# HVAC Guy Said No Good-Transfer Heat From Wood Stove-



## Cambium (Oct 29, 2009)

I'm trying to find a way to get heat from my wood stove in living room to other side of house into bedrooms at a faster pace. Instead of installing another stove elsewhere. 

I read somewhere here about in-line ducts. As an electrician I always see the HVAC guys on the jobs so I aked him about it. 

He said it doesn't work. By the time it gets to the other side, it would have cooled the air and ends up pushing cooler air then the warm air it takes from the wood stove locations. 

So basically it's a lose lose situation. You're taking warm air from the warm room and you're pushing cooler air in the rooms you want warm. 

My air handler is in basement. 

Beginning to think my only options are...

1. Fireplace insert with fan blower.
2. Get a bigger stove that can make it 90 degrees in that location.
3. Install a stove on other side of house.

Sucks. Anyone have expierence with that flex duct with inline fan?


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## Wife'nHubby (Oct 29, 2009)

We are supplementing our oil heat with our fireplace in the living room which has a blower on it. To move the heat from the living room we placed a fan on the floor in the bedroom wing blowing cold air in to the living room. Bedroom wing is 90 degrees away from the fireplace. Combining that fan with a ceiling fan in the adjacent dining room we get great heat distribution with temps down in the 0-10 degree area. YMMV (Your mileage may vary.)

Shari


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## BIG JAKE (Oct 29, 2009)

What you need is circulation and the flex duct with fan would help circulate the air to the other side of the house. This would reduce the temp offset between stove and farside. Are you trying to heat the whole house with that stove? If so what is the max btu/sq footage rating of the stove compared with the sq footage of your house? YOu could install that duct above the stove and take it over to the otherside with insulated flex duct. That would make a difference if the stove was crankin out the heat. Feeding two stoves gets to be labor intensive, but you would be warm!


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## sthomas77 (Oct 29, 2009)

We are currently experimenting with ways to distribute heat as well. I bought two door frame fans that seem to work well. They are a bit noisy, but between the ceiling fan (in the same room as the stove) and the corner fans, I can raise the temp in the main house by 4-5 degrees. I have not kept the stove running full time as it is still too warm and I am trying to conserve wood. I have heard that through wall fans work as well. Good luck!


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## coog (Oct 29, 2009)

Cambium said:


> I'm trying to find a way to get heat from my wood stove in living room to other side of house into bedrooms at a faster pace. Instead of installing another stove elsewhere.
> 
> I read somewhere here about in-line ducts. As an electrician I always see the HVAC guys on the jobs so I aked him about it.
> 
> ...



Is there room for a fan behind your stove? I have my Jotul in front of a fireplace and am able to put a vornado fan behind it.The stove hides the fan and it really helps move the heated air out into the house.


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## oneoldbanjo (Oct 29, 2009)

I guess the problem is that if you install new heat duct in the basement, attic or crawl space it loses too much heat by the time it gets to the other side of the house and the air is no longer warm enough to provide heat and will just result in a drafty room.

However......I wonder what would happen if you did just the opposite? If you installed duct work and a vent near the floor in the far end of the house and brought the cold (return) air from the far side of the house to the room the stove is in.....the warm air near the stove would then have to travel toward through the house to get to the room that the duct work is pulling the air from. I am not sure where the cold air from the far side of the house should be discharged.....I suppose somewhere near your stove so it can be warmed again.....if you discharge it near the floor it may not mix well....I suppose if you discharged it above the stove it may help to temper the hot air rising off the stove.

If you are using the unheated attic or crawl space to install the duct work it should be insulated to help avoid any problems with condensation occuring in the duct. If you are using your basement you may not have to use insulated duct.


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## CrappieKeith (Oct 29, 2009)

A stove is not meant to heat the entire home...just the room it is in and maybe a joining room.

A FURNACE HOOKED TO DUCTING IS MADE TO HEAT THE ENTIRE HOME EVENLY.


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## Tim Carroll (Oct 29, 2009)

We have a fireplace insert with a blower and we have had good luck with turning the blower on our forced air furnace on continuous. The furnace is only heating when the temp gets low enough but still circulates the air in the house. We have 2100 sq feet on main level and it keeps it quite comfortable. The basement is some what cooler but it works well for us.:greenchainsaw:


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## oneoldbanjo (Oct 29, 2009)

Tim Carroll said:


> We have a fireplace insert with a blower and we have had good luck with turning the blower on our forced air furnace on continuous. The furnace is only heating when the temp gets low enough but still circulates the air in the house. We have 2100 sq feet on main level and it keeps it quite comfortable. The basement is some what cooler but it works well for us.:greenchainsaw:



That is a good idea. We have our furnace blower on the low setting and run it all winter - the OWB only adds heat through the heat exchanger when the thermostat calls for heat. Maybe the furnace and ductwork will help to move the heat around adequately if it runs whenever the stove is on.


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## giXXer (Oct 29, 2009)

The only experience I have with this topic comes from our ancient cabin. It has two bedrooms off the living area where the stove is located. The living area and the loft above were always about 90 degrees when the stove was fired and the two bedrooms: frigid, at best. Since the ceilings are vaulted and the wall between the bedrooms only goes up 8' we simply had to deal with getting the heat from the living room to the bedroom "area." We did this by using a very old ventilation fan that was removed from the kitchen 10 years prior during a remodel. We installed this at about 9' high in between the two areas and use the bedroom ceiling fans to help push the air down. It works very well for the not so well insulated cabin, but the wood stove is huge and the cabin is small.

While I'm sure you don't want to lose the ambiance that stove provides your living room, could it be installed in the basement so the heat rises to the main floor? That, coupled with some "convection" vents in the floor might do the trick if the wood burner is sized correctly for the square footage.


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## olyman (Oct 29, 2009)

if you have a forced air furnace--just do as mentioned--turn on the blower fan. it will move the air around, and the heat with it. course,now youll be paying for the elec to run the fan---


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## greengiant (Oct 29, 2009)

My long-winded in-line fan experience:
I have a wood insert with a blower in my existing fireplace in my living room on the end of a 60' ranch with a full walkout basement. I had the same issue with my living areas being warm, and the three bedrooms at the other end being cold, especially with terrible 1960's walls, insulation, and windows (except the attic where I re-insulated). 
A friend helped me run an 8" insulated flex duct through my attic crawl space to the closet in the back bedroom, then with a 90 elbow, we dropped it down into the closet, and tied in a 6"in line fan, which then T's. One T goes strait down to a vent in the ceiling of the basement, the other goes to a vent in the room. It's not your average closet, it has wooden, sliding doors, and then two drawers in the bottom. So we cut a hole in the front of one drawer, and attached the vent right to the drawer, and busted off the sides and bottom of it, so it's just a front with a vent in it now that has 6" flex duct back to the T . (Sorry, I tend to get too detailed) Also, I used 8" duct for the 40' run through the attic to maximize the air flow over that distance, even though it's only a 6" fan.

