question about moving heat from stove room

[rygar]

attach is a awful quality houseplan that i have, but is the best that i have.

(broken image removed)

as you can see

The black square in the middle is the wood stove. Hearthstone Clydesdale 8491.
The room its in kitchen, dining room and first bedroom to the left of it are heated fine as is.

my question is what is the best way to move air to the bedrooms to the far left.

should i do a tall fan near the hearth to push warm air to the left and then a floor fan pushing cool are back?

 

[begreen]

For more even heat in the house put a table or box fan at the far end of the hallway, placed on the floor, pointing toward the woodstove. Run it on low speed. It will blow the cooler air down low, toward the woodstove. The denser cool air will be replaced with lighter warm air from the stove room. Running this way you should notice at least a 5F increase in the hallway temp after about 30 minutes running.

 

[KodiakII]

Do you also have central heat, and if so are you using it at all? If not (or even if you are) if you can put your furnace blower motor on low your ducting will move the heat around. More so if you aren't using it close the dampers down a bit in the rooms that you don't want the heat.

 

[Slow1]

Do you also have central heat, and if so are you using it at all? If not (or even if you are) if you can put your furnace blower motor on low your ducting will move the heat around. More so if you aren't using it close the dampers down a bit in the rooms that you don't want the heat.

I advise caution on this approach - if your ducts are not well insulated/sealed and the heat can escape (i.e. for those of us with ducts in the attic) then this may only serve to heat ducts and leak heat out of the house.

 

[rygar]

Do you also have central heat, and if so are you using it at all? If not (or even if you are) if you can put your furnace blower motor on low your ducting will move the heat around. More so if you aren't using it close the dampers down a bit in the rooms that you don't want the heat.

i have baseboard heating. but my AC blower unit is in the attic and i have the return right next to the hearth. i will try to put on the fan tonight

 

[begreen]

I wouldn't bother. The heat loss typically negates most gains. Try the fan trick. That works well in ranches.

 

[Woody Stover]

If the bedrooms are just for sleeping, fleece or down comforters are good (unless dealing with a cover hog.) If not, begreen's hall fan approach will definitely help.

Are the doorways pretty wide into the stove room? Is there a high ceiling in the stove room?

 

[Sully]

I did a little trick today I read on here. Just to see if air is moving towards bedrooms. I taped a tissue to the top of door frames and watched which way it was moving. I just installed ceiling fans so I was curious. It was moving I. The direction desired , hard to tell with out doing something like that because it is a slow moving but constant air flow. Put my wondering to rest at least

 

[NHWOODISGOOD]

I did a little trick today I read on here. Just to see if air is moving towards bedrooms. I taped a tissue to the top of door frames and watched which way it was moving. I just installed ceiling fans so I was curious. It was moving I. The direction desired , hard to tell with out doing something like that because it is a slow moving but constant air flow. Put my wondering to rest at least

this works pretty good. I used a piece of paper towel that I cut into 6 strips and hung them in several doorways as well as going up the stairs to the second floor. you can definitely see where the hot air is going and get a pretty good idea of how much of it is going there. there is way more hot air going up the stairs than is making it to my first floor bedroom. probably could've assumed that anyways but it was a fun little experiment!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

For sure Begreen's advice it the tops here. That little trick works great and you do not need a large fan either. Even a fan with a 3 or 4" blade will do wonders.

 

[Woody Stover]

For sure Begreen's advice it the tops here. That little trick works great and you do not need a large fan either. Even a fan with a 3 or 4" blade will do wonders.

I need to find some fans about that size; I need to conceal them under furniture at each of the doorways of the stove room at my MIL's house. Have you seen these smaller fans somewhere?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

http://www.amazon.com/Vornado-530B-Compact-Whole-Circulator/dp/B000E5S4MW/ref=pd_bxgy_hg_text_y

This one is about the same size as ours. Really small but if you want to dial up some speed for summer cooling, it works very well for that too.

 

[rygar]

OK guys. I decided to redo my house plans to make things more crisp and readable. I wanted to show the exact location of the wood stove and the exact location of the fan.
(broken image removed)

The blue arrow is the fan and the red oval is the stove. mind you the brick hearth has an L shape to it. i had the fan right at it and its about 18-20 feet from the stove area. The stove room is very open concept which helps spread the heat in that room. my problem is that the heat didnt really move too much towards the bed rooms.

am i doing something wrong?

 

[Slow1]

It would help to understand the current heat distribution. What temperatures are you measuring in each of the rooms? More important though really is how much of a temperature differential are you experiencing?

 

[rygar]

Here is the temp locations for yesterday evening

(broken image removed)

 

[Oregon aloha]

If you crack a window at the end of the house you want the heat to go to it will. Warm air takes up more room then cool air, so the warm air will move to the cracked window and push the cooler air out the window. The room won't be as warm as the central part of the house, but will take the chill away.

How many square feet is your home and what size stove are you running?

