Need help with air circulation to heat house

[smitty81]

Gonna try out these little fans in the recommended spots mentioned above in combination with the ceiling fan and or door fans.......should be able to figure something out I would think.

 

[Huntindog1]

Small Fan close to the Ground Cold Air Flow vs Tall Fan.

Objective is to get a better situation for warm air flowing back to where you need it.

 

[smitty81]

Small Fan close to the Ground Cold Air Flow vs Tall Fan.

Objective is to get a better situation for warm air flowing back to where you need it.

View attachment 109166

Thanks, that makes it easy for me to understand.

Maybe my box fan was just to big and moving to much air?

I have been told less is more.................If you cant feel air moving on the ground 5-7' away, is it still doing its job?

 

[Woody Stover]

I have the PE Super insert model and heat about 1300 to 1400 sqft with it but I would not try to heat 2000 sqft. In principle, we would recommend something larger for that house size in the 2.5 to 3 cu ft firebox range. Nevertheless, you also have a heat distribution problem as your stove room seems to get warm so a bigger stove may not help much.

Agreed, that might be a bit much for that stove, but you need to get the heat to the rest of the house and see how that does.

I second the idea BeGreen had.....the fan blowing down the stairs should be low at ground level and a warm flow will flow at the ceiling level up the stairs to your upper level. Its important to keep that separation of cold air low to ground warm air flows up high. Thats the reason for the small 9" fan sitting on the floor.

If the box fan is on low speed it should be fine. Are you saying you tried this last season using a thermometer to check for temp rise in the hallway? Was the ceiling fan running at the time?

I think you want the fans on low speed as well, just enough to augment the natural convection. If that furnace-room fan that bg suggested ends up blowing at the top area of the doorway where the the warm air is trying to exit the stove room, maybe you could try a desk fan at the top of the stairs and angle it down the stairs....might preserve the natural convection pattern better. I would certainly exhaust all the possibilities of move air with fans, before I messed with any of that ducting, etc. You also have to be careful that you aren't violating fire code when you start cutting vent holes.....your insurance might not pay off in the case of a fire.

I need to find a better source for a wide variety of fans. Right now, I need a couple that will fit under a chair and a couch, blowing into both doors of the stove room, and running very low. Variable speed would be a plus.

 

[Woody Stover]

Thanks, that makes it easy for me to understand.

Maybe my box fan was just to big and moving to much air?

I have been told less is more.................If you cant feel air moving on the ground 5-7' away, is it still doing its job?

I'd think you should be feeling something that close. Heck, sometimes I can put my hand in the bottom of a doorway and feel slight movement of air, just from the convection.

 

[smitty81]

I'd think you should be feeling something that close. Heck, sometimes I can put my hand in the bottom of a doorway and feel slight movement of air, just from the convection.

I was just wondering what speed to turn that fan on. I would think low speed at 7+ foot really wouldn't push much air.

I would think high speed at distances of 7+ foot would be ideal.

It's just a little fan.

The distance might be more like 10'-12' now that I think about it.

I'm probably just thinking to hard about this......lol

 

[Woody Stover]

I was just wondering what speed to turn that fan on. I would think low speed at 7+ foot really wouldn't push much air.

I would think high speed at distances of 7+ foot would be ideal.

It's just a little fan.

The distance might be more like 10'-12' now that I think about it.

I'm probably just thinking to hard about this......lol

I'm no expert (yet ) but I think the main objective is to enhance the natural convection flow that is trying to work on its own. I would try everything I could think of, including the ceiling fan on and off, although the consensus seems to be that on, blowing up, helps in a situation like yours. I didn't see that you got those Honeywell fans....those look good, and you can tilt the flow down the stairs.

This has got to work to some extent, I would think. Whether it will be enough heat with that stove is another question....

 

[rideau]

Low speed on the fans.

 

[HDRock]

Good little fan me thinks!

They are Good little fans, mine ran continually ,flawlessly ,from fall to spring last year

 

[earl764]

Question, and I may have missed it. Apologies if I have...

What is your built in heating? Forced air or baseboard? If it's forced air I would suggest a thermguard to circulate the air around the house.

 

[Bluerubi]

I was just wondering what speed to turn that fan on. I would think low speed at 7+ foot really wouldn't push much air.

I would think high speed at distances of 7+ foot would be ideal.

It's just a little fan.

The distance might be more like 10'-12' now that I think about it.

I'm probably just thinking to hard about this......lol

Just hang a 1ft piece of single ply toilet paper in the openings above your doors when you're playing around with convective currents. Really easy to see how fan placement and speed at the floor level impacts the air exchange within a room. Even after years of burning I still find it fun to watch the room my stove is in come up to a very high temp with the toilet paper barely moving in the doorway, then all of a sudden the temp drops down and the paper shoots outward almost horizontally as hot air is leaving and really cool air isncoming in at the floor. This pattern repeats all through the house until finally I see motion in the doorways on my second floor.

Provided I keep my stove going, I stopped using floor fans since the convective currents become well established. Also fun to walk around with incense so you can see how the smoke trails rip around the house. It's very telling about where issue are.

Good luck.

 

[Huntindog1]

If your looking to learn about how to move heat thru you house there are some terms you can search on Google that brings up alot of info.

Stack Ventilation
Cross Stack Ventilation
Natural Ventilation

I was looking up info for my new divider wall in my basement. As it has changed my air flows in my house as to getting heat upstairs.
There is a term for vents in a single wall, single-sided natural ventilation

 

[blujacket]

Honeywell Air Circulator Fan,8" , 16 bucks , I have 2 , put em on the floor, where U need em, on low, Magic
http://www.menards.com/main/heating...able-air-circulator-fan/p-1393844-c-12727.htm

I have a similar fan. Works great! You can feel the heat smack you in the face when walking down the stairs, and if you were to attach a piece of tp on the ceiling, see it move.

 

[smitty81]

Just hang a 1ft piece of single ply toilet paper in the openings above your doors when you're playing around with convective currents. Really easy to see how fan placement and speed at the floor level impacts the air exchange within a room. Even after years of burning I still find it fun to watch the room my stove is in come up to a very high temp with the toilet paper barely moving in the doorway, then all of a sudden the temp drops down and the paper shoots outward almost horizontally as hot air is leaving and really cool air isncoming in at the floor. This pattern repeats all through the house until finally I see motion in the doorways on my second floor.

Provided I keep my stove going, I stopped using floor fans since the convective currents become well established. Also fun to walk around with incense so you can see how the smoke trails rip around the house. It's very telling about where issue are.

Good luck.

The TP idea is great, im gonna give that a try!

Thanks