The return in the living room ceiling is a 12"x12" grate. Above that in between joists, we made a box out of foil lined duct board and attached the 8" insulated duct to the box with an adapter. It's all closed in everywhere with foil tape. 

The inline fan is controlled by a dialed thermostat at the door of the back room. 

How it works: It was definitely worth putting in. We used to put a box fan in the hall on the floor to push the cool air into the living room, but it got to be a pain in the neck. I not only used insulated 8" duct through the unheated crawl space, but I also burried it in 9" insulation up there. The air coming out in the back bedroom is warm, but not hot. It definitely helps keep that end of the house more comfortable, especially when the baby is in that room sleeping and the door is closed. (that was the main reason for installing). The fan noise also, IMO, is good background noise for napping kids. It doesn't really pull enough heat to start and stop the thermostat, so we basically use it like a light switch and turn it on and off when we want to.

I think if you can get cold air to move backwards towards the stove you are better off, and the warm air will find its way to where you are taking the cold air from. I didn't go that route, since I had no way of running all this stuff through the basement ceiling. I suppose I could have run my air the opposite direction with the set up we made, and brought the cold air back to the ceiling of the living room and the warm air would have worked back to the bedroom, but that wouldn't work as good when the door is closed to that room. 

I need to shut up, but also want to say that I was always told that when moving air through duct, you get more by pulling it through, than pushing, so put any inline fans at the end of the line.

GOod luck, hope this helps.


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## greengiant (Oct 29, 2009)

Oh, ya, forgot about one thing. I tried running my forced hot air furnace on 'blower only', to try and circulate, and it didn't work for me. That's not to say it won't work for you. I just know that my furnace and duct work really sucks, and was part of the reason we switched to wood. I think it has a lot to do with poor vent locations, and horribly insulated everything in this house. Good thing I don't pay for my wood (aside from my back, the wear on my truck and trailer, and the chainsaws, and oh, ya my time-good thing I enjoy it, ya, I really do)!


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## Tim Carroll (Oct 29, 2009)

I think that a couple things help the furnace work for me. 1 the fireplace is dead center in the middle of the house. 2 the furnace is a two stage furnace and the blower runs on a lower speed when used to circulate air.


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## Highbeam (Oct 29, 2009)

Stoves can certainly be house heaters though they are not ideal house heaters. You will never get the whole house to the same temp with a stove alone which I think is actually fine since who wants to sleep in a 75 degree bedroom. My 1700 SF single story home is long and narrow and the stove room/living room is in the middle. We run it as high as 70-80 in that room (really enjoy this) and the bedrooms run 65-70. 

If this is not acceptable, like if we need warmer bedrooms, then each room is equipped with independent programmable thermostats and electric wall heaters. 

The wall heaters are like old baseboard heaters and are extremely effective zone heaters. I would pop these in before screwing around with ducts to move room temp air.


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## Tim Carroll (Oct 29, 2009)

I would have to agree with Highbeam, I like the bedrooms cooler myself. I would rather have cool sheets on the bed.


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## mga (Oct 29, 2009)

consider drawing the cold air from the bedrooms into the room where the wood burner is. this creates a negative air pressure in those room, which would be replaced by the hot air from the wood burner.

pushing hot air from a wood burner is different science than pushing it from a heat source like a gas furnace.

gotta think outside the box. (no pun intended)


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## outdoorlivin247 (Oct 29, 2009)

I heat primarily w/ an insert in the center of our home...Our house was built in the late fifties and has no insulation other than the celtec behind the brick...My boys bedroom is on the NW corner of out house and is by far the coolest room in the house...I am thinking of putting a quiet energy efficiant bathroom fan in the wall between their closet and the hallway for more reason than one...First reason is we have had a mold problem in their closet since we moved here and I feel this will help w/ that and second it would move air in or out of their room...Still have not decide on which way to put it?...


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## Mike PA (Oct 30, 2009)

Something else to consider: HVAC and furnace people have a particular mindset when it comes to heating. They look at keeping a house at an even temperature and being able to warm a house quickly, which requires more BTUs and better air handling. However, if you are willing to wait and don't expect to have hot air coming out a duct, adding warmer than ambient air to your room will heat the room, but it will take time. You may lose a lot of heat along the way, but where is that heat going? If it goes to living space, that is fine. When I was a kid, we heated the entire house (except the attic), with a wood stove in the basement. It was connected to the air handling system for the furnace and took hot air off the top of the stove. If you let the house get cold, it would take a long time to heat it up, as we moved larger quantities of air, but not at the temps you would get from a furnace. What you suggest could possibly work, just not like an HVAC guy would like. 

Adding a plenum to the top of your stove and drawing air from that would help tremendously when trying to heat from a stove (sort of turns it into a furnace).


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## mga (Oct 30, 2009)

Mike PA said:


> Something else to consider: HVAC and furnace people have a particular mindset when it comes to heating. They look at keeping a house at an even temperature and being able to warm a house quickly, which requires more BTUs and better air handling. However, if you are willing to wait and don't expect to have hot air coming out a duct, adding warmer than ambient air to your room will heat the room, but it will take time. You may lose a lot of heat along the way, but where is that heat going? If it goes to living space, that is fine. When I was a kid, we heated the entire house (except the attic), with a wood stove in the basement. It was connected to the air handling system for the furnace and took hot air off the top of the stove. If you let the house get cold, it would take a long time to heat it up, as we moved larger quantities of air, but not at the temps you would get from a furnace. What you suggest could possibly work, just not like an HVAC guy would like.
> 
> Adding a plenum to the top of your stove and drawing air from that would help tremendously when trying to heat from a stove (sort of turns it into a furnace).



the problem is removing cold air from the rooms.

on your other home, you said it was connected to the air handling system, which, is already drawing the cold air from the rooms...which is why it worked good.

running a single run to deliver warm air doesn't do much when the room air can't be exchanged.


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## Mike PA (Oct 30, 2009)

Cold air return is a problem, but sometimes that can be accomplished by something as simple as leaving a door open and allowing gravity to work. In that house, all that was present to remove cold air were floor grates, and not in every room. I didn't say it worked well, but it kept the house reasonably warm, you just couldn't expect to heat it quickly if it got cold.

I'm not saying for certain that it will work or work great, but that it may work enough, depending on conditions and expectations.


