Best Way to Get Heat Out of the Basement

 
Mikemuleman
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Post by Mikemuleman » Thu. Jan. 07, 2016 5:26 am

Hi this is my first year burning love the even heat but would like to get more heat out of the basement and into the other parts of the house. We just bought the house in May and were in the house while the stove was running in late February and in March at that time the house was very warm I am not sure how they got the heat thru the house but the bi metal thermostat was set open by the chain always open the house is a two story cape at 1600 sqft very well insulated windows are not leaking I set the stove at 3 1/2 during the day then up to 5 when we are home burning about 1/2 to 1 hopper for twelve hour period basement temp is 90* at about waist level the stack temp below the mpd 185* with a small fan blowing toward it I run the damper closed since the stack is around 30 foot long and I seem to get very good draft thank you w for any input.


 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Thu. Jan. 07, 2016 6:01 am

Welcome.

Are you currently just letting the heat come up through the stairwell?
Which areas of the house are cold?
Are there any vents to allow the cold air to return to the basement?

 
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dcrane
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Post by dcrane » Thu. Jan. 07, 2016 6:10 am

this is a great question and once understood better you can solve the problem...

circulation is the main key and this is misunderstood by most... you need to replace the air being taken out of the basement (you cant simply take air without giving it back in some way)... therefore a lot of people will use a large register over the stove and have then have smaller cold air returns in the distant area's of the house (you can even assist the cold air returns by hanging flex dryer line or something from those cold air returns in order that the cool air goes right to the basement floor area... it will then run across the floor directly to the heat source at which point it becomes hot air and flows upward towards your large open register above the stove!

next issue of importance is even though your house is tight & insulated well, how is your basement insulated? if its an uninsulated basement half or more above grade than your loosing a tremendous amount of heat out the walls and/or walk out. heat will RISE... (but you need to contain that heat to some degree to give it time to do its job)... you may notice on drafty days with an uninsulated basement that the circulation theory does not work as good as it normally does (this would be one of the culprits causing that).

next... some simple add ins that can assist the basic premise of circulating heated air... #1 open basement door #2 add a small fan to larger register over stove (make sure you have plenty of cold air returns because don't ever forget.... you need to replace the air your taking)!

 
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Post by ddahlgren » Thu. Jan. 07, 2016 7:07 am

How much coal does the hopper hold and what are the average temps? You can't get heat without burning coal. It does amaze me why people put a space heater in the basement and expect it to be a whole house furnace. Basement wall and floor temps would be handy as well.

 
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Post by scoobydoo » Thu. Jan. 07, 2016 7:29 am

Here's a pretty good read about basement insulation http://www.quadlock.com/technical_library/bulleti ... lation.pdf

 
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windyhill4.2
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Post by windyhill4.2 » Thu. Jan. 07, 2016 8:17 am

Mikemuleman wrote:Hi this is my first year burning love the even heat but would like to get more heat out of the basement and into the other parts of the house. We just bought the house in May and were in the house while the stove was running in late February and in March at that time the house was very warm I am not sure how they got the heat thru the house but the bi metal thermostat was set open by the chain always open the house is a two story cape at 1600 sqft very well insulated windows are not leaking I set the stove at 3 1/2 during the day then up to 5 when we are home burning about 1/2 to 1 hopper for twelve hour period basement temp is 90* at about waist level the stack temp below the mpd 185* with a small fan blowing toward it I run the damper closed since the stack is around 30 foot long and I seem to get very good draft thank you w for any input.
Mikemuleman, Welcome to the forum,& welcome to heating with coal. Coal is a slow,steady heat,forget about setting the stove back for the daytime & then turning it up in the evening expecting it to make your first floor warmer. Keep it set the same around the clock,your house & you will be much more comfortable. ~~~ 90* at waist level... in the basement ..... that should tell everyone reading your post that you have heat in the basement.... too much.... you need to lose some of that heat to the upstairs. A better description of location of your stove,the stairway,any floor vents would help to determine needed improvements.
Last edited by windyhill4.2 on Thu. Jan. 07, 2016 8:19 am, edited 1 time in total.

 
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SWPaDon
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Post by SWPaDon » Thu. Jan. 07, 2016 8:18 am

Mikemuleman wrote:Hi this is my first year burning love the even heat but would like to get more heat out of the basement and into the other parts of the house. We just bought the house in May and were in the house while the stove was running in late February and in March at that time the house was very warm I am not sure how they got the heat thru the house but the bi metal thermostat was set open by the chain always open the house is a two story cape at 1600 sqft very well insulated windows are not leaking I set the stove at 3 1/2 during the day then up to 5 when we are home burning about 1/2 to 1 hopper for twelve hour period basement temp is 90* at about waist level the stack temp below the mpd 185* with a small fan blowing toward it I run the damper closed since the stack is around 30 foot long and I seem to get very good draft thank you w for any input.
Welcome to the forum.
Is it possible they were supplementing with the electric heat when you were there? Last winter was a very, very cold one most everywhere in the north.

