creative ideas that have worked...

[mlasko]

I know somebody has met some kind of success with creative ways moving the cold air to the basement where there wood stove is located....I'm definitely going to do something, but wanted to steal somebody elses successful and reasonably safe idea....

I know that just hacking holes in the floor isn't a good idea due to the fact that the smoke can just rise all the more quickly...I also know that moving cold air is a better way that trying to move the warm air around.

I have a small 1300 square foot ranch with an open basement stairwell on the end of the house opposite the colder bedrooms. I've seen creative ideas in the past but it took many hours of reading to find them last year....let's hear'em now....

I'm pretty handy and can handle cutting holes making ductwork, wiring up fans, etc....I just need the right idea and the assurance of someone elses success to proceed.

 

[pen]

I have essentially the same house layout. My stove has a floor vent directly above it (the original company who installed the stove in 81 did that). It actually works really well as the cold air is drawn down the foyer and into the basement and hot air rises like crazy. If I need to, I can open the foyer door and use the ceiling fan in that area to draw the air up, and the vent above the stove turns into a cold air return. The bedrooms in the coldest days in the winter stay within about 5 degrees of the main living area (kitchen, dining room, main bath, living room are near the stove side of the house). I don't recommend this setup however as the vent above the floor is no longer to code, although my house inspector (when I bought the place) had no concerns (idiots).

In my setup, I have had good luck using one of those vertical floor fans (the ones with an impeller) placed on the floor at the end of the hallway in between the farthest two bedrooms pointed back at the warmer part of the house. I have only done this to see if it would bring the temps of the bedrooms up for testing purposes. REally, I prefer the bedrooms cold so it's not an issue.

I would assume that the best place for a floor vent would be in the floor of the far corners of each of the furthest rooms if you want the most even heating (assuming the basement is open and it's at least 10 ft from the stove) I can't do this however as there is a 1 car garage in the basement below my bedrooms and I do not want an opening in the floor from there to the bedrooms.

Remember, penetration between floors should have an automatic closing system if over heated. Open duct vents are legit even if they are a distance from the stove (which seems strange since it's OK for me to leave my basement door open!)

pen

 

[savageactor7]

...when all else fails.

 

[pen]

...when all else fails.

Are you suggesting to burn that for more heat?!? hh:

pen

 

[SolarAndWood]

...when all else fails.

that's funny...what book do you turn to when you are trying to get heat from the stove on the main floor to the lower level walkout?

Woodsmoke, it seems like a large diameter cold air return in the floor in the farthest corner powered with a very low velocity inline fan might work. It would be a fairly inexpensive experiment. You have a big ole stove for that space, it shouldn't take too much encouragement to pull some of that heat around.