How Do You Distribute Heat From Your Stove?

traderfjp · Post by **traderfjp** » Mon. Dec. 10, 2007 6:09 pm

In my house I have the stove on the 1st floor on one end of the house and a stairwell on the other end of the house. (the house is about 1800-2100 sq. ft). I'm getting a good air circulation from the stairwell. However, when it get in the 20's I have a much larger disparity between the downstairs temperature and upstairs. The temps vary about 15 degrees. Anyway, I have a direct vent so the stove is creating a vacuum in the house by pulling air. I was thinking of adding a vent right above the stove so the stove could pull some of the cooler air from the upstairs. Does this make sense or will a lot of the heat rise and make the bedroom directly over the stove too hot?

Thanks.

Dallas · Post by **Dallas** » Mon. Dec. 10, 2007 6:36 pm

You can install a vent with a damper, so that it can be shut, if things go the wrong direction or too much. Also, before the heat can go up, the cold must come down.

traderfjp · Post by **traderfjp** » Mon. Dec. 10, 2007 11:51 pm

I could put in a power vent in the floor and then have it pull the air from the upstairs down to the stove. hmmmm

pa coal cracker · Post by **pa coal cracker** » Tue. Dec. 11, 2007 5:23 am

Could you tell me where to get the power vents that pull down? Thanks Craig

Dallas · Post by **Dallas** » Tue. Dec. 11, 2007 9:43 am

One of the popular thoughts is "to use the hot air furnace return or even the furnace blower to move the heat from the coal stove around the house".

I have a system like that in place, myself. However, I'm starting to re-think that logic.

I've noticed, more than once, that after the furnace blower has been on, to "just circulate the coal heat", when the furnace comes on and then the blower comes on the circulate the furnace heat, there is an unusual smell .... kind of like a newly heated item burning off. ??

That aside, running the "coal heat" through the furnace returns and heat exchanger, to get it distributed through the house, could be counter-productive. By doing this, we are trying to heat the "furnace" with the coal heat, which probably exchanges some of it in the furnace and sends part of the coal heat up the furnace chimney.

How about some thoughts on that?

gambler · Post by **gambler** » Tue. Dec. 11, 2007 10:49 am

My house layout is fairly open so with just the blower on the stove my upstairs bedrooms run about 2* cooler than the set temp on the stove t-stat. My coal stove is on my main floor and I do not heat the basement which maintains about 50* through the winter but when I tried to use my furnace blower to distribute the heat from my stove the temps in the upstairs bedrooms dropped by about 4*. I believe that putting the warm stove air through the 50* ductwork in the basement cooled it off and caused the bedrooms to become colder.

traderfjp · Post by **traderfjp** » Tue. Dec. 11, 2007 12:55 pm

gambler- You're very lucky to only have a 2 degree difference. Any secrets?

gambler · Post by **gambler** » Tue. Dec. 11, 2007 1:22 pm

traderfjp wrote:gambler- You're very lucky to only have a 2 degree difference. Any secrets?

I guess it is just the design of the house. The first floor is around 1300 sqft and you can walk in a complete circle and all entryways to each room are wide and go all of the way to the ceiling (no headers). The upstairs is only about 700 sqft and if the kids leave their bedroom doors open the heat goes up the stairwell and into the hall and to a bedroom on each end of the hall. Last week the temp outside one morning was 5* so before I left for work I checked the coal-trol and the temp was 72* so I tiptoed up to my boys room and check the temp (yes I have a thermometer in every room) and to my surprise it was 70*. I guess that I did tell a little white lie! My stove is in my dining room, a room that we don't often use and when the stove is firing hard it is usually 2-3 degrees warmer in that room than the rest of the 1st floor. So if the stove is firing kind of hard I guess that I have a 5* variation in temps in my house.

drujinin · Post by **drujinin** » Tue. Dec. 11, 2007 3:17 pm

My 12x12 register hole is in the floor or ceiling depending on which floor you are on.

Air flows either way dependant upon the temps in the rooms above. Right now its piling up dog hair in the ceiling below meaning cold air is coming down and must be moving warm air toward the stairs.
I run my furnace blowers to cool the house and move air around when the stoves get too hot. The funny burn smell when your furnace kicks on tells me you have an issue with the filter in your plenum. I use micro-allergen type because they capture coal ash dust and dog dander that would settle in the rooms and the plenum which would give the odor you describe when your furnace kicks on.

Dallas · Post by **Dallas** » Tue. Dec. 11, 2007 3:30 pm

I think, they are some of the better filters ... I'll have to have a look.

drujinin · Post by **drujinin** » Wed. Dec. 12, 2007 10:22 am

Check the fit because I always thought (nieve) that the furnace installation would be 100% perfect until I had it done at one house by one company and it sucked dirt around the filter from the basement floor. At the next house I went over it with the company owner and was assured it would be done with good craftsmanship. Only to call them back and have them do a better fitting and sealing job on the plenum because I wasn't happy with the work and they weren't going to be paid until then. Yes I maybe picky but remember it is my hard earned money being shelled out.
drujinin

Dallas · Post by **Dallas** » Wed. Dec. 12, 2007 10:47 am

That is a good possibility. The filters never seem to fit the tray in the furnace. They are usually too small on one dimension and too large on the other, with no filters to fit both.

Bill · Post by **Bill** » Thu. Dec. 13, 2007 3:04 pm

Hi,
I am back...I have added the 4" duct with a fan from my cold air return to my bow around my stove. Still no improvement in the heat transfered to my main floor. Any more suggestions?

Bill · Post by **Bill** » Thu. Dec. 13, 2007 3:08 pm

Good Morning,

I have been reading about how you have solved problems regarding heat transfer. I have a Hitzer 53-90 radiant heat, in basement, with a box built around it 40 X 30 X 60 with three 8" dia. runs off of the box to floor registers in a 2 story house. Two on the main floor and one to the upstairs. The house is approx. 1700 sq. ft over all. I cannot seem to get enough heat from the stove to the main floor to reach an average of 65*, with an outside temperature of 30*. I have also opened the cold air return to the basement to hope to circulate air. Thinking of an older cavity fed unit. Any suggestions???

Hi,
I am back...I have added the 4" duct with a fan from my cold air return to my bow around my stove. Still no improvement in the heat transfered to my main floor. Any more suggestions

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Thu. Dec. 13, 2007 5:33 pm

Bill wrote:Good Morning,

I have been reading about how you have solved problems regarding heat transfer. I have a Hitzer 53-90 radiant heat, in basement, with a box built around it 40 X 30 X 60 with three 8" dia. runs off of the box to floor registers in a 2 story house. Two on the main floor and one to the upstairs. The house is approx. 1700 sq. ft over all. I cannot seem to get enough heat from the stove to the main floor to reach an average of 65*, with an outside temperature of 30*. I have also opened the cold air return to the basement to hope to circulate air. Thinking of an older cavity fed unit. Any suggestions???

Hi,
I am back...I have added the 4" duct with a fan from my cold air return to my bow around my stove. Still no improvement in the heat transfered to my main floor. Any more suggestions

How drafty is the house?

do you have a hot enough fire going?