Hot and Cold in the Mountains

[PoconoMama]

I've been lurking here for a very long time and just want to convey my gratitude for starters! Thanks for all of your meaningful contributions!

Thanks to you all, we recently upgraded to a NC30--this stove is a complete beast compared to the microsized peasant hearth we had before. The loading box is absolutely incredible it takes whatever you give it! I had to get up every two hours with a newborn to babysit my old stove. Hub was indifferent to a new stove but boy is he glad I researched and pulled the trigger on this one!

We live in your standard (but well insulated) super boxy 50s ranch (1700sq) here in the Poconos, Pennsylvania. The NC 30 is in the living room (14x20) on the furthest end of the house sharing a wall with the garage. The master room shares an interior wall with the living room, separated by a foyer, the additional bedrooms and kitchen are on the other side of the house. I'll see if hubs can draw me up a plan.

I have a box fan pointed at the wood stove from the opposite end of the house (kitchen) running 24hrs a day on the lowest speed. Still there's always a 20-25 degree difference. Well this morning hubs loaded up the box with wood and bio blocks before work, I awoke to a living room temp reading of exactly 100 degrees (didn't overfire, both stove pipe and stove top guards were safely still in the orange zones). But the rest of the house was barely 66 degrees!

Some additional notes: we've got a smallish ceiling fan (replacing with a larger one today) in the living room on low in reverse (clockwise). I don't run the blower much, I think it definitely cools down the stove and doesn't really push anything but I'm still learning this stove. And we've got two ecofans. We don't have a furnace, our heating is electric unfortunately. We've got about an inch of space beneath every interior door but still leave all doors open.

I don't know what else to do. Can someone point me in the right direction, I'm willing to learn as much as possible. I'm trying to figure this all out before winter truly hits (temps drop to the teens at night right now), last year we went weeks without power because of all the storms.

TL:DR: I think I've tried it all but I just can't seem to move the heat from one end of our ranch to the other.

Thanks in advance everyone!

 

[moresnow]

I have a box fan pointed at the wood stove from the opposite end of the house (kitchen) running 24hrs a day on the lowest speed

Turn the fan up to medium. Wait a hour or better. Any temp benefit? Just a thought.
.
Ive been experimenting with a floor fan quite a bit lately. Similar scenario. Fan at the far end of the house blowing cold air towards the hot stove. My stove mounted blowers set on off to extend my burn times. My floor fan is a small 10 inch that runs rather fast even on low. Its working nicely to get heat moved. The drawback is the cold air blowing across my kitchen floor! Id like to slow my floor fan down. Working on that. Cant really complain however. My heat is getting distributed nicely.

Is your ceiling fan pushing heated air down? I would think that would be the correct direction. Maybe try turning off the ceiling fan (even if it sounds wrong) as a another experiment. Maybe the ceiling fan is disrupting the floor fan effect? You never know until you try. Just have to find the correct combination of air movement. Good luck!

 

[Hogwildz]

Before ruling out the blower, try it and see if it can help push the heated air out to get it moving.
If you have a basement or attic space, you could try insulated duct from the heated end to the cooler end, and install a good inline duct fan.

 

[paulnlee]

Our home is almost identical to yours. The Harmon sits at the end, eco fan on top, ceiling fan CCW blowing down. and a small 3" fan midway blowing towards the cold end. Since nothing but bedrooms down that way down blankets do the rest.

 

[begreen]

Can you post a sketch of the floor plan?

 

[Woody Stover]

Maybe try turning off the ceiling fan (even if it sounds wrong) as a another experiment. Maybe the ceiling fan is disrupting the floor fan effect?

Yep, I believe the fan on the floor merely speeds up the natural convection loop, a ceiling fan will disrupt it. That's why it's still 100* in the stove room. I would run the blower on the stove, the far floor fan by the bedrooms, and maybe another floor fan halfway between the first and the stove room. BTW, how tall is the foyer? Yes, diagram and pics would help..

 

[jotul8e2]

It must be recognized that what you are trying to do is very difficult - there are many threads on this same topic.

