# Getting the heat upstairs.



## itzjerm (Dec 9, 2010)

In my house the stove is in the main basement.  There is a doorway then to a bonus room where there is an open staircase upstairs.  At any rate, it seems the stove has a challenge getting heat upstairs.  Has anyone ever tried removing pipes for the HVAC to allow heat to rise through the registers?  Also has anyone once they disconnected these pipes turned on the central unit fan to blow the air into the basement and then since the return air is upstairs it pull warm air upstairs.

thoughts?  Good Idea, bad idea?

thanks!


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## Jags (Dec 9, 2010)

Typically that is frowned upon for a couple of reasons.  1.) you have just opened a door for fire/smoke/carbon dioxide to travel quickly and efficiently to other parts of the home. 2.) many will state that using the furnace fan to move the stove heat is a futile activity, especially if the duct work goes outside of the heated envelope of the house (crawl space, attic, etc.)

I personally have never had much luck using the furnace fan to warm a room, BUT, I have noticed that it can "even" the heat out a bit in some instances.

The X factor is removing the cold, dense air, so that the warm air will replace it.  Floor fans have the best rep for this.


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## wendell (Dec 9, 2010)

Get a fan at the top of your stairs pointed down and the same angle of the stairs will get you the most hot air upstairs.


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## Todd (Dec 9, 2010)

I've heated 3 different homes from a basement woodstove and could never get the furnace fan to help out. Most of your heat will rise up the stairwell so it's best to push cold air down from a far away room opposite from the stairs. This will pressurize the basement and help push the warm air up to replace the cold air.


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## itzjerm (Dec 9, 2010)

Well one other issue in the whole setup.  THe basement is divided into two areas.  The garage area, and the bonus room with the open stairs.  The bonus room stays constant at 64 degrees.  Garage area at 74 degrees... what can I do to keep the bonus room warm? Is it even possible since there are open stairs?


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## itzjerm (Dec 9, 2010)

wendell said:
			
		

> Get a fan at the top of your stairs pointed down and the same angle of the stairs will get you the most hot air upstairs.



Do you blow cold air down?  Or suck hot air up?


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## RedGuy (Dec 10, 2010)

I push cold air down stairs with a simple box fan. This has been very effective for me at spreading the heat through my house.


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## RnG17 (Dec 10, 2010)

I have my wood stove in the basement. The basement is finished and I have a cold air return installed downstairs. I run my HP fan on low 24/7 to help circ. air throughout house. I'm an HVAC tech so I've tried a few different things. What seemed to work best is this: my hosue is only 5 years old, so its build pretty decent, but I leave my bottom cold air returns open to pull out the cold air in each room, and with the return in the basement pulling the 90+ degree basement air through the system I can keep my first floor at 74-77 and my 2nd floor anywhere between 66-69. All depends on how hot I keep the stove going. I don't like the house too hot so I shoot for the 72-74 on the 1st floor. I also use ceiling fans on low to help pull some hot air up. This is working for now. I do have a few diff. things to try before I choose what I want to do. 

Stoves in the basement are obviously not the best place, they are space heaters but if used correctly I think you can manage a house with one in the basement. 


Your basement sounds difficult. But I do agree with everyone, get the cold air out of the rooms. A space will heat up much quicker if the cold air is removed while heating it, pretty simple thinking.

Like myself try a few different things to see what works best for you. I have not tried box fans yet, that is something that I'd like to keep at Walmart, I don't think I should ever need one at this point.


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## wendell (Dec 10, 2010)

itzjerm said:
			
		

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Blow cold air down which allows the hot air to rise up.


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## krex1010 (Dec 10, 2010)

I am able to use my fan for my ac/heat pump to help even out the temps in my house, but I am lucky to have just about the ideal setup for this.  My stove is in the same room as the stairs to the second floor and both of my return vents for that system are in that stairwell, so it works for me.  It's not like Having the heat on but for example, temps in the low 20's lat night . Temps in my stove room was 76 and the upstairs bedrooms were 64. I turned the fan on and was able to get the upstairs rooms up to 68 degrees.  My house isn't that big and my air handler is centrally located on the second floor so i think I am one of the rare people who are lucky enough for this too work.


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## petersenj20 (Dec 10, 2010)

Jags said:
			
		

> Typically that is frowned upon for a couple of reasons.  1.) you have just opened a door for fire/smoke/carbon dioxide to travel quickly and efficiently to other parts of the home. 2.) many will state that using the furnace fan to move the stove heat is a futile activity, especially if the duct work goes outside of the heated envelope of the house (crawl space, attic, etc.)



I have done well using the Hvac to draw the heat. Hood over the stove with a cold air intake to the hood. My furnace hasn't worked for 5 or 6 years. Been using the fireplace gas logs. (99% efficiante) I put the stove in this year, and as long as there is sufficient air flow for the chimney and HVAC to draw, there has been no problems.


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## Jags (Dec 10, 2010)

petersenj20 said:
			
		

> Hood over the stove with a cold air intake to the hood.



It may work very well for you, but by any standards of safety and code - a hood over your wood stove distributing heat to the rest of the house is a big No-No.  It goes against every building coding and stove MFG code out there.  If going by the book - I believe that 10Ft is the magic number for cold air ducting. (I am not a code Nazi so you may want to review your manual).

It may work, but so would using the burner for my turkey fryer in the middle of my living room - and I ain't gonna do that either.


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## CALJREICH (Dec 10, 2010)

Jags said:
			
		

> petersenj20 said:
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What you got something against turkeys?Did you have a bad Thanksgiving or what?


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