Moving the heat...

[bfitz3]

Got the call today that our stove is built and shipping may commence...woo hoo!

My only nagging concern on my install is what to do if/when the stove is going nuts and other distant regions of the house are too cold. Does anyone know of a thermostat that has settings for running the furnace's blower without running the burner?

- on fixed time intervals?
- via remote control?
- better yet, based on a temperature difference between a few locations?

Thanks!

 

[chance04]

My hvac system allows me to run the blower by itself. I tried this but ended up having much better results with a cheap 10 dollar Wal-Mart fan on the floor blowing cool air from colder rooms towards the stove. I was astounded at the distribution it provided

 

[bfitz3]

Yeah... I've wondered if that will end up happening. It just seems that with the wad of cash going at the woodstove, another couple hundred bucks for an elegant solution seems like the way to go. I'm expecting to get a sterling engine fan to move the heat out of the room, but I'm worried about our den (around two corners) and the kiddo's bedroom (up some stairs and at the end of a hall.) Of course, she's young, so maybe some cold would be good to toughen her up!

 

[tarzan]

Chance has it right. You will find that you need no help moving the heat or fans blowing toward the stove room or fans blowing from the stove room.

In my case, blowing warm air from the stove room works best but this seems to go against the grain as most have better luck blowing cool air toward the stove to be heated and returned.

 

[begreen]

Got the call today that our stove is built and shipping may commence...woo hoo!

My only nagging concern on my install is what to do if/when the stove is going nuts and other distant regions of the house are too cold. Does anyone know of a thermostat that has settings for running the furnace's blower without running the burner?

- on fixed time intervals?
- via remote control?
- better yet, based on a temperature difference between a few locations?

Thanks!

Using the hvac system can be a net loss if the ductwork is unsealed and uninsulated, especially if it moves through a cold area. Often a simple fan can do the job well and using less electricity. Can you post a sketch of the floorplan?

 

[kennyp2339]

When "moving the heat" you really want to say "moving the colder, denser air towards your burning appliance"

 

[Tectop]

If your wood stove is in basement, why not hang a hood like a shop welding hood or even a smaller range hood with an exhaust fan in it , use chains from the upstairs floor beams let the hood hang a few feet over the stove . Connect flexible duct hose to pump the hot air off the stove to a floor register in the main roon in your home where you spend most of your time. You can add a floor register so you don't have to mess with your existing furnace and they can work independent of each other. Just a thought.

 

[Gakdudes]

I'm with Tarzan on this. I fought for 2 years with a thousand different set ups trying to move heat from downstairs to upstairs in a moderately insulated 3400 square ft home with a fair number of windows. I tried blowing air downstairs at various flow rates, creating neg pressure up stairs, opening various windows to create flow and even out pressures, etc, etc, and what worked, despite various thought groups saying otherwise, was to just have as many fans as possible blowing up and to seal everything as much as possible.

 

[mass_burner]

Much discussed topic. I've struggled with lateral movement, I can see it happening, 72 up high, 58 down low. But it just isn't fast enough to keep up.

 

[begreen]

If your wood stove is in basement, why not hang a hood like a shop welding hood or even a smaller range hood with an exhaust fan in it , use chains from the upstairs floor beams let the hood hang a few feet over the stove . Connect flexible duct hose to pump the hot air off the stove to a floor register in the main roon in your home where you spend most of your time. You can add a floor register so you don't have to mess with your existing furnace and they can work independent of each other. Just a thought.

That would be against mechanical code. Better to buy a wood furnace in the first place if this is the plan.

 

[Jacyte]

How about running a stove blower backwards into existing ductwork?.. basically pulling air through the stove jacket and ducting to a room A/C / heat register. It would have to be a pretty hefty heat rated blower and the stove will get dusty pretty quick.

 

[begreen]

The return air of a ventilating device must be at least 10 ft away from the stove.