed and a class a chimney , its a heatilator ws18 and I have 28 ft of chimney. It's a 2 story town home with a daylight basement which is where the stove is and 500 sq ft per floor . I'm in the process of finishing the basement so the walls are insulated as well as the ceiling which was already there before I started the project however , I haven't put the drop ceiling in yet I'm thinking about removing the ceiling insulation. I already have a 4x10 register cut in above the stove and a same size return on the other side of the basement but you can't really feel much heat coming up through. I'm not sure if a blower for the stove would help much or not. Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ScotO]

I just had a woodstove installed and a class a chimney , its a heatilator ws18 and I have 28 ft of chimney. It's a 2 story town home with a daylight basement which is where the stove is and 500 sq ft per floor . I'm in the process of finishing the basement so the walls are insulated as well as the ceiling which was already there before I started the project however , I haven't put the drop ceiling in yet I'm thinking about removing the ceiling insulation. I already have a 4x10 register cut in above the stove and a same size return on the other side of the basement but you can't really feel much heat coming up through. I'm not sure if a blower for the stove would help much or not. Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

a blower would help, and leaving your basement door open would also help......insulated ceiling in the basement, not so good for the natural convection of the heat.....it will look for a place to rise so you will definately have to let your door open......that would allow the cold air to sink to the basement and the warm air down there to rise, the blower fan would greatly boost that action....keep us posted...

 

[wxhitmanxw]

Yea I have had the door open too and still not getting much out of it

 

[ScotO]

Yea I have had the door open too and still not getting much out of it

may have to try a fan down there, try setting a fan in a doorway or 12 or so feet away from the stove, aim a fan towards the stove to blow cold air to the stove.....see if this gets your heat to circulate.....have you checked your stove temp while it is at a high burn yet?......

 

[begreen]

The ceiling insulation definitely is not helping. It should be removed. But for now, take a table fan and put it on the landing or floor at the top of the basement stairs, pointed down stairs. Turn it on low-speed. That will give natural convection a bit of a push. At the top of the stairway door you should feel the warm air coming up.

 

[ScotO]

and another thing a 4 x 10 register is not going to transfer a lot of heat.....you may have to put several of them throughout your house.....don't do that until you have tried other ways of getting it to circulate.....you don't want a bunch of extra vents to the basement if you don't need them, you may want to consider a filtered plenum above your stove down in the basement and attach it to your hot air main duct to distribute heat throughout your hot air ductwork (if you have forced air heat).....I'm sure others will chime in here soon.....

 

[wxhitmanxw]

I take the stove up to about 600 to 650 then start banking it down, it typically holds around there for a good 30 min. I also contemplated putting and in line duct fan above it to blow upstairs.

 

[ScotO]

like BeGreen and I stated, try the fan on your basement stairs, pointed down.....see if this gets the convection going a bit better....and a stove blower is a big help for this exact reason.....it makes a big difference in our install.....

 

[wxhitmanxw]

I have all electric heat so I have no duct work, yea I don't want to cut my floor all up either , maybe put a 6x12 above with a duct fan?

 

[ScotO]

I have all electric heat so I have no duct work, yea I don't want to cut my floor all up either , maybe put a 6x12 above with a duct fan?

honestly that is just not going to move the volume of warm air you are wanting to get upstairs....you will more than likely need several vents, but try out the fan trick and see if it helps.....

 

[wxhitmanxw]

Ok ill have to go fetch a fan, do you guys recommend getting the blower for the stove ?

 

[ScotO]

Ok ill have to go fetch a fan, do you guys recommend getting the blower for the stove ?

I would, because it will move the air around that stove and aid in the convection...

 

[begreen]

Try the fan trick and remove the insulation. If that doesn't show a marked improvement be careful about cutting holes. To be effective you will need careful placement and some thought to fire protection. Post a floor plan for some guidance.

 

[mellow]

I would also change out that register to fire rated one.

