HVAC Guy Said No Good-Transfer Heat From Wood Stove-
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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.
1967 Tempest
ArboristSite Operative
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.
Cambium
ArboristSite Guru
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.
1967 Tempest
ArboristSite Operative
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!
mga
wandering
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.
1967 Tempest
ArboristSite Operative
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...
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...
ChoppyChoppy
Tree Freak
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.
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.
mga
wandering
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?
1967 Tempest
ArboristSite Operative
Yes it draws from the same room.
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.
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.
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.
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.
greenskeeper
ArboristSite Operative
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.
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.
Jutt
ArboristSite Operative
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.
Cambium
ArboristSite Guru
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.
Nick Kent
ArboristSite Member
50's is nice for sleeping
Erik B
ArboristSite Guru
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
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.