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## goof008 (Oct 30, 2009)

I use my forced air blower to help distribute the warm air. It works pretty well. My stove is in the basement and it keeps the 1st floor at about 74 and upstairs at about 65-68, which is perfect for me.

One thing I was told that works well is blowing cold air across your stove, rather than trying to move the hot air from it...cold air is more dense and you will actually be pushing more air that way, so you should see better heating.

Also, the electricity to use your furnaces blower motor is negligible, especially when you take into consideration the benifit.

Good luck


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## mga (Oct 30, 2009)

goof008 said:


> I use my forced air blower to help distribute the warm air. It works pretty well. My stove is in the basement and it keeps the 1st floor at about 74 and upstairs at about 65-68, which is perfect for me.
> 
> One thing I was told that works well is blowing cold air across your stove, rather than trying to move the hot air from it...cold air is more dense and you will actually be pushing more air that way, so you should see better heating.
> 
> ...



i just recently did something similar. i'm drawing the air from the furthest room and using that to feed the fire place heat exchanger. the air flowing in usually is around 68 degrees and the air coming out varies from 175 upwards to 250...depending on the fire.

my theory was to draw the air out of the room and allow the hot air to flow it's way down to replace it.

so far, it seems to work great.


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## mtfallsmikey (Oct 30, 2009)

Mike PA said:


> Something else to consider: HVAC and furnace people have a particular mindset when it comes to heating. They look at keeping a house at an even temperature and being able to warm a house quickly, which requires more BTUs and better air handling. However, if you are willing to wait and don't expect to have hot air coming out a duct, adding warmer than ambient air to your room will heat the room, but it will take time. You may lose a lot of heat along the way, but where is that heat going? If it goes to living space, that is fine. When I was a kid, we heated the entire house (except the attic), with a wood stove in the basement. It was connected to the air handling system for the furnace and took hot air off the top of the stove. If you let the house get cold, it would take a long time to heat it up, as we moved larger quantities of air, but not at the temps you would get from a furnace. What you suggest could possibly work, just not like an HVAC guy would like.
> 
> Adding a plenum to the top of your stove and drawing air from that would help tremendously when trying to heat from a stove (sort of turns it into a furnace).



Yes, that mindset is correct. We have designed and installed enough heating systems to know that fast response, proper heating appliance/ductwork designs keep even temperatures.....meaning comfort. We are also designing systems that use fuels that generate a constant temperature inside of the furnace. That can't be done easily burning wood. Keep in mind when you turn your fan switch on your t-stat to "on", and run it constantly, that the default fan speed may be on high, especially on those with central A.C. You can add a manual switch, even a variable speed control. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.


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## tals2 (Oct 30, 2009)

Mike PA said:


> Something else to consider: HVAC and furnace people have a particular mindset when it comes to heating. They look at keeping a house at an even temperature and being able to warm a house quickly, which requires more BTUs and better air handling. However, if you are willing to wait and don't expect to have hot air coming out a duct, adding warmer than ambient air to your room will heat the room, but it will take time. You may lose a lot of heat along the way, but where is that heat going? If it goes to living space, that is fine. When I was a kid, we heated the entire house (except the attic), with a wood stove in the basement. It was connected to the air handling system for the furnace and took hot air off the top of the stove. If you let the house get cold, it would take a long time to heat it up, as we moved larger quantities of air, but not at the temps you would get from a furnace. What you suggest could possibly work, just not like an HVAC guy would like.
> 
> Adding a plenum to the top of your stove and drawing air from that would help tremendously when trying to heat from a stove (sort of turns it into a furnace).




Older 4-square homes built in the 20's use this concept. Rather than a large, long footprint like a ranch style, they built 2 1/2 story houses. An oil (or now wood, in my case) burner sits in the basement beneath a large cast iron grate. Warm air flows directly into the main floor which is the main living area. An open stairwell located near the grate allows warm air to flow upstairs to the bedroom areas.
Result: Main living areas: 68-72
Sleeping areas: 63-68
No fans or electricity needed. But if you let the upstairs get too cold, it will be 4 hours until you are comfortable again.


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## sesmith (Oct 30, 2009)

Cambium said:


> Beginning to think my only options are...
> 
> 1. Fireplace insert with fan blower.
> 2. Get a bigger stove that can make it 90 degrees in that location.
> 3. Install a stove on other side of house.



Or, 4) put the stove in the cellar.

We had a similar problem when we first moved in our place (27 years ago). I had the stove in one end of the house (kitchen) and the result was an over heated kitchen and a cold living room on the other end. Nothing I tried with fans worked, so I moved the stove down to the cellar. It is below the kitchen on the same end of the house. There is a stairway that goes up to the kitchen. I leave the stairway door open. The furnace (forced air) is on the other side of the cellar. I leave the blower door open...cold air from upstairs returns to the cellar there. I do use a small fan in the kitchen doorway and a ceiling fan in the kitchen to send some warmer air toward the living room on the other side of the house. I also stacked cinder block walls on either side of the stove, about 10" away from it and just a little higher than the top of the stove, to serve as thermal mass and help keep the stove from just radiating all it's heat out the cellar walls. The 1st course is laid sideways to allow airflow under and up the wall between it and the stove.

This setup works ok for us...much better than having the stove upstairs, but it's not ideal. Ideal would probably be to have a 2nd small stove in the living room.


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## Bushmans (Jan 13, 2012)

I have a bi-level with a fireplace in the lower level. 1800 sq ft.
This is my first year in the home and I am trying to heat with the fire as much as possible. 
At first I put a box fan at the end of the fireplace room and blew the warm air up the steps into the main living area. Worked good until the temps dropped.
So I took an exhaust fan for a bathroom (very quiet one) and installed it in the ceiling of the fireplace room. I tied it into a 3 inch flexible duct and cut a hole in the cold air return downstairs and snaked it through to the upstairs where I secured it to the faceplate of the return. I took care to seal around the hole downstairs. Total run of about ten feet. The fan in the ceiling is a low profile and unless I point it out no one sees it.
When the fireplace room heats up downstairs I flip a switch on the wall and the exhaust fan comes on and sends warm air from the ceiling directly into the main living room upstairs.
This helps me by pass the heat traps like doorway heights and tall ceilings. There is a lot of heat in the top foot or so of your room you just have to get it under the door opening.
Sure I could have cut a hole in the floor and installed a grate but Momma and I didn't want that.
A digital thermometer placed through the return faceplate directly into the three inch duct reads 88 to 90 degrees. The CFMs coming through the duct are not that large so the room stays comfortable. 67-70 degrees. It is an open concept area so the kitchen and dining room stay that temp too. That is from a fireplace mind you. I will be installing a wood stove insert before next winter. This should greatly increase my temps and lower my consumption of wood.
Right now it is fun trying to optimize your burning!
If your wondering how long it takes to warm the house it would be a long time using only wood so I initially run the furnace for about 15 minutes or so to bring the house up to temp and then let the fire take over.