 

[DanCorcoran]

Blowing the cold air down will be much more effective than blowing the warm air up. Remember that the cold air is much more dense, so your fan is moving much more air when blowing cold than hot.

 

[HighHeat22]

a 4 x 10 register is not going to do the job. You spent a lot of money on the woodburner and chimney and I hate to say it you are going to have to cut a lot more holes in your floor if you want that heat to get upstairs. On second thought maybe you should of put the woodburner on the main floor. I put mine on main floor and thought about putting in the basement. But, I to was worried about the heat transfer. Good luck I am sure by removing the insulation it will help.

 

[Waulie]

I'm surprised this hasn't been asked yet, but how warm is your basement getting? How warm is your upstairs getting? The differential between the two will give a hint as to just how bad your air circulation is.

Regardless, removing the ceiling insulation should help a great deal. Warm floors can make a cooler space feel quite a bit warmer.

 

[wxhitmanxw]

I'm not exactly sure of the temperatures but its substancially warmer downstairs, however not to the point where I have to open the sliding glass door .

 

[Vincent]

I have a Lopi Endeavor and a blower sure makes a big difference with mine. I thought it might be a waste of money at first. but I would never buy another stove without one.

 

[wxhitmanxw]

I was looking at the lopi endeavor and the republic 1750, they were just a little too pricey for me at the time. I hear they're good stoves though. I tore down most of the insulation and I'm gonna burn tomorrow night , its supposed to get into the mid 20s , ill let all of you know how I make out and thanks for all the feedback!

 

[spirilis]

yeah just tossing one thought in, keep in mind that moving heat from the basement upstairs relies 100% on convection, makes more sense to extract the stove's heat using a blower than relying on radiatively heating the basement and letting the walls/objects down there warm the air.

It does appear based on the service parts diagram of that stove that it is a jacketed stove, so it is more of a "convective" stove anyway. Likely the right choice for what you're trying to do. I vote for the blower. You might be *blown away* with how much heat it produces with one ..... ha ha
I think in theory those type of jacketed stoves are supposed to produce a healthy convection current all by themselves without a blower, but I'm betting the blower will help that out a lot.

 

[wxhitmanxw]

Haha yes, I noticed that due to the shields the only place you get any "real" heat is off the top and the front of the stove . I think tomorrow I'm going to pick one up.

 

[thewoodlands]

I just had a woodstove installed and a class a chimney , its a heatilator ws18 and I have 28 ft of chimney. It's a 2 story town home with a daylight basement which is where the stove is and 500 sq ft per floor . I'm in the process of finishing the basement so the walls are insulated as well as the ceiling which was already there before I started the project however , I haven't put the drop ceiling in yet I'm thinking about removing the ceiling insulation. I already have a 4x10 register cut in above the stove and a same size return on the other side of the basement but you can't really feel much heat coming up through. I'm not sure if a blower for the stove would help much or not. Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

We have the Lopi Liberty with a bower installed in the basement heating about 1750 sq. ft up and close to the same for the basement, our walls are studded up then insulated. Our ceiling is insulated from the outside plate about two feet in, the rest of the ceiling is not insulated.


We heat the house without any problems, we leave the cellar door open and we never put in any registers in the floor.


zap

 

[wxhitmanxw]

I'm jealous! That's what I did when I took the insulation down , left about a foot and a half around the perimeter.

 

[spirilis]

Haha yes, I noticed that due to the shields the only place you get any "real" heat is off the top and the front of the stove . I think tomorrow I'm going to pick one up.

ah yep, that's a good clue. The stovetop doesn't look like it has any kind of jacket according to the parts diagram, so the stovetop + front glass are primarily radiant heating surfaces, the sides/back are convective. With a register right above the stove most of that radiant heat (and the stovetop is usually the hottest part too) is pointing straight up at the register which should help keep that heat moving upstairs. The diagram also shows the stovetop overhangs the sides a bit, that probably impedes the natural convective airflow through the jacket, the blower will help with that. Best of luck!