Tips to circulate heat better

[udt89]

So my stove, nc30 englander, is great. Cranks out heat like no ones business. But I need assistance getting the heat to the parts of the house that arent near the stove.

The stove is centrally located on the main floor, ranch style house with a basement. On the east side is a 20 foot hallway with three bedrooms and a bathroom. On the west side is a large living room starting about 12 feet from the stove and is about 15x25. There is a kitchen and dining room parallel to the living room and family room where the stove is located. If necessary I can take a picture.

What are my options to get the heat to go east/west? I dont need heat going north/south because the stove is 24 inches from the south wall and 8 feet from the north wall.

After reading this you're probably confused because it sure makes sense as i sit here looking at the stove...... but any advice would be great.


Matt

 

[krex1010]

Some people have had good luck using box fans and setting them up to blow the cooler air towards the stove, I have seenthis work well. If you have central air or forced air heat you may be able to use the fan on that system to help balance out the house. The location of the returns really depends how well this works, works really well at my house.

 

[elmoleaf]

My stove is in living room at opp. end of house from bedrooms, with long hallway between.
I put a small fan at floor level in the cold area at end of hall outside bedrooms. It blows cold air towards the stove.
I've tried other arrangements, such as high fan blowing hot to the cold area, but as described above is the one that's worked best.

 

[firefighterjake]

One word: Fan.

And an explanation . . . as others have said . . . take a regular, ol' Walmart end of summer on clearance fan and position it so that it is in the next room pointing at the stove . . . turn on and let the air blow towards the stove . . . this sets up an air current as the cool air near the floor is pushed towards the stove . . . it hits the stove and is heated . . . hot air rises and flows into the area vacated by the cool air that you pushed towards the stove . . . effectively setting up an air current loop that brings heated air into the unheated area and moves the hot air in the room with the stove to other parts of the house . . . many folks (including myself) use this method to heat most, if not all, of their home in this manner.

Cheap, simple and effective . . . much like me . . . well except for the "effective" part . . . cheap and simple . . . yes.

 

[CarbonNeutral]

Without fans we would would not be able to successfully heat our house. Now if I could find some that don't vibrate so much and constantly tip skywards....

 

[Backwoods Savage]

So my stove, nc30 englander, is great. Cranks out heat like no ones business. But I need assistance getting the heat to the parts of the house that arent near the stove.

The stove is centrally located on the main floor, ranch style house with a basement. On the east side is a 20 foot hallway with three bedrooms and a bathroom. On the west side is a large living room starting about 12 feet from the stove and is about 15x25. There is a kitchen and dining room parallel to the living room and family room where the stove is located. If necessary I can take a picture.

What are my options to get the heat to go east/west? I dont need heat going north/south because the stove is 24 inches from the south wall and 8 feet from the north wall.

After reading this you're probably confused because it sure makes sense as i sit here looking at the stove...... but any advice would be great.


Matt

Welcome to the forum Matt.


One thing most do not state with the fans is that you sit them on the floor; lower is best so not a pedestal fan. Also, put the fans speed on low; not medium or high speed. Keep it on low. If you have a ceiling fan, put that also on low speed and blow up, not down.


Just a week ago I was at a neighbor's house and their complaint with their stove and fireplace were the same thing. The rest of the house was cold. They had even set a fan in each doorway. Just to make them absolutely certain that I do not know what I am talking about, I asked them to turn the danged fans off. But, they claimed it might get even colder back there. I answered, so what? It is cold now anyway.

I then instructed them to try this in only one spot; in the hallway that led to the back bedrooms and bathroom.....and to use that small fan they had, sit it on the floor in the hallway blowing on low speed. Of course I left with them fully convinced I had lost what little mind I already possessed.

When I saw them this past weekend, they apologized (which was not necessary) as they put off for another day before trying what that crazy neighbor had suggested. After all, he was the one who gave them some wood and has heated with wood for a year or more. So they tried it....and was just as amazed as I was when they said how wonderful it worked. Dang, I lucked out again....


Give it a try.