Basically it isn`t scientific at all, the heat will "enventually rise" to the upper floors. So yes, it is somewhat possible to heat your entire home with the stove/insert on the bottom level. But expect a huge varaition in heat for each level.
This house-4 levels, insert located on bottom level-room size is approx 300 sq.ft. I have discovered that this room needs to be somewhere between 24C and 27C to get the heat to naturally want to gravitate to the next levels. Or, and I am estimating-80F-84F. So all of my estimates for F will be just that=estimates.
Basically at 6 in the morning when the insert is almost finished with productive heat the temps will read- first level-70-second level-70-third level-66-fourth level-60. Bedrooms are on the fourth level and I personally find that a bit too cool. But at least it does heat the entire place.
The biggest negative is however, that during the evenings, I have to maintain that 80+ degree temp to keep that heat flowing upstairs, and this makes watching the (big screen) uncomfortable. So, usually around 8pm the wife and I resort to migrating upstairs to watch TV on the old tube. And that really sucks :down:
The fix will come for the too hot finished basement when I have enough saved up for another Big Screen for the upstairs. But in my opinion the bottom floor is best specially when the basement is totally finished. This is not however a large home, it is only approx 1700 sq.ft. Other than going for the two insert option, I think it best to always be oversized even if just for the longer burn times. As for the smaller fire in the bigger firebox thing? In our case this really isn`t an option when the temps drop to freezing, because as I already stated I need that 80-84 temp for the heat to really start migrating upstairs.
As far as the fans go--have also found that in this situation we really only need the fan on the insert to get the job done.doorwayfan helps marginally to get the heat moving a bit faster, but it really isn`t neccessary.
There seems to be a natural circulation-eg. place my hand near the floor and can feel the cold air migrating towards the insert, and stand up and place my hand near the ceiling and the exit from the rec-room and can feel the warm air moving away and out and up towards the stairs.
Sorry for the long post, but if any questions, follow the thread and I will be happy to try and answer.
This house-4 levels, insert located on bottom level-room size is approx 300 sq.ft. I have discovered that this room needs to be somewhere between 24C and 27C to get the heat to naturally want to gravitate to the next levels. Or, and I am estimating-80F-84F. So all of my estimates for F will be just that=estimates.
Basically at 6 in the morning when the insert is almost finished with productive heat the temps will read- first level-70-second level-70-third level-66-fourth level-60. Bedrooms are on the fourth level and I personally find that a bit too cool. But at least it does heat the entire place.
The biggest negative is however, that during the evenings, I have to maintain that 80+ degree temp to keep that heat flowing upstairs, and this makes watching the (big screen) uncomfortable. So, usually around 8pm the wife and I resort to migrating upstairs to watch TV on the old tube. And that really sucks :down:
The fix will come for the too hot finished basement when I have enough saved up for another Big Screen for the upstairs. But in my opinion the bottom floor is best specially when the basement is totally finished. This is not however a large home, it is only approx 1700 sq.ft. Other than going for the two insert option, I think it best to always be oversized even if just for the longer burn times. As for the smaller fire in the bigger firebox thing? In our case this really isn`t an option when the temps drop to freezing, because as I already stated I need that 80-84 temp for the heat to really start migrating upstairs.
As far as the fans go--have also found that in this situation we really only need the fan on the insert to get the job done.doorwayfan helps marginally to get the heat moving a bit faster, but it really isn`t neccessary.
There seems to be a natural circulation-eg. place my hand near the floor and can feel the cold air migrating towards the insert, and stand up and place my hand near the ceiling and the exit from the rec-room and can feel the warm air moving away and out and up towards the stairs.
Sorry for the long post, but if any questions, follow the thread and I will be happy to try and answer.
