Circulating hot air from your pellet stove??

[JohnRXL]

I looking for ideas as to how to get some or most of the heat from my pellet stove that's in my basement, to the upper level. I'm in a bungalow.
What are others using to move the heat around there house?
eg. Extra vents, pedastal fans, fixed fans, ceiling fans or even the furnance fan. What is working for you?
My place is well insulated, basement is finished with drop ceiling installed, there's a stair case pretty much in the center of the basement that leads up the the kicthen area.
Any and all ideas would be great.

 

[earl764]

You mentioned furnace fan. Do you have forced air? Get a therm guard. Greatest thing ever. Do a google search. Evens out the heat nicely.

 

[JohnRXL]

You mentioned furnace fan. Do you have forced air? Get a therm guard. Greatest thing ever. Do a google search. Evens out the heat nicely.

Thanks for the info. I have the ThermGuard on order.

 

[Big E]

I have a Oneida Royal forced hot air furnace, changed blower control to auto/on, set to on, take off back of furnace cover, and voila.

 

[earl764]

I could manually turn my blower on, but I don't want to run it constantly. With the Thermguard I can set how long I want it to run and how often.

I found it brought air to places in the house the stove wouldn't normally reach. You actually wound up with very even heat. I've told stove techs about them in my area. I'm surprised more dealers don't sell them. It would seem like a natural "stove accessory".

 

[pell it]

You mentioned furnace fan. Do you have forced air? Get a therm guard. Greatest thing ever. Do a google search. Evens out the heat nicely.

Thanks for the heads up on the Thermgaurd. Just what I was looking for to run the baseboard once in a while out on the sun porch to keep it from freezing.

 

[Sniz]

Thermguard, looks interesting will certainly give that a shot

 

[Bender1320]

This sounds exactly like what I need for my hydronic heating. There are lines in my attic and crawl space and I am worried about them freezing this winter if I run the pellet stove 24/7. Gotta read up on this.

 

[JohnRXL]

I sent ThermGuard an e mail yesterday around 530 and I had a response to my question with in 1/2 an hour. Shortly after that it was on order. Dealt with John Walsh.

 

[jjk454ss]

So the Thermgaurd is just a timer to turn the furnace fan on and off automatically based on a set schedule? Or am I missing something? Seems expensive for what it is, but looks like it's what I need.

 

[JohnRXL]

So the Thermgaurd is just a timer to turn the furnace fan on and off automatically based on a set schedule? Or am I missing something? Seems expensive for what it is, but looks like it's what I need.

Yup, you got it, on the timer part for the fan motor. It is a little pricey, but good luck finding anything like it else where. I tried. I spoke to 3 different HVAC guys and none of them ever heard of it, or anything like it.

 

[jjk454ss]

Yup, you got it, on the timer part for the fan motor. It is a little pricey, but good luck finding anything like it else where. I tried. I spoke to 3 different HVAC guys and none of them ever heard of it, or anything like it.

Thanks. Too bad there's not a few competing models to keep the price down at least a little.

 

[Ed P]

For those of you using this.. how is it working??

 

[WC Roadie]

Hey Guys, new to the site and pellet stove heating. I have baseboard heat, 2 zones which are controlled by thermostats, sorry for my ignorance as I know little about HVAC, on the thermguard site, it says it works with zone heating with direct control of zone valves or a zone control system. I don't have a zone control system, just 2 separate thermostats, there are valves near the boiler to shut off the zones. I assume this is what they mean by direct control of zone valves?

 

[kenstogie]

For those of you using this.. how is it working??

Ditto. Like someone else said It seems a little steep for what it does.... Turns on an off for a timed interval yet still it seems like this would do the trick. Before I consider dropping $70 on a timer I'd like to know how it's working for others.

 

[Sniz]

Hey Guys, new to the site and pellet stove heating. I have baseboard heat, 2 zones which are controlled by thermostats, sorry for my ignorance as I know little about HVAC, on the thermguard site, it says it works with zone heating with direct control of zone valves or a zone control system. I don't have a zone control system, just 2 separate thermostats, there are valves near the boiler to shut off the zones. I assume this is what they mean by direct control of zone valves?

The system works for forced air units. Simply allows the fan to circulate the air in the home on a set interval.

 

[DBCOOPER]

Hey Guys, new to the site and pellet stove heating. I have baseboard heat, 2 zones which are controlled by thermostats, sorry for my ignorance as I know little about HVAC, on the thermguard site, it says it works with zone heating with direct control of zone valves or a zone control system. I don't have a zone control system, just 2 separate thermostats, there are valves near the boiler to shut off the zones. I assume this is what they mean by direct control of zone valves?

