Hello all. Joe here. I grew up in Southeast Tennessee and had a Vestal wood burning stove my entire childhood.
I loved the stove. It was a solid steel plate rectangle box with 2 levels. A heavy cast iron door with screw-on drafts. It was a lot of work keeping wood piled up because it was voracious. I remember as young as 10 logging with dad me rolling tulip poplar sections as big around as a 55 gallon drum to the truck. It was a lot of work by the time it made it to the stove. But there is nothing in the world like coming in from the freezing cold to that heat in your face. Plus when it got going real good with dry wood skids from Brown Stove factory it would sound like a train chugging through the house.
Being in Tennessee and knowing lots of people with 100+ acres of land we could get wood for no money as long as we divided what we cut down with the owner. For a poor family this was like free wood when all it cost was our time. It sucked at the time but I have fond memories with my dad.
Fast forward to today and my question. I have a 2 story 1600 sq ft house with a 20 year old NG furnace. It takes forever to get warm air throughout the house. The real problem here is because the builders in all their infinite wisdom ran all flex ducting between the floors where I can't access without tearing all the drywall out. It seems to me the blower is way undersized too, because I have the neighbors old one as a fan in my workshop. Doesn't seem good enough for a whole house.
2 years ago toward the end of winter I was at Ace and bought a set of vent-free 80,000btu gas logs for $35. Close out return because they wouldn't stay lit in the owners house. The log company had gone out of business. Ace blew the soot out and cleaned up and were running them with no problems at the time. I have been using them as the primary heat ever since. They lowered the monthly gas bill by about $40 a month.
I keep the flue closed and all the heat is saved but all travels upstairs. The downstairs stays cooler because of this.
The insert has no name brand on it to contact the maker, and is just generic. There are slots behind the grill that flow behind the insert and over the top that look perfect for a small blower. But the grill is not removable (without some modification). This may be a hard sell though because SWMBO is all about looks and appearances. For a country boy it is a no-brainer, fix the problem and looks come as an after fact.
Long post, but my question is can I install blowers in the space under or above the insert to help move the heat around?
I loved the stove. It was a solid steel plate rectangle box with 2 levels. A heavy cast iron door with screw-on drafts. It was a lot of work keeping wood piled up because it was voracious. I remember as young as 10 logging with dad me rolling tulip poplar sections as big around as a 55 gallon drum to the truck. It was a lot of work by the time it made it to the stove. But there is nothing in the world like coming in from the freezing cold to that heat in your face. Plus when it got going real good with dry wood skids from Brown Stove factory it would sound like a train chugging through the house.
Being in Tennessee and knowing lots of people with 100+ acres of land we could get wood for no money as long as we divided what we cut down with the owner. For a poor family this was like free wood when all it cost was our time. It sucked at the time but I have fond memories with my dad.
Fast forward to today and my question. I have a 2 story 1600 sq ft house with a 20 year old NG furnace. It takes forever to get warm air throughout the house. The real problem here is because the builders in all their infinite wisdom ran all flex ducting between the floors where I can't access without tearing all the drywall out. It seems to me the blower is way undersized too, because I have the neighbors old one as a fan in my workshop. Doesn't seem good enough for a whole house.
2 years ago toward the end of winter I was at Ace and bought a set of vent-free 80,000btu gas logs for $35. Close out return because they wouldn't stay lit in the owners house. The log company had gone out of business. Ace blew the soot out and cleaned up and were running them with no problems at the time. I have been using them as the primary heat ever since. They lowered the monthly gas bill by about $40 a month.
I keep the flue closed and all the heat is saved but all travels upstairs. The downstairs stays cooler because of this.
The insert has no name brand on it to contact the maker, and is just generic. There are slots behind the grill that flow behind the insert and over the top that look perfect for a small blower. But the grill is not removable (without some modification). This may be a hard sell though because SWMBO is all about looks and appearances. For a country boy it is a no-brainer, fix the problem and looks come as an after fact.
Long post, but my question is can I install blowers in the space under or above the insert to help move the heat around?
