Run cold air return to behind wood stove

[TahoeJim]

Hi
I’m in Tahoe at 6800 ft.
I have a Hearthstone soapstone stove on one side of my house in my diningroom/kitchen. The living room on the other side of the house is full of windows (great views!) but is pretty cold compared to my dining room.
I’m thinking of running a cold air return (6” vent under floor with an inline fan) from my frosty living room to behind my wood stove.

Questions: Has anyone done this and how did it work?
Any problem with punching a hole in the brick hearth floor behind the stove and having the cold return exhaust/blow onto the back of the stove?
Thank you
Jim

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Is your stove far enough from the wall?

 

[armanidog]

I would experiment with some box fans on the floor first to see if blowing cold air out of the room toward the stove will actually heat up the living room. You may be just sucking air out of the room and it is replaced by more colder air coming through cracks or windows. .
If you do decide to install it I suggest using an inline fan muffler/insulated box or you may have a rumbling sound under the floor when it is blowing. There are also speed controllers so you can vary the fan speed.
Please don't ask me how I know about this stuff:

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[TahoeJim]

Is your stove far enough from the wall?

Limey,
Maybe. We bought this place a couple years ago, so I inherited this setup.
I don't know which Hearthstone model this is, but using their Heritage line as a proxy I'm 12" from combustible wall at the closest corner which is at spec from their manual. Manual states "You may reduce the general clearances if installing the stove near Protected Surfaces" but doesn't state how much you can reduce the clearance. I'm 8" to the brick... so?
Flue is at spec.

 

[TahoeJim]

I would experiment with some box fans on the floor first to see if blowing cold air out of the room toward the stove will actually heat up the living room. You may be just sucking air out of the room and it is replaced by more colder air coming through cracks or windows. .
If you do decide to install it I suggest using an inline fan muffler/insulated box or you may have a rumbling sound under the floor when it is blowing. There are also speed controllers so you can vary the fan speed.
Please don't ask me how I know about this stuff:

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For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Armanidog, is that you in the video? Good stuff thank you. I'll try a little floor fan and see if I can tell any difference. Did you ever get to a solution where you could feel the difference, or not?

Assuming this works I'm also concerned about where to dump the cold air... My wife's favorite spot in the whole house in the deep of winter is 3' from the stove, so I cannot have any cold draft by the stove which is why I'm thinking dumping the air directly behind the stove vs out sheetrock to the side.

 

[armanidog]

Armanidog, is that you in the video? Good stuff thank you. I'll try a little floor fan and see if I can tell any difference. Did you ever get to a solution where you could feel the difference, or not?

Assuming this works I'm also concerned about where to dump the cold air... My wife's favorite spot in the whole house in the deep of winter is 3' from the stove, so I cannot have any cold draft by the stove which is why I'm thinking dumping the air directly behind the stove vs out sheetrock to the side.

I wasn't concerned with hot and cold air, I was using one to get rid of a particular smell.

 

[moresnow]

Consider this when trying the floor fan method. Set the fan speed on low. Set the fan in a cold portion of the house blowing towards the hot stove room.
Keep in mind it may take hours to get accurate results for your test, in each spot you try the fan/fans. My experience.
It does work at my place to disperse heat.

 

[Rob711]

I enjoy that smell!!