How do I get the heat to go upstairs?

Wow, I have the same question, glad I found this thread instead of another same exact thread. Are there any threads on installing registers? LOL

http://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/how-do-i-get-the-heat-to-go-upstairs.93728/

check out this thread..

Ummm maybe I am wrong but..................... isn't that the thread we are posting in??

Are your basement walls insulated? (If not, you are going to have a lot of the heat escape your walls)
Is this a finished basement? Appx Area? I think if you could provide ore info it would help.

How about one of these???


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cyclone-Aut...142?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item416dc80c56

So am I understanding that it may be a code violation to install registers (ie air flow passages) in MY house.

Why may I ask?

and

Is it a code violation just to think about it too?

its another one...I had started within another area...

A register in a floor that opens directly into the ceiling of the room below provides a very easy path for fire to spread from one level to another VERY quickly.

My door to the lower level is open to a split stairwell with 16 ft from the floor to the ceiling. There is a ceiling fan at the top that is in the winter mode. At the bottom door there is a floor fan that blows cold air toward the stove. Cold air drifts down the stairs and is pushed toward the stove. Lighter warm air is pulled up the stairwell and distributed out on the top floor. The lower level is insulated very well.
Trying to eat an uninsulated space with a pellet stove can be very dissapointing.

In many places yes it is. for the same reason you must build a house with fire stops in the walls and when renovating an old house you must add them. Floors act as a barrier to fire. the idea of having a register turns your house into a Chimney. I know it is overkill but that is the reason.....

NOTE: in this country YOUR house can become MY house if you do not follow proper code and I get hurt as a result. Isn't that nice...

I know this thread is old, but thought I would share what I have this in my house since I see some posts from this month.

As long as the through floor registers are "boxed" in, to prevent fire from running down the floor joists, that is what is code here. I bought a 25'x25' 3 sided log house with gambrel style roof. The only heat source was a heat exchanger off of the hot water heater with only a discharge air downstairs. In the winter, anything cooler than 20 below, the house would barely be able to stay 60* with the upstairs staying 15* cooler than the lower floor. After only having 45* in the bedrooms upstairs I installed a BK princess. There were 3 through vents to each room upstairs, and I installed a 6" and 8" inline duct fans on a line thermostat with no help at all as a temporary thought/solution to maybe get through the first winter. It did move air, but not enough to make the noise worth listening to and wouldn't even heat the upstairs up 5* more. The round fan sitting in a square hole, doesn't seal from floor to floor, so there is a major efficiency loss. and they are noisy when there is not ducting to absorb the sound.

Since, I have sacrificed the spare room closet a bit, and installed two 6" lines off the main trunk of the heat exchanger, and installed a second thermostat upstairs that only turns the fan on, when it "calls for heat" that discharges into each room and the hallway. If I am going to be gone from the house more than 3 days, I'll turn my water valve on, and have the normal house heat work while I am gone. Having a concrete pad heated by the wood stove, holds a tremendous amount of heat, but heating it with the h20/exchanger never would be warm at all. Now the upstairs is within 5* difference than downstairs, and in the winter I run the wood stove 99.9% of the time. I have blocked the discharge downstairs to allow more of the air to be forced upstairs, and the return air comes through the floor vents now and the stairwell. Since there is decent airflow now, the upstairs thermostat kicks the fan on maybe 3 to 4 times a day, for about 10 minutes. Before I found that a box fan at the bottom and top of the stairwell to be most efficient.

It is completely legal, as long as the floor is boxed in, where there is no air gap. From my experience, there isn't much air transfer as one would think. Also, one last input, anyone who has a stove that isn't using a fresh air intake, should consider spending the $50-100 for the adapter plate and piping, and use that! I saw a huge difference in how my house behaved to my stove! The windows and door jams stay dry and have no frost built up from sucking in all the cold air. I know some new homes require the kit because they are too tight and won't even create a draft. Hope that this can help someone.

Home Depot also sells powered vents.

I have a wood stove in the basement. I installed a boxed in floor register and to help move the air use a 10" fan out of an old dehumidifier. It moves a lot of air and is pretty quiet. I also hang a louvered basement door during the winter season so the cold air will return down the stairwell and I can keep the door closed.

My stove is ducted straight up. Last night I was laying on the bottom of the stairs headed upstairs and could feel a breeze of cold air running down the bottom of the stairs. This is the "LOOP" Smokey was describing. All my cold air upstairs was being pulled into the basement due to the hot air being forced up. This system is working great for me. My basement is now about 75 instead of 90. main level 70 to 74 and upstairs 68 to 72. Heat pump stays off. My house also has a 2 story foyer that is open all around upstairs so air has plenty of room to move around.

In most jurisdictions you can install a fusible vent (closes with fire). Maybe to expensive, you'll have to source them. Remember if you are in violation of code and you have a fire your insurance probably won't pay. Would be hard to lose your house and find the insurance company won't pay. Being on the street at this time of year is no fun.

pellet stove doesnt put out the raw power of heat like a woodstove, move the pellet upstairs