 

[rygar]

If you crack a window at the end of the house you want the heat to go to it will. Warm air takes up more room then cool air, so the warm air will move to the cracked window and push the cooler air out the window. The room won't be as warm as the central part of the house, but will take the chill away.

How many square feet is your home and what size stove are you running?

House is just under 1700 square feet.
The stove is a clydesdale 8491, 74,000BTU and is rated for a 2400 sqft house.

My running times are this:
Get home at 5, start fire and get it going...replenish the beast all evening. at around midnight i fill up the fire box and keep the damper nearly shut. i still have red coals in the AM. Wife said the fan was still blowing around 7am.

 

[Slow1]

A 11* differential from the lowest to hightest is certainly noticeable. I'd like to see what happens if you put the fan on the floor of the doorway to BR1 and aim it down the hall toward the stove. Wait a couple hours and then compare your temperature readings.

I have one room in my house that stays quite a bit cooler - but it happens to be above our garage and you can just imagine how cool that floor can get! If you have anything like this (i.e. inferior insulation, windows, etc) in any of those cooler rooms that could be working against you considerably.

 

[Grisu]

House is just under 1700 square feet.
The stove is a clydesdale 8491, 74,000BTU and is rated for a 2400 sqft house.

My running times are this:
Get home at 5, start fire and get it going...replenish the beast all evening. at around midnight i fill up the fire box and keep the damper nearly shut. i still have red coals in the AM. Wife said the fan was still blowing around 7am.

Those sqft ratings are not that reliable since it depends a lot on insulation, outside temps, stove placement, ceiling height etc. how much space a given stove can heat. The Clydesdale is a medium-size insert with a 2.4 cu ft firebox which will be challenged to heat 1700 sqft of a normally insulated house in a cold climate. Especially, when it first has to get the house warmed up again in the afternoon instead of keeping it warm during the day. A larger insert, potentially catalytic for the longer burn times may have been better for you but alas you use what you have. Your problem are the bedrooms at the far end of the house. BG's suggestion of the fan is certainly a good one. Maybe complement it with another fan placed inside bedroom 1 blowing air towards the fan in the hallway. A paper strip at the door will help you to find out whether warm air is moving into the room. If that does not help you may need to supplement the heat in that room with a little space heater or look at upgrading your insulation. You could also get one of those: (broken link removed to http://www.biddefordblankets.com/products/digital-electric-blanket.asp) My wife loves hers. (Too warm for my taste.)

 

[rygar]

Everyone was telling me i should get a clydesdale and now its not enough. thats disappointing.
i have insulation in the ceiling, in the floor and in the exterior walls. most windows are new, but the older ones get the plastic sheet treatment during winter.

as for the insulation, would that just need to be done in the attic?

i will try and buy a better fan today and try the cracked window deal. i guess worst case i can keep the oil heat on during the day then let the stove take over in the evening and overnight. Was hoping to heat as much as possible with the stove and limit oil use.

 

[USMC80]

what confuses me is that your living room right next to the den is only 65 degrees? How hot are you running this stove? What's your wood supply like? What were the outside temps?

 

[Grisu]

Everyone was telling me i should get a clydesdale and now its not enough. thats disappointing.

I am sorry to hear that. Did you ask for advise here or who recommended the Clydesdale? It may be enough if you can keep it going all day. Can you or your wife get a quick fire going in the morning and then fill it up again like for an overnight burn when everyone is out of the house? That may help.

i have insulation in the ceiling, in the floor and in the exterior walls. most windows are new, but the older ones get the plastic sheet treatment during winter.

That with the insulation was just a guess. Maybe you are already pretty good in that area although that huge temp differential between the bedroom and the hallway seem a little bit funny. Have you thought about insulating blinds?

 

[mass_burner]

Here is the temp locations for yesterday evening

(broken image removed)

very interested in this post as your plan is very similar to mine. can you indicate north and east please? i'm guessing BR1 is on the NW side. also, what are those protrudings between BR3 and the mini den?

 

[mass_burner]

If you crack a window at the end of the house you want the heat to go to it will. Warm air takes up more room then cool air, so the warm air will move to the cracked window and push the cooler air out the window. The room won't be as warm as the central part of the house, but will take the chill away.

But cold air stays in a layer from ground level to about 2-3 feet. Depends how high the window is, but wouldn't the warm air only be push cold air coming into through the crack in the window? i think the idea is heat exchange, i wouldn't want to introduce anymore cold air.

 

[rygar]

@USMC80....that is an old analog thermostat and thats the temp it says. i wouldnt be surprised if that and the thermostat in the BR1 are off, but its a noticeable difference walking down the hall way. i am going to try to get a few mobile digital thermometers for checking true temps

@Grisu....i guess i am willing it give anything a shot, as for my wood supply i am sitting on around 4-5 cords right now. i am still trying to figure out the best amount of wood to use at once, whether to have the fire box filled at all times or just add one log at a time. also trying to make sure the wood is as dry as i can get it.

@mass_burner...the left side of the house faces almost due north and the temps lastnight hit low 30s