How hot is too hot for the floor above my stove?

[albertj03]

I've noticed that the floor above my stove is pretty warm and I'm wondering if this is a potential issue. The stove is in the basement below where the linoleum floor in the kitchen meets the wood floor in the dinning room. I used my IR thermometer and found the plywood subfloor right above the stove (in the basement) was 115 degrees. A few feet out from the stove it was 105 degrees. Up stairs the linoleum floor was 83 degrees above where it was 115 downstairs and 80 degrees above where it was 105. The hardwood floor, which is hickory, was at least 3 degrees cooler across from where I measured the linoleum. The stove stop exceeds the 56" clearance to combustibles, it is 70 1/2" from stove top to plywood subfloor. At the time I took these readings the stove top was 690 degrees which isn't out of the ordinary when it's cranking on a fresh load. It typically settles downs to 600 - 650 after a little bit and cruises from there.

The only "vent" from the basement to the 1st floor is the basement door which we leave open some, if not all the way when the stove is going. Someone told me I should put a floor vent in the kitchen right above the stove but I've read that it is a bad idea. My wife said I should position a fan pointing at the ceiling above the stove to move the hot air away from it, which doesn't sound like a great idea to me. Maybe putting the blower on the stove to blow the hot air off the stove top would be the best solution but there isn't an outlet any where near the stove down there.

Is this even something I should worry about? Thoughts and opinions are much appreciated.

Thank you

 

[begreen]

Doesn't sound out of the ordinary. At 115F it is quite safe. I would be more concerned if it were reading above about 180F. A blower on the stove will help lower the stovetop temps.

FWIW, our bathroom floor above the kitchen has warm spots too, from the recessed ceiling cans in the kitchen.

 

[Jags]

You haven't said anything that would really scare me, other than putting a vent above the stove to the next floor above. Stay away from that. I think NFPA211 states that it needs to be 11 or 12 (I'm not a code nazi) feet away as a minimum. Please review proper code for specifics before you take that route.

 

[albertj03]

Thanks for the input. I didn't buy a blower for the stove because I didn't need one on my last stove to get warm air upstairs and there isn't an outlet near the stove to plug one in. Of course the old stove never put off enough heat to make the floor as warm as the new stove does. Might be worth getting an electrition to install an outlet and adding the blower just to have it. I don't like the idea of cutting a hole in my kitchen floor so I won't be putting in a vent.

 

[Jags]

A box fan set on low - even several feet away from the stove can make a huge difference in how the air convection behaves.

 

[DanCorcoran]

In regard to getting warm air upstairs (unrelated to warm kitchen floor), your easiest bet is to have a box fan sitting at the top of the stairs, blowing cold air down...the hot air then takes care of itself.

 

[pen]

Is there at least 18 inches from your stove pipe to these floor joists? If so, then most manufacturers say you are far enough away.

pen

 

[albertj03]

No problem getting warm air up to the first floor, it's 75 up there right now and I haven't touched the stove since 12:30. Looks like about 35 1/2" from the stove pipe to the bottom of the nearest floor joist so I'm good there.