Ductwork/ stove help

[Treenoob]

hello gents, don’t know where to put this thread exactly but feel free to move it.
So I’ve attached two photos of my set up at our new home( not using until next winter) the photos are taken on the first floor which is a 3 car garage and some serious work space. The second floor has 3 bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen and dining room in an open floor concept. Ground level in the garage Is where the set up is. I was curious if I could run duct work up to the rooms with dryer duct work type of piping or if y’all recommended a certain type or set up. Figured because I have exposed trusses I could quite easily run piping and use the blower to have on demand heat through out the home. Forgive me for the lack of terminology, any and all help is more than appreciated!

 

[Treenoob]

Any info would be awesome thank yu

 

[jetsam]

Heating the upstairs from a space heater located downstairs is an iffy proposition, though some people do it successfully. A lot of the people who come here with heat distribution problems have a basement stove, though, and not all of them get resolved.

I would say that the first step would be to consider whether you even want to mess with trying to distribute heat down there. If you have existing ductwork or hydronic water lines heating the upstairs and you want to heat with wood, maybe a wood furnace or wood fired boiler would serve you better.

Consider insulating the concrete floor if you go with a wood stove and don't park cars in there- that will help any stove out a lot.

It is not advisable to put a range hood style intake above the stove, as this can distribute CO throughout the house in the event of a malfunction.

The general idea for heating the upstairs with a downstairs space heater is going to be to establish a convective loop that goes through the downstairs and upstairs, with cold air sinking down and hot air rising up.

 

[kennyp2339]

Nice furnace, before installing any duct work you have to figure out your max blower cfm output, personally I would run the max collar size in round insulated pipe to the ceiling then install a main duct running parallel, making cutouts along the way for flex pipe to registers for each of the rooms, the bedrooms would have smaller diameter flex (5") depending on the main duct length it could be stepped down to maintain system pressure.
The most important part of this job is cutting in a cold air return for the living space to feed the furnace, you don't want to take the dirty shop / garage air and run it through to the living space, you would be changing out your filters once a week.

 

[begreen]

What is the make and model of the stove? Is it designed and intended to be ducted?

 

[kennyp2339]

What is the make and model of the stove? Is it designed and intended to be ducted?

I was assuming it was an older Englander wood furnace

 

[brenndatomu]

I was assuming it was an older Englander wood furnace

I think it is. If not, that is what it needs to be...a wood furnace. This sounds like an ideal place for one.
This is probably more of a boiler room question...probably get more interest there.

 

[Treenoob]

Attached is a photo of the stove specs for those who were asking.

Kennyp- so your saying run an insulated pipe from the blower up to the pre cut vent wholes in the ceiling to keep the blower air warmer until it is ready to be distributed to each room then using flex pipe to do so? Also i apologize but I don’t really understand what you mean by cutting the cold air return for the living space?
Jetsam- I don’t have a hood or space heater. My home also doesn’t have a basement. The garage and stove location is ground level. The living area(1600 sqft) above is what I would like to heat. Along with the garage of course.

Im also wondering if it’s possible for this specific stove can heat this garage and upstairs living area. Obviously very new to burning wood and stoves and what not but the few people who have seen this stove have said it’s rather large? Any recommendations for a thermostat/ heat regulator Thank you guys who have already responded keep it coming.

 

[Treenoob]

Here is a link of the exact stove

 

[brenndatomu]

That lil Englander furnace should work pretty good for ya then.
Is the bottom floor gonna be insulated and finished? Hopefully so, it will be much easier to heat the top floor if all the heat isn't sucked up by the bottom floor...and concrete slabs/walls (dunno if that's what you have) will eat up a ton of BTUs if left exposed.
As far as your duct question...you will need to run regular metal furnace duct (8" IIRC, unless you split off, then you could run 6" after the split) and yeah it probably should be insulated if the runs are very long at all...they will lose temp quickly if not. Download the manual for that furnace so you can see what the required duct clearances are...often times 6" for the first 6', then 2" after that.

