Do you think this would work?

[ssbn642blue]

First off, what a great site. I've been reading for weeks and learning alot from you guys/gals.

My situation is I was given a VC Vigilant by a neighbor who never installed it as it was given to him. I don't know how hard it was used, but there are no cracks, hot spots and the back looks good. I've taken off all the rust on it and tore out all the gaskets for replacement. It cleaned up nice.

Here is my question. My other neighbor who does burn wood, told me if I were to put it in my basement,(unfinished approx. 1150 sq. ft.), I could block off the plentum of my gas furnace and use a duct fan on the end of my supply run to capture the heat from the stove and push it through the existing ductwork to the upstairs (also 1150 sq. ft. single story).

The stove is approx. 7 feet away from the duct fan, stove will be 6' from stairwell going to kitchen.

Placement dictates that I stick the triplewall out a basement window, then chiminey up to about 18'.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Fsappo]

Without getting too much into the hvac end of things, I can offer this: From my experience, the type of heating your looking at would work much better with a stove that provides convection heat as opposed to radiant. If it was me, I would install the vigilant, which was a fine stove for its time, by the way, in the area you are looking to heat.

Just my 2 yen

 

[spadafore]

Hello and welcome fellow northwest ohio friend, I have no answer but you did find an awesome site.

 

[firefighterjake]

Maybe I'm remembering this wrong, but it seems as though other folks who have tried this haven't had a lot of luck in moving the heat this way . . . now if this was an actual wood furnace with a blower, maybe . . . but as Franks mentioned I think you'll be happier with the stove in the area where you spend your free time (i.e. the living room, family room, etc.) due to its radiated heat.

 

[Lucky Phil]

Back when I burned corn, I had a corn stove that was capable of connecting to the present ductwork. It didn't work all that well, as the corn stove was maybe around 50,000 btu's, and just didn't have the heat to do the job. Also, on the corn site, they talked about having to have dampers, etc. to make it work/be legal. As was said, use it in its' intended purpose, or get a wood furnace.

 

[jeff_t]

I have to agree with getting the stove in your living area. Unfinished/uninsulated basement walls suck up a lot of heat. A duct fan prolly won't move enough air to do a decent job. You also have to think about getting wood to the basement, and you'll use a lot more trying to keep your basement hot enough to keep the rest of your house comfortable.

 

[oldspark]

First off, what a great site. I've been reading for weeks and learning alot from you guys/gals.

My situation is I was given a VC Vigilant by a neighbor who never installed it as it was given to him. I don't know how hard it was used, but there are no cracks, hot spots and the back looks good. I've taken off all the rust on it and tore out all the gaskets for replacement. It cleaned up nice.

Here is my question. My other neighbor who does burn wood, told me if I were to put it in my basement,(unfinished approx. 1150 sq. ft.), I could block off the plentum of my gas furnace and use a duct fan on the end of my supply run to capture the heat from the stove and push it through the existing ductwork to the upstairs (also 1150 sq. ft. single story).

The stove is approx. 7 feet away from the duct fan, stove will be 6' from stairwell going to kitchen.

Placement dictates that I stick the triplewall out a basement window, then chiminey up to about 18'.

Thanks in advance.

With all due respect and do not take this wrong it sounds like a cobb job (done my fair share), I think you would be disappointed in the heat output of the setup, never did like sticking a chiminey out a window and up the side of the house but if braced and done right it should work fine.

 

[madrone]

Radiant heat is one of the greatest things about a wood stove. If you put it in an unfinished basement, you waste that heat. Put it in a room you actually spend time in.

Not sure I completely understand the duct setup, but it sounds like it could be a code violation. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't do a great job of heating the house in that setup.

 

[begreen]

Greetings and welcome. The efficiency of heating from a basement is limited, but possible in some houses. A wood stove is an area heater, so the basement is going to get most of the heat. It's success at heating the rest of the house depends on how well natural heat convection can work to get the heat upstairs and how well heat loss is controlled. If the staircase is wide, central to the house and always open, then a good amount of heat will try to rise up the staircase, with a lot of cool air returning via the same opening at the bottom of the staircase doorway. Efficiency in some cases can be improved by putting return air vents in the floor at the other end of the cellar. We'd have to see the floor plan to make placement suggestions. They should have a fusible link damper built into them.

The second factor, heat loss is where one usually takes the big hit. If the basement is uninsulated expect to lose about 25% of the heat produced by the stove through the uninsulated outer walls of the basement. If the sill and windows are leaky, it could be as high as 35%. This translates into having to burn a lot more wood. Whether it is worth it to burn 4 cords of wood in the basement vs 3 cords if the stove is upstairs is up to you. Insulating the basement can make a big difference here. And be sure you have dry wood to burn. It should be stacked and drying now. Dry wood makes a lot of difference in heat output and clean burning.

I would not plan on altering the existing forced air system. Keep it as a fall back solution in case you are sick or traveling or if the wood runs out. Note, it is illegal to have a return air grille closer than 10 ft to the stove, but if one with a damper could be placed further from the stove, you could try to run the fan only on the system to help circulate heat, but that will raise electric consumption.