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## rider93hawg (Jan 13, 2012)

Cut a fat hole in wall and put a big fan up there to distribute the heat. I may sound like a tightwad moron and I well could be one, but I did it and it works great! :smile2:


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## Whitespider (Jan 13, 2012)

Fighting a lost battle.

These threads are exactly why I stopped using “space heater” type wood-burning appliances years ago. A stand-alone stove is great for a one-room cabin, fishing/hunting shack, garage/shop and the like, but really is silly for multi-room home heating. Even when used for supplemental heat they fall short because often the stove is placed in the same room as the existing furnace thermostat, causing the remaining spaces of the house to “go cold”.

I’ve “been there, and done that”… and it’s a lost battle. I’ve done the draft-causing fan thing, left doors open, and none of it is ideal… A wood-fired furnace (or add-on) is the only way to heat the whole house efficiently, effectively, silently and draft-free. It’s still possible to keep the bedrooms cooler than the great room simply by adjusting how far open you leave the vents. What I hate most about stand-alone stoves is that the room they get placed in will always be “hot”, too damn hot, while the remaining spaces of the house become progressively cooler, eventually too damn cool. I like walking comfortably, barefoot and in shirtsleeves, from one end of the house to the other without noticing drafts or significant change in temperature. The time and (especially) money spent adding fans, ducts, vents, and whatnot could just have well been spent on a wood-fired furnace in the first place. You can keep your glass doors, watchin’ the fire ain’t worth it… besides, it’s too damn hot in there to enjoy watchin’ it.

The OWB boys took that concept a bit further… but I like the “feel” of wood heat, and that is lost with an OWB.


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## Whitespider (Jan 13, 2012)

*Del*, there just ain't any way you'll ever convince me that it doesn't get progressively hotter as you move closer to the stove... I don't care how "open" the floor design. Dad's house is an open floor design log home, with a stand-alone stove... and there ain't any way around it... it gets hotter and hotter as you move toward the stove.


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## PA Plumber (Jan 13, 2012)

We use a stand alone wood appliance and are mostly happy with how it works. We are heating a basement plus two levels up from where the woodstove is located. It actually does a very good job until the temps get in the mid twenties and lower. Then we have to turn on the central air fan.

Would it be better with a wood fired forced air furnace? Sure, but this set up is working and it's nice only using 25, or so, gallons of fuel oil per heating season.

Likely we do have a unique heating situation. The basement steps are in the center of the downstairs part of the house. We take the basement door off in the winter, and for some reason, get very good natural circulation through both upper levels of the house.

30 degrees F out now and 73 deg F in the center part of the 1st floor.


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## dustytools (Jan 13, 2012)

We heat our entire home which is a doublewide trailer (roughly 1600 sq. ft.) entirely with a stand alone wood stove. The room that the stove sits in is roughly center of the house. I can keep temps in that room around 75 degrees and the bedrooms at around 66 degrees which is comfortalbe for us. My idea when I installed our woodstove was to burn a little wood on weekends and evenings to kinda keep the electric bill from being too overwhelming in the winter months and to have a backup heat source when the power goes out, and when you are on a rural electric co-op the power seems to stay out for days at a time during our occasional ice storms. Needless to say that when we started heating with the wood stove for part time use it turned into a full time heating source for us and it has worked out well for us and our situation. Its kinda nice to know that when the power decides to take a dump for a day or two that we will still have a warm house, hot food and hot water. Cheers everyone.


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## Wagnerwerks (Jan 13, 2012)

greengiant said:


> I think if you can get cold air to move backwards towards the stove you are better off, and the warm air will find its way to where you are taking the cold air from. I didn't go that route, since I had no way of running all this stuff through the basement ceiling. I suppose I could have run my air the opposite direction with the set up we made, and brought the cold air back to the ceiling of the living room and the warm air would have worked back to the bedroom, but that wouldn't work as good when the door is closed to that room.



This is the way to go. Use 6 inch with a pusher fan box and have a feed right above/beside the wood stove. Run the return to the outside edge of the farthest area from the stove and it will "pull" the hot air to the rest of the house via hallways and such.


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## kentuckydiesel (Jan 13, 2012)

It was 15* last night with a 0* wind chill and we were fine with only our wood stove in our 120 year old farm house...which is very poorly insulated.

Here's what I'm doing:

Our house is basically a square shape with three rooms on the back, two on the front, three rooms upstairs. Our wood stove is in the middle back room. The two side back rooms are heated fine with no additional air movement. 
To heat the front rooms (which we are currently remodeling...I can feel the cold air coming through the floors/bottom of the walls) I have a box fan hanging in the top corner of the door between the front and back sections of the house. It blows warm air into the cold side of the house, and the cold air returns into the warm room underneath the fan. (This has worked much better than having the fan on the ground blowing cold air into the warm room.)

Also, in the room where the wood stove is, I have a ceiling fan pulling air upward to keep things stirred up, and a small fan blowing air across the stove, just to increase heat transfer. 

It's interesting to see, but with the humidifier running in the front rooms, I can actually tell that the air is circulating through as if it was on a track. Works great for us!

-phillip


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## CrappieKeith (Jan 13, 2012)

Highbeam said:


> Stoves can certainly be house heaters though they are not ideal house heaters. You will never get the whole house to the same temp with a stove alone which I think is actually fine since who wants to sleep in a 75 degree bedroom. My 1700 SF single story home is long and narrow and the stove room/living room is in the middle. We run it as high as 70-80 in that room (really enjoy this) and the bedrooms run 65-70.
> 
> If this is not acceptable, like if we need warmer bedrooms, then each room is equipped with independent programmable thermostats and electric wall heaters.
> 
> The wall heaters are like old baseboard heaters and are extremely effective zone heaters. I would pop these in before screwing around with ducts to move room temp air.



You live in a much warmer climate...the OP should keep that in mind when reading this and other posts.


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## CrappieKeith (Jan 13, 2012)

Whitespider said:


> Fighting a lost battle.
> 
> These threads are exactly why I stopped using “space heater” type wood-burning appliances years ago. A stand-alone stove is great for a one-room cabin, fishing/hunting shack, garage/shop and the like, but really is silly for multi-room home heating. Even when used for supplemental heat they fall short because often the stove is placed in the same room as the existing furnace thermostat, causing the remaining spaces of the house to “go cold”.
> 
> ...




