No new stove for me after all.....

[MCPO]

...........My plan was to install a stove that blew heat straight up into a floor register in the middle of the house but after a test with my present stove where I ducted most of the heat straight up after a day there was no difference in the main floor temps than before. I did this prior to the latest warming spell.
My conclusion is this: Unless I install a stove on the main level , I`m just not gonna do any better . Apparently I`m already getting a good circulation pattern and actually I can get the upstairs to approx 68 in cold weather with my P-38 in the basement. Of course the basement is approaching 76-78 on one end but being a dry heat it`s bearable. I`m blowing that warm air up into a floor vent at the end of the hall and it does circulate back to the kitchen/liv rm area and back down the basement stairs and central floor vent.
I`ll just continue to heat that extra 2-3 degrees on the main floor during the day with my oil furnace. I filled the tank on Dec 2 and right now it`s 1/2 full so considering hot water usage and all ,i`m doing pretty good.
I did use 3 tons of pellets so far though.(since Oct 2011)

 

[save$]

So hard to tell when we have a mild winter just what our best heating options should be. Would be good if you had some crystal ball where you could predict oil cost, heating needs, and potential paybacks from your heating investment dollars.
I sort of depend on that same oil backup. So far using less than a half a tank in a year.

 

[jtakeman]

Ducting work if you have the correct size for the amount of volume the convection blower produces. If the duct is too small you'll see no gain!

If you really want to heat multiple floors, Best to start looking at the pellet furnaces.

 

[DexterDay]

Ducting work if you have the correct size for the amount of volume the convection blower produces. If the duct is too small you'll see no gain!

If you really want to heat multiple floors, Best to start looking at the pellet furnaces.

Im with Jay. Your stove in the basement can only move so much air. A pellet furnace is gonna move 4 times the amount and have a lot more BTU's.

I wouldn't count out the furnace. My Fahrenheit is only rated for 50,000. I only run it only Level 3 (of 5) on the stat but stays at 1 most of the time. But the times I have tested level 5, I must say that this thing eats way more than 6 lbs an hr on level 5. If my calculations are correct. I believe it to be closer to 70,000.

With the duct loss and lack of overall flow (convective flow too) its hard to compare a freestander against a furnace.

Check Craiglist and ebay. Look for a deal. Mine was used 1 season. Picked it up for about 50% of normal cost and came with duct work and backdraft dampers and some vent (3" so I sold some and gave some away, to buy all new 4").

Keep looking. Good deals are out there.

 

[Don2222]

Hello

Well, I have an Avalon Astoria in the basement of my split entry. I must say that the 6 in ductwork to 2 registers upstairs does make a nice difference. The ductwork does have an inline fan and when I made a direct connection to the stove the difference was huge! I did find after refurbishing a few stoves that the temps the Astoria puts out are much higher than average! I can get 600 Degs F on High and 300 Degs F on medium. The 300 Degs F on medium measures 150 Degs F coming out of each of the 2 registers in the Kitchen and Living room. Because the ductwork connects to 5 of the 10 heat exchanger tubes, the heat is very evenly distributed to the basement and 1st floor.

So to me a pellet furnace is not needed and would use more pellets. The house has only 1,000 sqft on the 1st floor and the same in the basement. A larger house may require another stove or furnace. I am very happy with this one stove for our house which is also well insulated.

See my pics here
Wood pellet Stove Heat Distribution - Getting the heat up one floor!!

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...ting-the-heat-up-one-floor.65315/#post-818344