How to get the heat downstairs

[Tone]

I'm looking to replace an old wood stove which sits in a living room which is 13'x16'x8' Kit/DR on the side, and 3 BR's down the hall. Total sf about 1200 upstairs. The basement finished area is 24'x 26' with 6'6" to the dropped ceiling. The only heat down there is when the oil burner runs which won't be often if I can help it. My daughter spends most of her time down there watching TV and I'd like to keep it that way! Putting the wood stove in the basement is not an acceptable option for me.

Can I use a big wood stove like Englander 30-NCH in the in the living room and blow some hot air into the basement somehow? I have baseboard hot water heat (no ducts). I don't mind cutting a hole in the floor as long as I can make it look acceptable.

 

[BrotherBart]

If there was any way to make that work the Jotul F100 would not be in my office in the basement. There is a Englander 30-NCL sitting right over my head in the family room but warm air does not want to go down. Just up.

Been there. Tried it all.

 

[Harley]

I wouldn't oversize a stove upstairs trying to push heat downstairs - maybe some fans or air circulation would help - but probably not a lot.

I'd heat the main living area to a comfortable temp., and maybe a sweater would be a good, comfy alternative for your daughter while watching tv in the basement, unless you have a layout which would be a good candidate for a smaller space heater of some sort.

 

[Tone]

What have you tried Brother?

Here's what I was thinking. (get's me in trouble all the time) The 30-NCH would normally heat a small room like this to probably say 90 degrees. If I cut a hole in the floor near the stove and have a fan suckning the air down and a return vent somewhere on the other end of the room, wouldn't that bring warm air into the basement and relieve the living room of some heat?

Would a convection stove be better than a radiant for this?

 

[BrotherBart]

The door to my basement is only fifteen feet from the stove and a box fan on high aimed down the stairs didn't get it done. A vent does not stand a chance.

From the floor any way you look at it the fan is moving the colder air. The heat is up there around the ceiling. I actually did a little test of blowing the colder air up the stairs from the basement with minimal success.

It just don't work. Fighting physics won't heat a house and is deadly for bungie jumpers.

 

[jayheel]

that seems to be the million dollar question. maybe try moving the cold air up with a fan. good luck and if you find a way let us all know

 

[babalu87]

Put a space heater (read Wood Stove) downstairs

 

[begreen]

Or curtain off the TV area for the winter and add a small electric space heater.

Or turn off the TV... (ducking).

 

[WarmGuy]

If I really wanted to make the heroic effort, I'd try to move the air from near the ceiling of the upstairs to the floor of the downstairs. What you're thinking about, a hole in the floor with a fan, is just going to move the coldest upstairs air to the downstairs.

So, I'd built an insulated duct up the wall with an opening right at the ceiling in the wood stove room. Then I'd have a really powerful fan to pump that air into the basement. On paper, that really seems like it could work.

At least it could be a fun project.

 

[begreen]

I think Elk just keeled over and passed out.

 

[BrotherBart]

I think Elk just keeled over and passed out.

Hello? 911? We have an ALS emergency.

 

[Tone]

a box fan trying to blow warm air down through an open doorway isn't going to exchange much air. A vent fan sucking warm air down and allowing it to return from the other side of the room or maybe even another vent fan blowing back up will circulate much more air I think. I don't know much at all about heating and air conditioning but if both hot and cold air can be exchanged through ducts I think this can be done somehow.

How hot is the air near the floor 2 feet from a big wood stove in a small room?

Again I don't know if it is different for a convection type stove as opposed to a radiant.

 

[BrotherBart]

Both the intake of the stove and the the blower, if you are using one, are pulling cold air back to the stove in exchange for the hot air put out into the room/home.

Guess where that air is traveling. Over the floor of the "stove room".

 

[Hogwildz]

Your dryer does NOT have CO, smoke & smoke by products flowing out of it.
Are you really naive, or purposely trying to start crap in every thread?
Giving a moderator lip is sure to cut your time short on this site if you persist.

 

[Gunner]

here is idea=4 U
attach drier pipevent to mouth
when speak hot air will cellar heat.

 

[Hogwildz]

Oh thanks for enlightening me with you sheer genius.
So your suggesting the guy put a hood over his stove that sits in his living room?
WOW, that should look real nice when the guests come over. I am sure his wife will like it also.
I hate to break it to you Mr. invent it, but people have been pondering how to get heat down to a lower level for centuries. I highly doubt your superb idea will be the final solution for this. Take your idea and go try and market it. Lets see how far you can get.
A hood, sheer genius.
Seriously though, why waste your time trolling here? There many other livelier forums where you will get the attention you seek.