I could not agree more....a guy will do what a guy will do...and he will get used to the outcome no matter how well it really works.


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## blackdogon57 (Jan 13, 2012)

"The OWB boys took that concept a bit further… but I like the “feel” of wood heat, and that is lost with an OWB"


I installed my OWB a couple of years after installing a freestanding wood stove on the main floor of my 2800 sg foot house. I still fire up
the wood stove quite often when it gets really cold outside. I like my hot area in the living room where the stove is. Nothing like radiant heat
to warm the bones.


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## greengiant (Jan 13, 2012)

Man, Just when a guy thinks he knows what his heating set up would be in his dream house you all start making it confusing again:smile2:


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## logbutcher (Jan 13, 2012)

*Another Approach-Don't Heat Where You Sleep !*

Most of northern Europe's home are not centrally heated. Bedrooms without plumbing are kept cool.
The first assignments in Norway and Switzerland were some shocking for us : they didn't heat bedrooms. We're talking Alpine regions and above the Arctic Circle. Windows were usually opened at night for "airing" , and thick ( e.g. 1 foot ) down comforters and flannel sheets made the beds cozy. No stoicism.

We do that now, and have done it for years in northern New England. And, hey, it's romantic for you few available for such. :hmm3grin2orange:

Healthier for you it is said and for the kids to spend the 1/3 of the day in open fresh air. Why breathe heated air in dreamtime and more...................?


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## Chris-PA (Jan 13, 2012)

Heating a house and having every room be exactly the same temperature are not the same thing. I have a cheap stand alone stove in my basement (a living space too), and I can use the blower from my old oil fired furnace to circulate the heat. It pulls the heat off the top of the basement and blows it around the house. I run it with a cheap thermostat in the basement, so when that room gets hot the blower kicks on. It's running now, and working fine. By morning the stove room will cool down below the 80deg setpoint and blower will be off The basement is much warmer than our bedroom 2 floors up and over at the other side, and the other rooms vary in between. So what? The house is comfortable, and if you are too cold or too hot you can move too a room that suits you better, or adjust your clothes appropriately. Honestly, I've never liked perfectly uniform heat. My living room is 66 right now, which is plenty warm. And if it's really cold out or I want more or just the ambiance of a burning fire upstairs, I'll light the second stove up here.

The downside of running the blower is that the air that comes out of the ducts does not always feel as warm as it would from a oil or gas fired system. So don't stand in front of the vents. Also, the blower uses more power than I would like, so I don't always run it and I will eventually put in iron grates to allow better convection. Our bedroom will get a little colder then, but as long as it stays over 50 that'll be fine. We've got a parabolic dish radiant electric heater up there if we want instant heat. 

You guys can have your add on furnaces and OWBs - every time I read about them I'm thankful I don't have one. Complexity has a cost I'm not interested in paying. If the power goes out (which it does here a lot), it doesn't matter. My simple EPA stoves will quietly heat my home as cosy as I need, purely by radiation and convection.


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## mtfallsmikey (Jan 16, 2012)

blackdogon57 said:


> "The OWB boys took that concept a bit further… but I like the “feel” of wood heat, and that is lost with an OWB"
> 
> 
> I installed my OWB a couple of years after installing a freestanding wood stove on the main floor of my 2800 sg foot house. I still fire up
> ...



+1 

I do the same thing.


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## Whitespider (Jan 16, 2012)

WoodHeatWarrior said:


> *You guys can have your add on furnaces and OWBs - every time I read about them I'm thankful I don't have one. Complexity has a cost I'm not interested in paying. If the power goes out (which it does here a lot), it doesn't matter. My simple EPA stoves will quietly heat my home as cosy as I need, purely by radiation and convection.*



Really, there isn't anything complex about an add-on that shares a single blower with the gas furnace... and you don't have to have electricity to use it. It's a simple matter of routing the air flow from the gas furnace through the add-on before connecting it to the heating ducts... which allows both heaters to run independently or at the same time depending on demand. If installed properly the wood-fired add-on can be used when the power goes out because convection will still carry the heat into the ducts... it just won't be distributed as evenly to spaces farther from the appliance.

A few years ago we had an ice storm that snapped off hundreds of miles of power poles and left us without power for 10 days in February... Believe me, 10 days without power in February is a long time in this climate. I wasn't burning wood for heat at the time (another story) but I had plenty of wood stacked for fire pit use. I fired up the wood furnace and heated the house for those 10 days without any electricity or blower, convection through the heating ducts alone kept the main spaces of the house warm enough but the far bedrooms got pretty cold... no different than it would have been using a free-standing stove. The wood furnace heated/cooked food (we also used the BBQ out on the front porch) and melted snow for much of our water needs, such as flushing the toilet and washing.

That power outage taught me a serious lesson... It sucks to be without electricity! Yeah, I can survive if I have to, but if I don't have to, why should I? Pain in the butt... I had to move all the food from the deep freeze outside to keep it frozen, and finding a place where the refrigerator type stuff will stay cold without freezing was a pain. Washing machine doesn't work, and even if it did the well pump won't run. Taking your bath from a bucket gets real old, real fast! No radio, no TV, no lights (camping lantern 'cause flashlight batteries couldn't be found), no phone (all cordless in the house and there ain't any way to charge the cell short of starting the truck), no water, no computer... Night time was the worst, just you, the wife, the kids and... dark silence... I can only play so many board games by lantern light. And you couldn't buy a generator anywhere within a 1000-mile radius!

You can bet your wife's sweet azz I have a generator now! I start and test it every 60-90 days, and keep plenty of fresh, stabilized, non-ethanol fuel on hand for it! 5500 watts will power my whole house without a problem (with a bit of common sense... ya' can't run the oven, cloths dryer and microwave all at the same time) and will run all night on less than a tank of fuel.


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## 1967 Tempest (Nov 17, 2015)

Has anyone come up with a solution for a ranch house where the stove is on the other end of the house ??


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## Sandhill Crane (Nov 17, 2015)

1967 Tempest said:


> Has anyone come up with a solution for a ranch house where the stove is on the other end of the house ??


The house it's self should be part of the heating system, not just something to be heated, if your heating with a wood stove, which is by design a room heater. The house shown was designed for really nice natural light flow. It has a heat pump for heating plus a wood stove. I have since heard the term 'California Ranch' for homes where the dividing walls are capped and do not extend to the ceiling. There are two ceiling fans in opposite corners of the house run at low speed. The one near the stove lifts and the other pushes down. The lower level is easily ten degrees cooler, but mostly unused.


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## Cambium (Nov 17, 2015)

1967 Tempest said:


> Has anyone come up with a solution for a ranch house where the stove is on the other end of the house ??


