Ideas for heat distribution

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Reming870

New Member
Nov 18, 2022
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Looking for ideas for heat distribution. I want to close off the room the stove is in without overheating it and still getting heat to the other rooms. I have room for a small duct kit above the ceiling above the stove.

My initial thought is to put in a return register in the ceiling and get an inline fan to duct to other areas of the house I can reach.

Anyone have any solid ideas they have implemented? CFM and temperatures they have seen. Duct sizing, controls?

Stove will be a Drolet 1800 on a pedestal that is replacing an old Fisher Mama Bear.
 
How large is the stove room? What happens in the event of a power failure?
 
12x12 room with stove in it. Traditional Cape house with 4 rooms on first floor in a square pattern with a staircase in the middle. The stove room will still be open to one wall with the open staircase to rest of house. I am just blocking off the kitchen area in the back of house. The house just wouldnt distribute evenly with a power failure and isn't really a concern.

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OK, that's much better than a closed-off 12x12 room. If the duct is run through a cold attic it must be very well insulated due to heat loss. Note that the return must be at least 10 ft from the stove. Consider putting the return in the colder area and blowing the cooler air into the stove room instead. That will pull warmer air into the area where the return is.
 
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I am unsure how to measure the cfm required as it relates to the length and size of duct but I can tell you my experience. I tried an inline duct fan to try and move air through a 10" round duct. My thoughts were to put the fan on the end of the house nearest the stove and move air through the furnace ducts. There wasn't enough cfm for my fan. Seem like the air just got stacked up in the duct then the fan started vibrating. A shorter dedicated duct may work but I gave up.
 
Some ideas at woodheat.org:


For passive heat laterally, the hole transom is the best option. Door will not move heat, since heat goes to the ceiling. So you need to allow passive air flow at ceiling level. If you add a ceiling fan in the rooms, to move the heat down, even better.

And as the above link: If you use a fan to move heat, then also using ducting at ceiling level, to move heat there to the other rooms.
 
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