I am still struggling to get my heat upstairs. I have a Progress Hybrid downstairs but it is over 30 feet from my door to my stairwell. I have tried various fan configurations which do help but not good enough. I'm usually moving cold air down the stairs and toward the stove for best results. Here is my question. My "Great Room" or main level family room, whatever you call it, is directly above the stove. I have a ceiling fan in the room that runs all year. I'm wondering if I should cut one or perhaps two (for a cycle) vents that pass directly through the ceiling of the basement to the main floor above (the size of standard heat registers). Will this work. 1) If I cut one vent will the heat travel upstairs...or will cold air drop through it? Which is also fine so long as more hot air is pushed up the stairs. 2) Should I cut two vents, one on each side of my hearth (about 10 feet apart) and hope they will convect or create a cycle of cold air dropping down one and hot air rising up the other? Maybe use a small fan inside register?
The struggle continues- moving heat upstairs.
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Simonkenton
Minister of Fire
I tried that in my house. I put a vent in the ceiling, this is a standard size 14 inch by 5 inch little floor vent.
It didn't help a bit.
Now, obviously, if you put a big enough vent in, it will move lots of hot air upstairs. So the question is, how big?
Seventy square inches doesn't get it.
It didn't help a bit.
Now, obviously, if you put a big enough vent in, it will move lots of hot air upstairs. So the question is, how big?
Seventy square inches doesn't get it.
FarmerDan
Member
We have a sweet cast iron gravity vent on our second floor that we were hoping to open up to the floor below us. Just a warning - I've been told by contractors that opening up more vents within the house between floors can increase fire risk due to chimney affect. Also, you may have insurance and house inspection problems down the road.
For what it's worth, a home energy auditor pal of mine also assured me that I wasn't going to get as many BTUs out of a passive floor vent that I'd hoped for.
In my experience, insulation and draft reduction matter the most. Good luck getting those BTUs spread around more evenly!
For what it's worth, a home energy auditor pal of mine also assured me that I wasn't going to get as many BTUs out of a passive floor vent that I'd hoped for.
In my experience, insulation and draft reduction matter the most. Good luck getting those BTUs spread around more evenly!
kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
So true, when I first started heating from my basement I thought the same, I bought a few floor registers and figured I would cut some holes in the floor to let the heat naturally rise up, it didn't work at all.
I then open up the wall in my stairwell facing into the kitchen, it worked wonders, what needs to be done and I'm talking about a natural convection loop and not forced air, it to establish a big enough cold air return so a natural loop can occur, as the cold air leaves the room the hotter less dense air will filter back in the cold air's place, dinky little floor registers don't allow that to happen.
If you use my setup as an example. The stove is at one end of the house in an open floor plan great room, 20 ft ceilings. Our loft bedroom at the other end overlooking the great room. It has half walls, so it's all open. We have never turned the heat on in the bedroom. The stove can cook the bedroom. So if you can get it that open the heat will rise. The rule is to push the cold air out, but you need a path for the hot air to replace it.
Try to put in "cold air returns" where its coldest. Sounds stupid but think about it. Put it in corners where there's two outside walls meeting. That room needs to have the door open for this to work.
Under a window works too
Under a window works too
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DuaeGuttae
Minister of Fire
I agree with the necessity of a cold air return. We heated from a finished basement in our former home. The stove was near the staircase, and warm air certainly went up and over the half wall along the side. Our issue was that there was a beam that bisected our basement ceiling that kept the hottest air from traveling to the stairway. We cut two 6 x 14 registers near that beam near the stove and one on the far side of the room in the coldest corner. When we wanted to help things along during a cold snap we would use a little doorway fan inside the registers. In our case it certainly helped reduced the heat trapped in the basement ceiling and did increase the warmth upstairs. (All this met city requirements.). We were quite pleased with the results of the project.
Our former home’s configuration led us not to use larger grates. They would have helped more but would have encroached on walking space. I’d upsize if you can.
There is also such a thing as a level to level transfer fan. Aireshare by Tjernlund I think I have seen mentioned as good. I haven’t used one but did some reading as we have some space in our new house that could use such a solution. Might be worth investigating.
You will need to put a fan in one of those vents. I can heat 3 floors from the basement with my wood stove, 1000Sf per floor, but only with powered air movement. Even with that there is almost a 10 degree difference between floors. Finished Basement where the stove is stays 85 to 90, next floor up 76 next one above that 68. I run 2 fans, one behind the stove pushing the heat to the far end of the basement ,and one pushing it up thru a floor vent. I only heat this home 24/7 occasionally with the wood stove but that's what I have to do.
I have the same setup as you, also the same stove. I had a contractor friend of mine cut a hole to the great room, about 10 x 20, I had him install a fire damper to make it legal ($60) and it works real well, cold air comes down the stairs and hot air goes up into the great room. If needed I would have installed a fan but it works fine the way it us ymmv.
I use the squirrel cage type usually used for carpet drying ,mostly because they move a lot of air ,can be concentrated on a small spot and are very quiet.
Probably if my house were better insulated and tighter as far as cold air infiltration I would see less of a difference between floors. perhaps 5 degrees or less.
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