Heat Hi-Ranch

[edmtgs]

Hello All,

I have a hi-ranch home 1400 sq ft upstairs,800 sq ft down stairs and considering installing a osburn 2200 insert in the masonry fireplace downstairs. My question is will this heat my whole home? Also any ideas on how to circulate the heat downstairs to the upper level?

Tks
Ed

 

[Corie]

My parents have a high ranch. With enough Btu's a stove in the basement they heat their entire house. Their house is insulated in the basement, which I gather yours is as well.

You could consider cutting holes in the floor, but you absolutely have to install fire safety dampers in the pipes if you go that route. Ultimately though, there's a good amount of engineering going on in that situation and just drilling a hole anywhere probably isn't going to do much.

Chances are though, if you install the stove and keep the blower running a good amount of the day you'll always have a nice warm house top and bottom. I know we usually do and we were a bit under-stoved in the past in my opinion.

 

[BikeMedic2709]

My house is nearly the same size. I have my stove downstairs. I placed vents in the floor, with a sort of plenum and a vent in the suspended ceiling. This pulls the warm air up through nicely. If it is really cold, I will place a fan in the downstairs below the vents to "push" the air up through. Both vents are colseable, so in the summer you can close them.

 

[wg_bent]

My next door neighbor does this with a small avalon stove. Her downstairs room is VERY warm, and she has a vent hole directly over the stove. I'm not saying I think the vent is a good idea, but it works and it does heat her home. The bedrooms do not get much heat though. Personally, I think the heat should be allowed to go up the stairs instead of the vent since that is more centrally located. Plus a vent like that is a disaster in a house fire.

 

[Todd]

If you go the vent route think supply and return. Your stairwell will act as both, but you may need to place a floor vent or two in far away upstairs rooms to bring the coldest air into the basement to be heated and returned upstairs. Fans help also. You just have to experiment either blowing air into or out of the basement.

You can expect some heat upstairs this way, but you will still have a temp difference or 5-10 from the downstairs. And like others have stated safety first, make sure you have working smoke and co2 detectors.