 
Been working for me since I was the one that started this thread in 2009. (wow!)

I ended up getting a bigger stove to get longer burn time and BTU output.
Also have a stand up fan near it to push the warm air to the other side.
Also the new stove came with a blower which I only turn on when temps are frigid. (hate the noise)

Tougher with taller ceilings or air leaks with windows or old insulation. Lots of factors involved but all in all, you can get the main rooms in the low 70s (too warm for me!) and convection heat will expand naturally to other rooms.

I only fill the oil tank once a year. Do not turn the furnace on for heat UNLESS it's below 15°F WITH wind or below 10°F without wind. Some nights I find I didn't have the right pieces in there so bedroom would get chilly and would need the furnace for like an hour only.

Either way, best investment I made even for a Ranch house with the stove on one end of it.


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## 1967 Tempest (Nov 17, 2015)

Yeah, same here. I like to sleep in the 60's. Our issue ois the main room with the wood stove is enormous and the door ways to the rest of the house are small. We keep the wood stove on 24/7. Unless we need to remove the ash as we have no ash pot because it is an insert. If the main room is in the 70's the rest of the house is in the low to mid 60's. I would like to increase this becasue when it gets really cold it feels really cold in the house that isnt in the same room!


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## mga (Nov 17, 2015)

1967 Tempest said:


> Yeah, same here. I like to sleep in the 60's. Our issue ois the main room with the wood stove is enormous and the door ways to the rest of the house are small. We keep the wood stove on 24/7. Unless we need to remove the ash as we have no ash pot because it is an insert. If the main room is in the 70's the rest of the house is in the low to mid 60's. I would like to increase this becasue when it gets really cold it feels really cold in the house that isnt in the same room!



do you have a basement? we have hot water baseboard heat, gas fired, so no heat runs. we also heat 24/7 with wood from the stove. the house is an "L" shape ranch.

what I did was I put a cold air return vent in the farthest room, ran a 4" flexible line in the basement with an inline blower. then ran this up to the stove. cold air is heavier than hot air, so it's easier to move. this take the air from the furthest room and blows it to the stove. removing air from the far room creates a negative air pressure and the warm air from the stove will work itself down there. it seems to have helped in keeping that room warmer.


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## 1967 Tempest (Nov 17, 2015)

Got a picture? 

Our wood stove is an insert and like 40 feet away from the wood stove. It has been burning all day and my current temps are.. Living room 82* (high, I know) Bedroom 67*. WHich isnt bad right now because we have had some sun today at 45* outside temp. But colder obviously the temps would be colder.

I do have a basement with return lines etc...


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## ChoppyChoppy (Nov 17, 2015)

I heat my house just with a Blaze King. It's a pretty standard 3 bed/2 bath ranch.

I guess my setup works ok, at least compared to others. It was almost -15* last night. Living room area (where the stove is) was 73*, the furthest bedroom was 65*.

I just have a fan on the floor in the hall and a blower on the stove. I usually turn on the ceiling fan in the living room when it's below zero since the ceiling is vaulted to about 16ft. Rest of the house has 9ft ceilings.


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## mga (Nov 17, 2015)

1967 Tempest said:


> Got a picture?
> 
> Our wood stove is an insert and like 40 feet away from the wood stove. It has been burning all day and my current temps are.. Living room 82* (high, I know) Bedroom 67*. WHich isnt bad right now because we have had some sun today at 45* outside temp. But colder obviously the temps would be colder.
> 
> I do have a basement with return lines etc...



does your insert have a blower? where does it draw the air from?

reason I'm asking is because most units draw air from the same room they're in, so the air in that room just keeps getting warmer and warmer. so, in my theory, why not draw the air from another room, the furthest room, and use that air to feed the blower?


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## 1967 Tempest (Nov 17, 2015)

Yes it draws from the same room.


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## tla100 (Nov 17, 2015)

CrappieKeith said:


> A stove is not meant to heat the entire home...just the room it is in and maybe a joining room.
> 
> A FURNACE HOOKED TO DUCTING IS MADE TO HEAT THE ENTIRE HOME EVENLY.



Well, I have a stove in my basement. I leave the furnace fan on all the time and it heats my house for the last 3 years........Furnace is in basement also, about 15' from my stove. I did cheat and open cold air return so it sucks from the basement.


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## CaseyForrest (Nov 17, 2015)

We heat 2450 sq ft with a Resolute Acclaim built in 1994. It does require the assistance of 1 20" box fan.

The stove sits in a single story addition that contains a family room and our bedroom/bathroom. Its roughly 30x32 with a wall in the center separating the spaces and cathedral ceiling. I have an Eco Fan aimed at the bedroom.

Immediately behind the stove are 2 doors that lead into the original house and the kitchen and dining room. Past a bathroom towards a 1st floor bedroom and then a living room. It circles around the staircase back towards the dining room. That living room has cathedral ceiling with an open hallway to the 3 bedrooms on the second story.

I have the 20" box fan with a 20x20 furnace filter pushing air in through the right door and cooler air is pushed into the addition through the left door.

Ive never measured the temp on this side of the house, but the Thermostat is located in the original living room and I can take it from 62 to 73-75 (depending on temp and wind) usually overnight. So it does work, and only with 1 electric fan. I don't count the eco fan. During this warming period I have no issues sitting 10 feet from the stove in shorts and a t shirt quite comfortable. I do normally crack a window for fresh air. That is running the stove on low, keeping it around 450-500 degrees. Just enough air to keep some flames going.

EDIT: There is a fireplace in the main house that we are putting an insert in with the intention of that becoming our main heat source and then installing a smaller stove on this side of the house to fill in as needed.


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## googs185 (Oct 10, 2017)

Cambium said:


> Been working for me since I was the one that started this thread in 2009. (wow!)
> 
> I ended up getting a bigger stove to get longer burn time and BTU output.
> Also have a stand up fan near it to push the warm air to the other side.
> ...



Sorry to resurrect an old thread. I'm in CT as well. I have a 85,000 BTU stove with a blower in my 1100 sq foot ranch. The stove is in the center of the house but even with the blower, it heats that living room and the open adjacent kitchen really well, but the bedroom area, which is connected by a VERY short hallway stays very cold. The bedrooms could drop into the 50s even when the living room is in the 70s. (My house is poorly insulated, I just added blown in insulation to the attic so hopefully this helps this winter, but the walls are stucco and I can't insulate them). Any suggestions on getting the heat to the adjacent bedrooms? I was thinking about getting a standalone stove instead. I also have a fireplace in our partially finished basement, I don't know if putting the insert there will help.