To succeed you must establish a circulation pattern - warm air out, cool air back in. This is why forced air systems have both heat ducts and return air ducts. And, in fact, a powered duct (a big one!) from the cold end of the house back to the cool end should work but may not be practical. Heat rises, so any fans you use should be directing air out along the ceilings and back toward the stove along the floor. Your box fan may well be pointed the wrong direction. If it is on the floor, you need cold air coming back into the stove room. The ceiling fan is not, and probably can not help you much as it will move air up and down, not laterally.

 

[PoconoMama]

Turn the fan up to medium. Wait a hour or better. Any temp benefit? Just a thought.
.
Ive been experimenting with a floor fan quite a bit lately. Similar scenario. Fan at the far end of the house blowing cold air towards the hot stove. My stove mounted blowers set on off to extend my burn times. My floor fan is a small 10 inch that runs rather fast even on low. Its working nicely to get heat moved. The drawback is the cold air blowing across my kitchen floor! Id like to slow my floor fan down. Working on that. Cant really complain however. My heat is getting distributed nicely.

Is your ceiling fan pushing heated air down? I would think that would be the correct direction. Maybe try turning off the ceiling fan (even if it sounds wrong) as a another experiment. Maybe the ceiling fan is disrupting the floor fan effect? You never know until you try. Just have to find the correct combination of air movement. Good luck!

Hey More snow,
Thanks for your help! I sometimes turn the fan up and today I elevated it a bit. I also have a super small muffin fan that really pushes some crazy air.

AC Infinity AXIAL 1238, Muffin Fan, 115V 120V AC 120mm x 38mm High Speed, for DIY Cooling Ventilation Exhaust Projects https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009OWRMZ6/?tag=hearthamazon-20

I'll leave the ceiling fan off and see if that helps. I have to figure out a way to create a circular movement of air I think. We've got cathedral ceilings throughout (forgot that tidbit) so there's lots of deadspace in the ceilings which doesn't necessarily carry to the other rooms so I can't cut a bunch of registers.

Thanks again!

 

[PoconoMama]

Yep, I believe the fan on the floor merely speeds up the natural convection loop, a ceiling fan will disrupt it. That's why it's still 100* in the stove room. I would run the blower on the stove, the far floor fan by the bedrooms, and maybe another floor fan halfway between the first and the stove room. BTW, how tall is the foyer? Yes, diagram and pics would help..

Hey there, forgot to mention that we've got cathedral ceilings in every single room, the foyers is narrow but the ceiling has got to be about 13-14 feet. Can you point me to more info on convections loops? I think if I can facilitate that cycle continuously I might be in luck. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that 100 degree reading, that's when I knew I needed some help. Thanks so much!

 

[Woody Stover]

We've got cathedral ceilings throughout (forgot that tidbit) so there's lots of deadspace in the ceilings

Is there also a vaulted ceiling in the stove room? It's hard to get that heat down off the ceilings to move through doorways and hallways. Get as good a flow of cool air down low and into the stove room as you can, and see what happens..

 

[PoconoMama]

Can you post a sketch of the floor plan?

Hey BeGreen, I'll definitely work on one once I get the little one to bed. Thanks!!

Before ruling out the blower, try it and see if it can help push the heated air out to get it moving.
If you have a basement or attic space, you could try insulated duct from the heated end to the cooler end, and install a good inline duct fan.

I'll give the blower a shot. We don't a basement or attic (just a crawlspace). An attic would have made life so much easier!

Our home is almost identical to yours. The Harmon sits at the end, eco fan on top, ceiling fan CCW blowing down. and a small 3" fan midway blowing towards the cold end. Since nothing but bedrooms down that way down blankets do the rest.

I've got some L.L. Bean down comforters en route to us. We like having a cooler bedroom but the temp difference between the stove room and other areas can be extreme. I'll say there's no heat quite like wood heat, it's wonderful. How much of a heat difference do you have?

 

[PoconoMama]

Is there also a vaulted ceiling in the stove room? It's hard to get that heat down off the ceilings to move through doorways and hallways. Get as good a flow of cool air down low and into the stove room as you can, and see what happens..

