NEED HELP W/CIRCULATION?

[larryz]

I have a 1500 sq/ft. ranch house with and unfinished basement that has a concrete floor and walls. The temperature in the basement remains at 63 degrees all year long (Notheastern PA).

The pellet stove (Harman P68) is downstairs and vented via and existing masonry chimney.

What it the best way to move the heat throughout the home? Should I put registers in the floor in each room and leave the basement door open?

Thanks,
larryz

 

[wg_bent]

Best way to move heat from pellet stove installed in unsulated basement....Move Pellet stove into upstairs, insulated space.

 

[larryz]

At this point, moving the stove upstairs is not an option because of location and logistics. I have the basement door open and the heat is coming up the stairway and heating the upstairs pretty good.

Would floor registers bring the warm air up or woud they act as a place where the cold air would go down and then return via my basement stariway. I am trying to get a natural air flow going.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Larry

 

[Roospike]

At this point, moving the stove upstairs is not an option because of location and logistics. I have the basement door open and the heat is coming up the stairway and heating the upstairs pretty good.

Would floor registers bring the warm air up or woud they act as a place where the cold air would go down and then return via my basement stariway. I am trying to get a natural air flow going.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Larry

Your would think that floor registers would let heat go up but when i did this the cold drops out of the floor registers . After thinking about it cold air is heavier and is going to be more dominant so it make sense that the cold would drop before heat would rise.
9/10 you best vent is your stairs , the cold will come down at the steps and the warm air will go up above the stairs.

 

[larryz]

Roospike,

I think what your saying is true. When I place my hand near the bottom of the steps, I can feel the cold air moving down. When I go to the top of the stairs you can feel the warm air. Do you think if I put registers in, they will take the cold air from each room floor, send it to the basement and then return via the stairway?

Thanks,
Larry

 

[Roospike]

Roospike,

I think what your saying is true. When I place my hand near the bottom of the steps, I can feel the cold air moving down. When I go to the top of the stairs you can feel the warm air. Do you think if I put registers in, they will take the cold air from each room floor, send it to the basement and then return via the stairway?

Thanks,
Larry

Yes ,It will help ........ This is what i did and installed the safety vents that close at a set temperature in case of fire. Cold air drops out of all the floor vents from the second floor and i ended up getting more heat up the stairs.
My stairway is in the middle of the house with the stove 2' away from the stairs , 2 story house with the living area down and the 3 bed rooms up / no basement .

 

[suematteva]

We have our stove in an insulated basement. Stove is on the right of open stairwell going down, over on the left about 5-6 feet from far end of stair well is one register about 5 ft away. This made a big difference as you can feel cold air going down this register.. Am thinking of a ceiling fan right over the open end of stairs..

Is basement insulated at all?

 

[larryz]

No the basement is not insulated. Last year I left a thermometer hanging in the middle of the basement for an entire year. The temperature remained at 63 degrees consistently, regardless of the season of the year.

Is the insulation in your basement fiberglass or foam?

Larry

 

[suematteva]

3 inch foam on the inside 1 inch on the outside.

With the stove running it only gets up to 63?

 

[Gibbonboy]

With my Alaska Kast Konsole stoker running full-tilt in our basement in NE Pennsylvania, it was never "hot" down there. All that masonry is a HUUUUGE heatsink, not to mention the air infiltration. It would almost keep the house warm, but we still needed to supplement it with electric space heaters. We tried fans, ducts, grates, you name it to move the heat around, with very little real success. As has been mentioned, having open grates/doors makes your whole house a chimney/blast furnace in the event of a fire.

I also cannot move my stove upstairs without huge expense. That is why I ended up buying a wood furnace. Less efficient, I know, but the heat is easier to distribute through my odd floorplan. The ducts with thermal safeties ensure that any fire will be slower to spread, hopefully giving us a chance to escape. Also, with the ducts connected, the mess stays in the basement, instead of flyash and dust floating up through the floor grates. Makes for a more peaceful homestead!

 

[larryz]

No. It was 63 degrees all year round before I put the stove in. After turning on the stove, the basement is now at 76-78 degrees and the upstairs is at 70 degrees. The outside temperature today is 41 degrees.

Sorry about the mix up in my writing.

Larry