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## greenskeeper (Oct 10, 2017)

cheapest would be in-line duct fans installed with duct work going from above the stove to each of the bedrooms. 

if you have the money to buy and insert for the basement fireplace, buy the largest that will physically fit and install grates into the floor of each room that can be opened and shut as needed. Heating the basement will almost certainly warm the rest of the house through the in floor grates.


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## Jutt (Oct 10, 2017)

I used a handful of these "through the wall" fans in my previous home. They worked really well for that layout which was a 1600 sq ft single level, low ceiling, randomly sprawling ranch along with an Englander NC30 stove which kicks out a ton of heat.


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## Cambium (Oct 10, 2017)

googs185 said:


> Sorry to resurrect an old thread. I'm in CT as well. I have a 85,000 BTU stove with a blower in my 1100 sq foot ranch. The stove is in the center of the house but even with the blower, it heats that living room and the open adjacent kitchen really well, but the bedroom area, which is connected by a VERY short hallway stays very cold. The bedrooms could drop into the 50s even when the living room is in the 70s. (My house is poorly insulated, I just added blown in insulation to the attic so hopefully this helps this winter, but the walls are stucco and I can't insulate them). Any suggestions on getting the heat to the adjacent bedrooms? I was thinking about getting a standalone stove instead. I also have a fireplace in our partially finished basement, I don't know if putting the insert there will help.



Have you tried a simple stand alone fan aimed towards the bedroom? I found this works well but DOES take some time. So you have to plan it out to start blowing back there hours before you need it warmer. This is probably the least expensive way to do it.

Or cheat and just add a little space heater for those frigid nights only in the bedroom. I know electric is expensive but for couple hours a night might be that solution you're looking for.


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## Nick Kent (Oct 10, 2017)

50's is nice for sleeping


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## Erik B (Oct 10, 2017)

Put a fan in the hallway going to the bedrooms and point it towards the room with the stove. Blow cold air towards the fire


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## Mustang71 (Oct 10, 2017)

I'm sure we are late on this one. I'd run the fan on the air handler all the time and pipe a good size return into the room with the stove if there is not one. I started doing hvac in 2009 haha.


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## TimberWolf530 (Oct 13, 2017)

CrappieKeith said:


> A stove is not meant to heat the entire home...just the room it is in and maybe a joining room.
> 
> A FURNACE HOOKED TO DUCTING IS MADE TO HEAT THE ENTIRE HOME EVENLY.



I'm glad my house & stove don't know this because my stove keeps my whole 2,000 sq ft house warm.


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## alleyyooper (Oct 13, 2017)

I am late to this mind boggling thread. Some things said are out and out BS and all you young fellows have no idea what you have even said.

Back in the past up untill about the mid 1950's it was rare to have a furnace in your house in the country and those big old farm houses. They were for the most part heated with a big pot belly stove in the living room and a wood burning cook stove in the kitchen. They heated the house comfotably even by todays standards. Yes it some times was a shock to wake in the morning and no one had fed that air leaking pot belly stove some time during the night so the upstairs hard wood floor was down right cold on the feet.

I have a England 28 3500 in my basement almost in the center but to one side. It is ducted into the forced air furnace duct work I have not use but a few times in 32 years.
I have very rarely even ran the fan on the England furnace. that furnace heats the basement nicely where there is a family room, bed room, 1/2 bath room and huge walk in closet, my man cave and the furnace, well tank and water softner. Since heat rises it heats the up stairs by convection thru the floor.

Problem I see with most stove installs is they really are not thinking it thru, number one a little cheap heat in one room and a fancy glass front, fancy brass work or some such stuff.

In reality the wood burner if wanting to heat the whole house should be located in the center as close as you can in the basement to take advantage of the convection heat and even spending a little money and getting a ad on furnace so yopu can duct the heat from it to the duct work for your costly to run furnace.
Failing to have a basement then install the wood burner in the most center room of the house.

But saying a whole can not be heated with a wood burner is just plain BS
Was done sice the day the first pot belly stove was built, and the people built the house to not be a fancy place but a functional home so a pot belly stove can heat them.

I've been in some of todays 2000 sq ft homes and I would give yor 39 cents for one. living rooms and family rooms at one end and bed rooms and bath rooms at th eother around a corner.

I bought my home second hand, *I would shoot the builder if i had hired him to build it because of the front door right under a valley where the garage conects to the house.*


. Al


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## greenskeeper (Oct 13, 2017)

Yup and if you wanted a little heat in your bed, you'd put rocks beside the pot belly stove, warm them up, and place them at the end of your bed.


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## Del_ (Oct 13, 2017)

greenskeeper said:


> Yup and if you wanted a little heat in your bed, you'd put rocks beside the pot belly stove, warm them up, and place them at the end of your bed.



Yeah and I always grab a few pieces of wood for the stove on my return trip from the outhouse.


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## googs185 (Oct 17, 2017)

alleyyooper said:


> I am late to this mind boggling thread. Some things said are out and out BS and all you young fellows have no idea what you have even said.
> 
> Back in the past up untill about the mid 1950's it was rare to have a furnace in your house in the country and those big old farm houses. They were for the most part heated with a big pot belly stove in the living room and a wood burning cook stove in the kitchen. They heated the house comfotably even by todays standards. Yes it some times was a shock to wake in the morning and no one had fed that air leaking pot belly stove some time during the night so the upstairs hard wood floor was down right cold on the feet.
> 
> ...


What about having a stove downstairs in the basement and upstairs in the center? Would I need to run both all the time at the same time?


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## MrWhoopee (Oct 19, 2017)

I had to deal with cold, damp bathrooms. I was able to use Thruwall fans and 8 in. insulated flex duct.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/ThruWall...gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CPyrz9f6_dYCFRFjfgodTWYDWQ

The fans are mounted in the bathrooms and they PULL warm air from the ceiling of the living room. The runs are not that long, less than 10'. They run 24/7 during the heating season. This makes a HUGE difference in the bathrooms and the master bedroom is warmer because the air returns through it to the living room.


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## Diehardbiker (Jan 11, 2021)

In the last 10 years, I have had huge success using furnace pulling warm air from woodstove room toward the farthest room of the house. Rarely using gas to heat my house. I had return air register on 1st floor, my house is raised ranch, decided move that register down to basement right across from woodstove in same room and that register is close to ceiling because warm air naturally rise to ceiling and I used thermostat by wire G wire on Y connection in thermostat so that I could use AC setting, set it to 88 degree, have tried 80 to 95 degrees and for some reason 88 is most efficient when comes to moving air around, could go 95 but will get my house too hot in no time, 80 degrees, electric cost goes up. I find this working so well after several test trial in few different scenarios, Doing homework paid off, too bad most HVAC people do not think this way, they are just trained people, the way furnace manufacturers want them to do so, unfortunately the idea of woodstove in HVAC training programs for HVAC minions is non-existence. So, using furnace assisting woodstove is definitely possible.


