Blaze King or a Lopi

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"I know a guy" that used the 16" wall spacing in interior walls as duct work. Since the interior walls are seldom insulated, he placed a bower motor near the floor and placed a register near the ceiling. The hot air was pulled down the space between two 16" on center studs and then he had a 3" diameter piece of pipe running down into the basement. It is a very clean install.
That’s brilliant! I wonder if a guy could reverse it in the summer
 
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BeGreen. Good stuff. I like the rheostat option for air speed control.
 
Yes, it's a good idea. The one downside of this type of installation is that the drywall can act like a sounding board and amplify the blower vibrations. There is a Broan wall fan that claims to be quite quiet. It might work well for this application with a speed control.
 
Yes, it's a good idea. The one downside of this type of installation is that the drywall can act like a sounding board and amplify the blower vibrations. There is a Broan wall fan that claims to be quite quiet. It might work well for this application with a speed control.

I know that a local inspected had an issue with "the guy" I know that had his system. The home inspector said if there was a wood smoke issue, the blower would introduce that smoke to other places in the home. I suspect that assumption could be true. Make certain to have smoke detectors!
 
The home inspector said if there was a wood smoke issue, the blower would introduce that smoke to other places in the home.
I'd assume that to be true for a normal forced-air system as well, right?
 
Hey all, appreciate the posts. Looking to revisit this topic. We re all moved in. Still haven't decided on the stove yet. I really like the PE but leaning towards a stove that's more efficient and would qualify for the tax credit. The two wood stove retailers in my area are really backed up for install so I have some time to decide on a stove. Planning on a summer, early fall install. Attached are some pictures of my home, 1344 sq ft, 24x56. 2 bed and bath directly off dining room, another bed and bath off one end of living room. Wood stove would go in the corner of the living room, corner closest to tv(really against having a wood stove in the basement). I'm wanting to distribute some of the heat to the basement. I've read the previous threads on here on it not really working but hoping to get some more recent insight while providing my specifics. Its a split entry type house on the side. 8 ft ceilings. I ran this by a heating and plumbing contractor and he mentioned adding a return in the living room towards the ceiling and running the furnace on fan mode. Would this not work to circulate some heat? I'd imagine the heat would be ~90 on the ceiling in the living room. I'm mainly worried if the furnace isn't kicking on how cold my basement would get (freezing pipes, etc). Down the road half the basement would be finished. I would reverse the fan in the living room and experiment with a box fan blowing air up the stairs near the side entry. Also looking into having some sort of fan in the other end of the living room installed in the floor to blow in the cooler air from the basement. Maybe that would help circulate air? My thermostat is set at 70 and the basement temps sit around 62-64. Thanks for any feedback!
 

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My insert is on the first floor and my unfinished basement stays around 47-50 in the winter. No worries about pipe freezing but definitely not comfortable in a split level where you actually use the basement for living space.