 

[Hogwildz]

here is idea=4 U
attach drier pipevent to mouth
when speak hot air will cellar heat.

LMFAO, Gunner, you know enordics?, was that in the isle next to ebonics? I'll have to pick me up a copy.

 

[Gooserider]

Moderator Note - Enord has been noticed, his fate is being decided. In the meantime

PLEASE DON'T FEED THE TROLL!

I reccomend the ignore function - to bad I don't feel that *I* can use it since I need to see what is going on.

Gooserider

 

[Heartwood]

Back to the topic.... It's an important one.

Tone, search back to a thread I started--titled "Floor Fan." I learned from Gooserider and others some important safety issues related to your topic, not to mention even some unrelated hazards in my house that I'm correcting now. That thread's well worth looking at.

As for me getting that heat down there (same scenario as you), I really think a floor fan would at least help, but they're noisy as church bells and the safety issues scared me off. So I'm just about resigned to putting in baseboard elect. Propane space heaters are just too damp.

 

[elkimmeg]

Back in the 70's after the first energy crisis a lot of ideas were used. I have seen the hood over the stove attached to duct separate duct system. I saw the rememaints of one doing the fire disaster inspection. The only way warm air will move down is being forced. and it would have to exit at floor level of the lower zone to have any effect at all naturally an equal sized return route would have to be designed. Code wise Air outlet can't be within 10' of the stove. If you are removing air within the immediate area of the stove then what about combustion air deficiencies

Deficient combustion air created negative pressure and will draw in the carbon Monoxide gasses which will rise with the heat an from the stove and get picked up by that vent..

Have you given a moment of thought about safety .. Why is it everybody thinks of moving the lightest air into heavier air? why m not remove the heavy air to draw lighter air in to replace it

 

[thephotohound]

I solved my problem of trying to move the warm air from the upstairs to the cooler basement, and it's working great so far. I installed a pellet stove in the basement.

STOVES ARE SPACE HEATERS.

 

[begreen]

verily i have seen gas furnaces in the attic 2 stories up that blow warm air down 2 stories to first floor & deliver the heat thru ceiling grates. pretty standard installation.
a metal box with a fan pulling air when its hot should do the trick,eh?
u can stick the box anywhere u want so long as its hot be4 the air sucks thru & to cellar..geez

There are lots of things we can do with stoves, the question is - are they safe? A sealed, shielded and insulated furnace with a contained fire, hi/low and overfire limit switches, fire-rated flue and inspected for safety is not comparable to an open range hood over a wood stove. Yes, you can do whatever you want in your own house, but suggesting it as public policy is a different thing.

 

[Oregon Fire]

Does your home have forced air heat now? Put a temperature sensor in the basement and one in a centrally located position in the upstairs. and when the temperature differential exceeds a given amount - say 6 degrees - have a micro-controller turn on the blower in your existing furnace to equalize the temperature. Or simply have the furnace fan run at a programmable duty cycle to cycle air throughout the house.

I am hunting around for a thermostat with remote sensors that will do the above - I want to have about 3 temp sensors and have fan activate if temp differential exceeds a certain amount, etc. My problem is slightly different than yours - I have a sprawling ranch; but the solution is probably the same...

jeff

 

[MANIAC]

I GOT IT! Unplug the TV and bring up to the second floor...............then throw it out the window.

Sorry, just having some fun!

 

[elkimmeg]

Oregon what it is already done One down fall of central air heat is its zoning Many times one system delivers the entire home from One thermostat location,
here is a simple way of zoning it what if all grills were dampened grills One could close down the ones near the stove forcing more heat to the outer locations By having a remote thermostat that activated the burner only the rooms with open grills would get heat. That's one way a DIY could achieve jeeping re, mote to stove rooms warn.

The second way would be to split the duct work and control it with a thermostat zone damper this would also help the AC end of the HVAC system by having smaller run zones and two thermostats locations to reflect temp differences. Naturally dampened grills within systems would give you further control at heating the areas you most need it

Basement main furnaces supplying the second floor are woefully inadequate. It would be prudent to cap that system off and have a second attic furnace and zone for that second floor level.


then there is efficiency of design, A whole other topic most HVAC systems are poorly designed and installed the ductwork is not sealed correctly and routing just plain------ , well you know this is a family forum fill in your own description. Energy cost are two fold a cheaper source and a efficient delivery system. To me up, to 35% loss to transmission has to be improved.