 

[Treenoob]

Brenndatomu-that’s exactly the info I was looking for and thank you! The walls are insulated, moisture lined and then plywood over that. What else is nessasary for the walls? I was told not to insulate the ceilings and leave the trusses exposed so the heat will rise up to the living quarters(2nd floor) And yes the floor is concrete. The house is built on a slab( why my ground level is my basement/garage) I could just hook that metal furnace duct right up to my stove correct? And the blower will push the air to the house via the vent? Essentially need to put a floor vent in 3 locations from the bottom of course. Didn’t know if a three way split was too much? And how would you recommend I heat the garage itself? Will the wood stove itself keep that at a safe temperature?

 

[brenndatomu]

The walls are insulated, moisture lined and then plywood over that. What else is nessasary for the walls?

Good enough for me...you need drywall to meet local code?

I was told not to insulate the ceilings and leave the trusses exposed so the heat will rise up to the living quarters(2nd floor)

That's fine...it will help keep the floor warm...won't help to heat upstairs much otherwise.

And yes the floor is concrete. The house is built on a slab( why my ground level is my basement/garage)

Was there foam put under the slab? It will help a lot of there was...if not, oh well.

I could just hook that metal furnace duct right up to my stove correct? And the blower will push the air to the house via the vent?

Yes.

And how would you recommend I heat the garage itself? Will the wood stove itself keep that at a safe temperature?

Likely just the radiant heat by itself will be enough...

 

[begreen]

Thanks for the clarification. Hard to investigate stoves/furnaces when mobile.

 

[Treenoob]

Thanks for the clarification. Hard to investigate stoves/furnaces when mobile.

No problem, I believe it was designed to run du t work off of it as it came with a blower and has the second exit where the hot air comes from?

 

[begreen]

Yes, it's designed to be ducted. Keep in mind that it's a small furnace but if the ducting is size to it's capacity then it may work out ok. It's designed as an add-on furnace that ties into an existing plenum.

 

[Treenoob]

Yes technically my main source is propane rinnai heaters set up throughout the house and doesn’t use any duct work but simply gas lines. So I’d have to run my own ductwork to 3 locations maybe. Hear some people saying it doesn’t work, hear others say it does. Plan on using a blower and recently discovered a box type mechanism that goes in between your stove and flu that kicks even more heat out that would normally go out the chimney? Figured I could use a set up like that to help heat the garage. Thoughts?

 

[jetsam]

Well, a furnace blowing hot air through ducts works pretty reliably. That's a lot different from a wood stove in the basement!

 

[begreen]

Plan on using a blower and recently discovered a box type mechanism that goes in between your stove and flu that kicks even more heat out that would normally go out the chimney? Figured I could use a set up like that to help heat the garage. Thoughts?

That sounds like a Magic Heat and not a good option. They are noisy and often known as creosote boxes. You don't want to cool down the flue gases to the point where they condense in the flue and turn into creosote. Let the furnace do the heating. The flue is for venting flue gases and creating the draft.

 

[Treenoob]

Okay, this makes sense begreen thanks for the advice. Does it has anyone on here used a duct/ register fan to help push the air? Also not where to put a cold air return that leads back to the stove. If I throw up the layout of my house would y’all be able to help me do so? Thanks again for everyone taking the time to help me out

 

[brenndatomu]

The blower on the furnace is all you need.

 

[begreen]

Okay, this makes sense begreen thanks for the advice. Does it has anyone on here used a duct/ register fan to help push the air? Also not where to put a cold air return that leads back to the stove. If I throw up the layout of my house would y’all be able to help me do so? Thanks again for everyone taking the time to help me out

I would plan on two 6" duct runs. Keep them as short as possible and consider how the air returns to the furnace. That will affect the evenness of heating. Ideally it would have a return plenum with a return duct connecting to upstairs but this is a bargain unit so the blower is open and unducted on the return side.