Need help with stove location to direct heat flow (REVISITED)

[stejus]

I've received great feed back (another post) about where I thought I could install a Castile (30000 btu rated 1500 sqft), but I don't think it will happen because of too many windows.

Another option is in the LR/DR area of the house. We don't use this room but two or three times a year. My only concern is directing most of the heat from one end of the house to the other. It's only 36' from one end to the other, not including the room between the house and garage.

The room in-between the FR and Garage has a cathedral ceiling with a large ceiling fan. If I run this on low and pull the air up, will it draw the heat from the DR? I'm trying to keep most of the heat away from the stairs that lead up to the second floor. We really don't use heat upstairs so I'm not buying a stove to heat the entire house.

I"m going to the dealer tomorrow but I would like actual experiences and not a salesman making promises.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[Shortstuff]

Steve, you appear to be in a position I was a few months ago trying to determine the best location to put a pellet stove to heat my house. Unlike your floorplan, our house is more of a ranch style and if you look at our floorplan below, you'll see 3 locations where I considered placement of a stove.

As it turns out, we purchased and already installed a Castile free-standing stove at location #2. As you can see, this will be heating only that end of the house which is only 820 sq.ft., similar to your area in size. If all works well, we plan on putting a second stove in next year at location #3 to heat the rest of the house.

I honestly cannot speak from experience because we've only fired up the stove for test purposes a couple of times recently, but I'm more than confident that it will be more than enough to heat our 820 sq.ft. area. Looking at your floorplan, it appears that you've got more walls kinda blocking the flow of air (heat), but as you mentioned, by having your ceiling fan on low and pulling the air up, it should help get the air flowing for you. In your case, I would point the stove directly towards the kitchen as you show in your diagram and maybe put a small fan near the stairway blowing to the right to get a circular air flow throughout your house.

Without actually seeing your house in person, I'm only guessing, but I think a Castile might be enough to do the job.

P.S. All our ceilings are 9'.

Steve

 

[stejus]

Hey Steve, thanks for your feedback.

I just came back from dealer and here’s what they recommend. Does this make sense?


Position stove directly in line with the DR doorway.
Put in doorway fan in DR doorway to pull heat into Kitchen.
Put up Curtain in Kitchen hallway door to keep heat flow entering hallway.
Turn on circular fan in Office to draw heat toward FR.
Put in doorway fan in LR door pulling air into LR.

With baseboard (forced hot water) heat, I naturally get a cold draft coming down the stairs from upstairs when we have the heat on downstairs. This must be because a lot of heat is rising up the stairs and the cold air is sinking (or falling down the stairs).

The goal is to keep the Kitchen and FR at around 70 degrees. This might mean I have to run the stove hotter (around 75 or so) in the DR to feel 70 in the Kitchen/FR area, right? Our ceilings are 7’6” and the foyer is closed in (no open foyer).


Thanks,
Steve

 

[Shortstuff]

I think the dealer is thinking like I am in that you have to somehow obtain a circular airflow, going through the kitchen, through the FR then back into the LR/DR area, like a clockwise flow of air. This I can agree with, but how to do it is not going to be easily done with just putting a couple of fans at designated locations.

Blowing the air too hard with even small table fans will only cool the warm air very quickly. If you have a ceiling fan in the LR/DR area, I would consider turning it on low and blowing downward. Then I would take a couple of small computer fans and locating them in such a way as to cause a clockwise airflow.

It's a tough call to make, but I would try it myself. There are so many variables that can help or hinder your attempts, but trial and error will give you some answers. Push come to shove, you can always either move the stove to another location, or if not successful, consider an alternative heating method.

And I don't think the curtain idea is going to help.

Keep us updated.

Steve

 

[stejus]

I think the dealer is thinking like I am in that you have to somehow obtain a circular airflow, going through the kitchen, through the FR then back into the LR/DR area, like a clockwise flow of air. This I can agree with, but how to do it is not going to be easily done with just putting a couple of fans at designated locations.

Blowing the air too hard with even small table fans will only cool the warm air very quickly. If you have a ceiling fan in the LR/DR area, I would consider turning it on low and blowing downward. Then I would take a couple of small computer fans and locating them in such a way as to cause a clockwise airflow.

It's a tough call to make, but I would try it myself. There are so many variables that can help or hinder your attempts, but trial and error will give you some answers. Push come to shove, you can always either move the stove to another location, or if not successful, consider an alternative heating method.

And I don't think the curtain idea is going to help.

Keep us updated.

Steve

I'm not too concerned with the Kitchen as most of the heat should blow through the doorway into the Kitchen. I just want it to continue to move down the Kitchen and float into FR. If I can accomplish this, I can set my oil heat on 55 degree's and walk away. We only turn the heat on upstairs during the week for 2hrs a day so we can take warm showers in the morning. The rest of the time it's on 55 degrees.

I'm hoping there's someone else out here with a similar floor and stove location. Others have put in an insert and this keeps the FR and Kitchen warm. I don't want an insert for a couple of reasons so i opted for the free standing model. I hope it works!

You should be all set because you have a large open area. I think if you keep the bedroom door open, you should be fine.

 

[stejus]

Getting close to installing free standing Castile - I had installers come out and look around and here’s what they said – either the LR/DR area or the Office area.

Here’s my question. Will I be able to move heat from this small office area into main house area through a standard door opening?

My gut tells me to install in Office area (has cathedral ceiling). With a ceiling fan and perhaps an additional directional fan in the Office (as shown), will I be able to move the heat through a standard door opening to fill the FR and Kitchen with heat? 7'6" ceilings in house. I think I would be better off putting the stove on this end of the house rather than the LR/DR area, right?

FYI - We spend all of our time in the FR and Kitchen and Office. The LR/DR area maybe twice a year. We have a total of 1000 sq ft down stairs and only looking to heat up roughly 500 sq ft effectively. I want to keep Office, FR and Kitchen warm and really don’t care about the LR/DR because we are never in it.


Thanks,
Steve