One way a two zone system works is when the thermostat calls for heat it completes an electrical circuit that opens the zone valve and when it opens, the zone valve end switch closes and that starts a circulating pump.If you hook the 24 volts that feeds the thermostat in parallel thru the thermguard it does the same thing as the thermostat.Don't know about you system but thats the theory...

 

[magsf11]

i just looked that Thermgaurd up seems like a good idea. think this weekend I will see if I can just rum my furnace fan. if it does even out the heat the thermgaurd will be a good investment. might be better than having small fans in doorways to move the heat.

 

[Ed P]

How hot do you think you would have to get the basement to have the air make a difference upstairs when it is circulated by the blower? It's probably going to cool the air down some.... I've tried running the furnace fan but it actually cools the house.

 

[SXIPro]

How hot do you think you would have to get the basement to have the air make a difference upstairs when it is circulated by the blower? It's probably going to cool the air down some.... I've tried running the furnace fan but it actually cools the house.

My guess would be initially it would do some cooling due to the cold vents/returns and cool air in the vents, but once everything got warmed up and the cooler air was purged, it should work pretty well.

 

[bridgerman]

Thanks. Too bad there's not a few competing models to keep the price down at least a little.

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the interest in ThermGuard. I would like to add a few words as to what drive the cost of the unit.

I personally build each one and it takes me an hour or so to get them built, then I test them, package and ship. I'm not retiring on the money I get for them. I just want to help folks that had a similar problem to my situation....freezing pipes and/or cold spots in the house. I also have a patent on the design. The magic is the fact that ThermGuard uses just two wires. Most thermostats do not have power running to the thermostat so you can't use a regular type of timer. Just one side of the transformer goes to the thermostat so there is no 24VAC signal to use on a standard timer. Also, ThermGuard activates either your boiler or fan without needing any kind of replaceable battery. It also remembers your settings in non-volatile memory if you lose power. It has a complete computer chip inside required to do all the power management and timing functions. It has 1000 lines of software running in the microprocessor.

So yes, it is a little more expensive than something made in China, but you have my backing and you can search for ThermGuard on this site and see the number of people who swear by the product. Broken pipes are a lot more expensive to fix (I did it twice before I invented ThermGuard) and the peace of mind knowing that no matter how cold, you won't have any worries about heating pipes freezing is worth something. Using the furnace fan to have a more comfortable house with even heat from your stove makes everyone happy!

Please ask away if you have any questions...I'd be happy to help.

Cheers,
John

 

[mchasal]

It has a complete computer chip inside required to do all the power management and timing functions. It has 1000 lines of software running in the microprocessor.

I can appreciate the amount of work that goes into something like this.

I'm curious if you ever considered a non-programmable version? Something with some fixed interval that is set when you build it, or maybe a simple switch with just a few intervals, like 1, 5 or 10 minutes every hour.
Would that be something that could be noticeably cheaper and easier to build? Just some simple ICs instead of a microprocessor. Or is that what you meant by "normal timer" and would require dc power?

 

[bridgerman]

I can appreciate the amount of work that goes into something like this.

I'm curious if you ever considered a non-programmable version? Something with some fixed interval that is set when you build it, or maybe a simple switch with just a few intervals, like 1, 5 or 10 minutes every hour.
Would that be something that could be noticeably cheaper and easier to build? Just some simple ICs instead of a microprocessor. Or is that what you meant by "normal timer" and would require dc power?

Hi Mchasal,

The problem is the power management. You could do what you are suggesting if you were willing to have a battery. You essentially have to short out your power supply to turn on the fan or boiler. The way I have implemented the design has a complicated power management scheme that shorts out its own power supply but stays powered indefinitely with no battery to replace, ever.

So yes, that is what I meant by requiring power. You sound like a sharp guy!

John

 

[jjk454ss]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the interest in ThermGuard. I would like to add a few words as to what drive the cost of the unit.

I personally build each one and it takes me an hour or so to get them built, then I test them, package and ship. I'm not retiring on the money I get for them. I just want to help folks that had a similar problem to my situation....freezing pipes and/or cold spots in the house. I also have a patent on the design. The magic is the fact that ThermGuard uses just two wires. Most thermostats do not have power running to the thermostat so you can't use a regular type of timer. Just one side of the transformer goes to the thermostat so there is no 24VAC signal to use on a standard timer. Also, ThermGuard activates either your boiler or fan without needing any kind of replaceable battery. It also remembers your settings in non-volatile memory if

Thank you for the reply. It certainly makes me feel better about purchasing one. Something with good support is always worth the extra cost, and to know its make by a small company in the US and not just mass produced garbage from China is enough for me. Once it gets cold I plan on seeing what difference running the furnace fan makes and then making my decision on the Thermgaurd. Thanks again.

 

[briansol]

In a 3-zone Taco set up, would I need 3 devices?