Yep we've got a vaulted ceiling in there as well. It slopes up towards the interior wall with the master room on the other side. At it's highest point it's about 15 feet. Hubs cut a register high up (too high in my opinion) to get some air into the master room with a neat little register fan. However I think we probably need two registers/air vents in there to help with the convection, forgive me as I don't really know much about any of this. The master is the only bedroom on that side of the house.

 

[begreen]

New Hey BeGreen, I'll definitely work on one once I get the little one to bed. Thanks!!

A couple shots of the room and cathedral ceiling issue would also help if possible. Otherwise a sketch of the floorplan that indicates stove location, high ceiling and approx. room opening sizes will do.

 

[Hogwildz]

Depending on how high the crawl space is, ducting may still be an option. I would be pushing cold air from the cold end of the house into the warm room, which may help create the convection loop you need by replacing the cool air with warm.

Ceiling fan should be in winter mode, meaning sucking up in the center and forcing the warm air down the walls.

 

[Woody Stover]

Can you point me to more info on convections loops? I think if I can facilitate that cycle continuously I might be in luck. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that 100 degree reading,

When it's calm outside, open an outside door. Because warm air is less dense, it rises and moves out the top of the doorway and cool, dense air flows in the bottom to replace it. If you put your hand in the top of the doorway, then in the bottom, you can feel this happening. The same thing happens between the stove room and the rest of your house, which is cooler. You can also feel it there, in the doorway of the stove room.
The purpose of the fans moving cool, dense air toward the stove room is to enhance this natural convection loop which is already happening on its own.
If you turn off the ceiling fan and sit in a chair in the stove room, at least the hottest air would be up high and it would be somewhat cooler at chair level. With the floor fans working it will be better yet in the stove room.

I've got some L.L. Bean down comforters en route to us. We like having a cooler bedroom but the temp difference between the stove room and other areas can be extreme

Good that you have a backup plan with the down comforters. When it's very cold out, and I have the door to the mudroom/bedroom mostly closed to keep the main room warmer, it can get down around 60 out there. But once we are under the down, we are toasty in no time.
But if you want to hang out in those far areas of the house, you'll need to get some heat in there one way or another...a small space heater if nothing else. But the best solution may well be a duct system. Moving heat from one end of the house is hard; I was doing that at my MIL's house, with 9.5' ceilings.

 

[KJamesJR]

My stove is partially in my kitchen which has a 13.5’ cathedral ceiling. Having the ceiling fan on low blowing DOWN (counter clockwise) makes a world of difference.

Some say to run the ceiling fan in reverse during winter, and we tried that when we first installed the stove. It didn’t work. The hot air just went right up and stayed there.

 

[KJamesJR]

But the best solution may well be a duct system.

Nay good sir...

Another wood stove.

 

[Woody Stover]

Nay good sir...Another wood stove.

You'll have to quit work though, two stoves is a full-time job.

 

[PoconoMama]

Great News!

We have just a 10 degree difference now between both ends of the home! I'm ecstatic and so thankful As per all of your suggestions, I turned off the ceiling fan, turned on the blower (to high), and added a second box fan right in the foyer almost equidistance from the kitchen and stove rooms. I'm sure there's more experimentation to be done by adjusting fan speeds and whatnot but I'm excited! Our crawlspace isn't encapsulated but I'd definitely want to explore ducting if possible.

Thank you all for your help with this! You've made me one happy mama!! I knew I was messing something up.

My stove is partially in my kitchen which has a 13.5’ cathedral ceiling. Having the ceiling fan on low blowing DOWN (counter clockwise) makes a world of difference.

Some say to run the ceiling fan in reverse during winter, and we tried that when we first installed the stove. It didn’t work. The hot air just went right up and stayed there.

I recently switched from counter clockwise and I have to agree with you, I think I was getting better results before. Maybe our vaulted ceilings have something to do with that. I really should have taken that physics class!

You'll have to quit work though, two stoves is a full-time job.

Agreed, learning one stove is a complete science within itself plus I've got a two year old haha! However once we outgrow this house I'd love a gorgeous functional Nordica cookstove in the kitchen!