With that being said/asked, where are you located? It isn't in your profile, if you could put it in there it would help the members here to help you better.
As others have said, if you put registers in the floor above the stove, the cold air returns on the outside walls, it will help your airflow tremendously. Please keep us informed as to your progress.


 
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Post by Mikemuleman » Thu. Jan. 07, 2016 8:37 am

Thank you for responding I have the basement door open and I have register vent open that is above the stove with a small fan moving sir thru it to the first floor I also opened up the cold air return of the furnace which is within 6 feet of the stove and I will run the furnace blower to try and help circulate the air out of the basement when standing on the basement stairs there is a good pull coming down the steps stove temps are @450 to 550 I would estimate burning 80 to 100 pounds a day of coal basement is insulated and 90 percent under ground other than the walkout door the bedroom over the side of the house where the stove is has more heat the master at the other side of house on second floor is cooler is having the cold air return open in basement a good idea or not thank you all for any info

 
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Post by Sunny Boy » Thu. Jan. 07, 2016 8:42 am

Welcome Mike,

If the place was warm when you first were there, how about asking the previous owners what their method was ?

Paul

 
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Post by oros35 » Thu. Jan. 07, 2016 9:07 am

I have one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/Lasko%C2%AE-Performance-Piv ... C1J2EGBQHY
Low current draw and they put out a ton of air. And it's a very tight stream of air so you can point it where you want the air to go, easily feel the flow 30 feet away.

And I have something similar to this:
http://www.amazon.com/Tjernlund-M-6-Booster-Hydro ... 2+duct+fan
I installed it in the ceiling with insulated ducting going to the back part of the house. It puts about 400 scfm of air to the back bedroom and really makes a huge difference. Gets everything moving around the house.

And they are both low current draw so it doesn't add much to the electric bill.

 
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Post by Mikemuleman » Thu. Jan. 07, 2016 9:09 am

The stove sits at the back of the basement @ten feet from the stairs overall basement is 850sqft in a t shape stove is in the biggest part of basement I live in northeast Ohio I don't know where the old owners moved to and I have a feeling by the way he had the chain adjusted so that when you turned the thermostat down there was still a 1 inch gap at the intake he must have just run the stove very hot I understand it won't be like a furnace but was Hoping for a little more even heat thru out the house it has never got below 65 degrees on the first floor at any time since the stove has been on

 
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Post by dcrane » Thu. Jan. 07, 2016 9:15 am

Mikemuleman wrote:The stove sits at the back of the basement @ten feet from the stairs overall basement is 850sqft in a t shape stove is in the biggest part of basement I live in northeast Ohio I don't know where the old owners moved to and I have a feeling by the way he had the chain adjusted so that when you turned the thermostat down there was still a 1 inch gap at the intake he must have just run the stove very hot I understand it won't be like a furnace but was Hoping for a little more even heat thru out the house it has never got below 65 degrees on the first floor at any time since the stove has been on
10' from the stairs (door open at stairs going to first floor)... you said your feeling a cold air pull down the stairs (just want to be clear here?)... if this be the case.... its screaming to me that you do not have good cold air return circulation happening (the stairwell should be feeling a pull of warm air UP, not cold air down).... others can chime in here with some thoughts about this?

 
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Post by oros35 » Thu. Jan. 07, 2016 9:20 am

I have a very noticeable temp difference in my stairwell. Hot goes up the top, and cold comes down the bottom.

I'm sure it would work better if there were better cold air returns. Only thing I have is that stairwell. And the 400 cfm fan sucking from the basement and dumping to the far end upstairs.

Having the good portable fan in the right place makes a huge difference too. Kind of like a forced draft by circulating hot air toward the top of the stairs while sucking cold air from the floor, past the stove, and back up the stairs.

 
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Post by ddahlgren » Thu. Jan. 07, 2016 12:07 pm

Silly as it sounds at the doorways take a 1 foot piece of toilet paper or tissue and tape it to top of the door jamb. Treat it as a tell tale like a sailor would If it leans into the space you want to heat a start how close to horizontal is how much is coming in. Yes it will look goofy and if 'the boss' complains tell her temporary to make the house warmer. The only way to use the furnace blower that makes sense to me is to take the door off tape a filter over the opening and block the cold air ducts with a blanking sheet where the original filter was. If not close to the stove it might be useless.

 
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Post by windyhill4.2 » Thu. Jan. 07, 2016 12:57 pm

Running a hot air furnace fan at low speed ,preferably constantly,will mix the air & even out the temps thru-out the house.Not much cutting,modifying,or adding fans & vents needed.


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