Another Ranch basement circulateing question!

I originally had no vents at all. Last week I installed a cold air return (6in) vent in corner of house bedroom, oposite end of house that stairs are. I ran duct down to 4in off basement floor, I could feel a draft for 48hrs but no difference in heat. I then hooked up an inline duct fan, lots off cold air in basement but did not bring warm air in bed room. I now have duct pipe removed with fan reversed, now blowing heat in room, working descent, but loud as heck!! And I still dont get heat in other bedroom and family room. I am looking to cal a HVAC profesional to see what i need to do. Cant go threw winter like this, I will be burning coal inefficiant!

Try this topic from the forum
Moving heat up stairs
My pictures of my setup are there before my last upgrade which will soon follow. I now run the fan to the upstairs with a RIB Relay in a Box RIBU1C, which is hooked up to the cool contacts on my upstairs thermostat. The fan is conected to the N/C contacts, and when the cool set point on the thermostat is active the relay opens turning the fan off until the room cools and then the thermostat opens allowing the fan to come back on. Kind of reverse logic. Works great!
By the way I finally figured out how to link a previous post and I am a computer guy

ridgeracing wrote: I am looking to cal a HVAC profesional to see what i need to do. Cant go threw winter like this, I will be burning coal inefficiant!

....I know if I insulate my walls I will see a big pay back the heat will have to go somewhere else besides through the block walls like in your home. I am going to glue polystyrine foam board to the end of the basement where the stove is first. That should help considerably. I'm presently laid-off so $$$$ is a little tight. I believe the foam board is closed cell so it will also be a vapor barrier simular to spray foam. I forgot my point, oh yah, maybe taking the money the professional wants and invest in insulation to help drive the heat up..just my 1 1/2 cents.

I would say we have a similar situation. My situation being a little different. Our houses seem about the same. My stove is near the stairs, the blower from the stove is blowing air up the stairs. I find that the up stairs still does not get all that warm. My conclusion is that I need passive vents in the floor on the other end of the house, to allow the cold air into the basement so there is room for warm air up stairs. If you get my mental image here, this will basically create a cycle. As warm air goes up the stairs, cold air drops through the passive vents on the opposite end of the house.
Your situation may equally benefit by having the same vents. As your heat rises through the vents, cold air comes down the stairs.

That is correct Bootstrap.
I also will restate that with a "space heater" you will never get to nirvana (Grasshoppah) in regards to completely even heating. If you did, once again, you would have no current or flow. You can get close but there will always be some temp difference. There has to be for it to work properly. How much that differance is however, is what we strive design for.

but Grasshoppah, coalnewbie say (great oracle) - "In life, try for 90% of perfection for 10% of the cost". You have attained nirvana li'l Grasshoppah be happy. Who cares about a few degrees here and there. Many of us can never be vermontday (really great hydronicis guru) so be happy with average.

I found one problem of mine is that when I go down stairs to do something, where it is 80*, laundry, look for sh@t, projects,tend the stove etc. I get stupid thoughts when I come back up where it's 70*. I either have to stop going down stairs, can't do that, or realize the stove is down stairs, I had the stove up stairs last yr. and we roasted so I have to check myself and think......get a coal fired furnace or boiler with an uninsulated basement I am forever chasing the warm air!

With temps in 40s at night its hard to judge, but basement is 76, left end of house is 78 and right end is 72. Except my bedroom that is right above stove is 74. But when it gets cold (upper 20s-30s) basement is 80, left side 80 and right side of house is 70-72.

ridgeracing wrote:With temps in 40s at night its hard to judge, but basement is 76, left end of house is 78 and right end is 72. Except my bedroom that is right above stove is 74. But when it gets cold (upper 20s-30s) basement is 80, left side 80 and right side of house is 70-72.

That's not all that bad RR based on your layout. You may get it a little better with a strategically placed register but honestly, I doubt you "ll get much better than a 5-8 degree swing

Ok RR....after reading the other posts.... I felt compelled to reach into my pocket... and pull out 2 more cents!!... after all it is Christmas time! Lol
..... my conclusion is.... you seem to have the temperatures upstairs that would be adequate ( low to mid seventies ain't too bad).... what I think you're really looking for is comfort or more even heat?
any HVAC guy worth his salt is probably going to tell you what you been reading on this forum..... and bill you for it! with that said... you're esentially trying to heat the house with the stove.... but you want the heat distribution capabilities of a furnace.
.. now this is just a thought... and maybe a little outside the box..BUT... have you considered installing 1 or 2 room to room fans? they would certainly keep the temperatures throughout the house upstairs more even.
they would also be easy to install as they go in the petition wall between each room.... and you would not have to cut your hardwood floors... like I said you have the temperatures up stairs just not balanced.
the biggest con maybe their price... BROAN makes them for about 100 bucks... or you could go TJERNLUND for a lot more.
upwards of 200 bucks.
the sones rating isn't bad either.... considering how much air they will move.... and most of them have very uble speed!

i think you are doing pretty well, you may be able to dial it in a little better, maybe not. we are within 4-8 degrees depending on outside temps and wind and how much doors have been closed between the living room and the back bedroom.

warm out today so right now LR is 73* and back BR is 69*. colder temps will have a bigger delta, but lowest temp i've seen in BR is 62* when the door has been closed for a while in cold weather. we like the BR cooler so it is OK for us.

LR is where open stairway from basement comes up, stoker stove is in basement. i took the supply flex duct in the back BR's farthest corner off the trunk and dropped it to the basement floor, you can feel the cool air coming our of it. plus the dust bunnies migrate to that floor register in the bedroom so it is easy vacuuming.

....sorry...i meant variable speed ( damn talk to text phone) !
... again my 2 cents... and just a thought
... and I also don't think you're temperatures arent too bad with all things considered
good luck with this!

.oh.... and Merry Christmas everyone!
... I tried being naughty this year... on purpose!
.... you can never have too much coal

Rigar wrote:.oh.... and Merry Christmas everyone!
... I tried being naughty this year... on purpose!
.... you can never have too much coal

I second that and merry christmas

Merry Christmas to all as well! And thank you all for your input. I believe I am going to put a shared wall heat register between 2nd and 3rd bedrooms and leave the one natural cold air return in corner of one bedroom. If that works well, I may put a cold and hot register in family room. I am now in search for quiet and dependable small (6in) in line duct fan, the one I have now is a 6in that is very loud and reviews say they dont last long.