Help me make a loop?

[comeonback]

We're building a 2-story, slab-on-grade house and installing a Hearthstone Green Mountain 60 in the living room (got an experienced dealer/installer in our Rocky Mountain town at 8,000 ft to help us). I'm wondering about how to make sure we have air circulating in our mostly open-concept house with an open stairway. We're planning on cove elec heating as needed (to use grid-tied solar). The stove is for a LR focal point, beauty, warmth and then whole-house backup should power go out. Can you look at my attached floorplan and give me an idea of where to place returns, ducts with fire damper or whatever else we need to move heat around the house? If the stove is all that, maybe we won't need our electricity! (Note, the chimney won't be as shown below because we decided to go with a wood stove inside/no alcove and no fireplace. The freestanding Hearthstone GM 60 is going where that fireplace is currently drawn; the FP is going away/not being built. Ceilings on first floor are 9 ft, with 8 ft upstairs.) Thank you!

 

[begreen]

Will the chimney be straight up? I ask because this stove appears to like strong draft. The 8000 ft elevation will also have an effect on draft.
The open area will heat well. The issue will be with the 2 east side bedrooms. If local code permits, return grilles could be put in the floors of these rooms to allow a better return flow.

If there is time it might be good to redesign the laundry room so that there is no plumbing in the outside walls. That room will not get much heat from the stove. If power outages are extended, this could be a vulnerable area for pipe freezing.

 

[comeonback]

Thanks begreen (and for the tip on the laundry). By east bedrooms, you mean the two with the bath in between? Or the two with the shared wall? As for the chimney... here's a picture of how it's currently planned -- designed was when it was going to be a fireplace. Now, the top-vent stove pipe will make a 90-degree turn at about 7 feet high to go outside and then up. Maybe we need to straighten that run outside by moving upper-bedroom windows?

 

[Max W]

Congrats, it’s exciting to be planning and building a new house. On our last house my wife came up with almost all of the creative and practical design features while I coached on the structural possibilities and limits. On the chimney, I’m not sure why you are looking to run the chimney outside. Moving the right hand window further to the right and directly over the one on the first floor, if possible, would not only make that side of the house look more symetrical from the outside but would allow running the chimney inside with less cooling, condensation, build up , easier cleans and better draft. On the second floor you might enclose the chimney in stand alone chase or incorporate the chase as part of a small closet or built in.