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## luckycutter (Jan 11, 2021)

I have 2 scenarios for you. I lived in one home that was uninsulated and the only heat was a woodstove in the living room. In the winter the living room was 90+ degrees and the far bedroom was in the 50's at best. I put a grill and a box in the ceiling right over the wood stove.( in the attic) From the return box I used an inline fan, and insulated hard pipe and another register in the back bedroom. The fan was a VFD So I could control the CFM. The pipe was 4 inch. It took about 30 minutes at high to warn the bedroom then a lower setting kept it comfortable through the night. The living room was more comfortable too.

#2. My current home has 2 return grills for my furnace. One of these happens to be in the basement, near my woodstove. In the winter I block off the second return grill and put the furnace on fan only if I am in a hurry to heat the far reaches of the house. If I am patient, the wood stove will eventually to the trick all by itself but I have to keep the bedroom door open.


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## luckycutter (Jan 11, 2021)

Diehardbiker said:


> In the last 10 years, I have had huge success using furnace pulling warm air from woodstove room toward the farthest room of the house. Rarely using gas to heat my house. I had return air register on 1st floor, my house is raised ranch, decided move that register down to basement right across from woodstove in same room and that register is close to ceiling because warm air naturally rise to ceiling and I used thermostat by wire G wire on Y connection in thermostat so that I could use AC setting, set it to 88 degree, have tried 80 to 95 degrees and for some reason 88 is most efficient when comes to moving air around, could go 95 but will get my house too hot in no time, 80 degrees, electric cost goes up. I find this working so well after several test trial in few different scenarios, Doing homework paid off, too bad most HVAC people do not think this way, they are just trained people, the way furnace manufacturers want them to do so, unfortunately the idea of woodstove in HVAC training programs for HVAC minions is non-existence. So, using furnace assisting woodstove is definitely possible.


The whole thing is to install, maintain and sell HVAC units. That is the biggest bang for the buck Wood stoves also bring in extra liabilities. That is why " it is what it is" as far as HVAC programs.


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## luckycutter (Jan 11, 2021)

googs185 said:


> What about having a stove downstairs in the basement and upstairs in the center? Would I need to run both all the time at the same time?


I have a wood stove in the basement, ie lower level of a 2 story home and the upstairs fireplace is for looks only. never a reason to use it.


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## John Lyngdal (Jan 12, 2021)

I have a tri-level home with a wood stove in the family room downstairs and haven't had much in the way of success in heating the whole home with the wood stove. Downstairs can be a toasty 90 degrees, but the amount of warm air and heating upstairs is minimal even with fans for circulation.


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## Diehardbiker (Jan 12, 2021)

John Lyngdal said:


> I have a tri-level home with a wood stove in the family room downstairs and haven't had much in the way of success in heating the whole home with the wood stove. Downstairs can be a toasty 90 degrees, but the amount of warm air and heating upstairs is minimal even with fans for circulation.


Depending on where your woodstove is at and furnace main return air register, best same room and that the register is close to ceiling because hot air rises, if return air register near the floor, then its useless. I decided move the return air register to woodstove room from first floor. Placed return air register near the ceiling hence on why I was able to heat whole raised ranch house with stove being on narrow side of house rather than in the middle. There was unexpected bonus for me, the Central AC runs much cooler and nicer and reduced electrical consumption.


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## sean donato (Jan 12, 2021)

I have a wood furnace that's forced air into ducting below the main floor. I've found 1 return in the main room to be satisfactory, and supply vents allocated as follows. 1 in each small bedroom, and small bath. 4 vents in main room, evenly spaced, 2 in master bedroom, 1 in master bath. There are 4 vents in the lower portion if the house where the furnace sits. 2 in main area center of the house and 1 in the man cave, and laundry room. The vents were set to evenly distribute the heat throughout the house, and we have fairly even heat, save the master bedroom which is shaded 80%+ of the day, so one vent goes between open and closed depending on outdoor temp. My house is solely headed this way with no other source. Theres no reason why a similar set up, or a well thought out convection system wouldnt work.


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## SamT1 (Jan 13, 2021)

Cambium said:


> I'm trying to find a way to get heat from my wood stove in living room to other side of house into bedrooms at a faster pace. Instead of installing another stove elsewhere.
> 
> I read somewhere here about in-line ducts. As an electrician I always see the HVAC guys on the jobs so I aked him about it.
> 
> ...


I have an uncle that does HVAC. He told me not to try and push hot air to the far side, but to suck the cold air from the far room and blow it into the room with the stove. It pulls a vacuum in that room and pulls warm air in. I have not got around to doing it. But it would be super simple in the attic or crawl space of most homes to add a flex duct with fan in it. Hardest part would be that you have to add a switch somewhere.


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## SS396driver (Jan 13, 2021)

My stove is in my basement . I leave the stairwell door open when its lit with a squirrel cage fan at the base of the stairwell blowing up the stairs . Contrary to popular belief a fan does not cool the air . It feels cooler because its removing the warmth from your skin just like wind chill. It could be 33° out with 40 mph winds feels like below zero but water will not freeze . Think of it this way if a fan cooled the air then forced hot air systems would work . Yes you lose some heat due to the duct warning the air around it . My rental property has forced hot air and all the ducts are insulated to help stop the bleeding off of heat specially where they run through the attic . I also blew in insulation on top of it 

I also have floor vents on the main floor . Most people think it's to let the warm air rise when actually they let the cold air sink back to the basement.


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## LogSawyer74 (Jan 13, 2021)

If you ever have to update your woodstove or fireplace, consider a zero clearance ducted fireplace. I have a RSF Opel 2 ducted fireplace. I can turn on a inline fan that pulls air from around the firebox and it runs upstairs and 90 feet to the TV room on the opposite end of the house. Works great


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## luckycutter (Jan 14, 2021)

SamT1 said:


> I have an uncle that does HVAC. He told me not to try and push hot air to the far side, but to suck the cold air from the far room and blow it into the room with the stove. It pulls a vacuum in that room and pulls warm air in. I have not got around to doing it. But it would be super simple in the attic or crawl space of most homes to add a flex duct with fan in it. Hardest part would be that you have to add a switch somewhere.


Careful with that. Yes you would be creating a vacuum but that does not mean you are sucking in warm are from the house. You could be sucking outside air ( and moisture) in through the walls if your house is not airtight. Also keep in mind that nearly every furnace forces hot air to the rest of the home. The return is supposed to suck the cooler air into the furnace.


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