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

[TimberWolf530]

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.

 

[alleyyooper]

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

 

[greenskeeper]

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.

 

[Del_]

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.

 

[googs185]

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

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?

 

[MrWhoopee]

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.

 

[Diehardbiker]

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.

 

[luckycutter]

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.

 

[luckycutter]

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.

 

[luckycutter]

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.

 

[John Lyngdal]

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.

 

[Diehardbiker]

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.

 

[sean donato]

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.

 

[SamT1]

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?

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.

 

[SS396driver]

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.

 

[LogSawyer74]

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

 

[luckycutter]

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.