Heating main floor with basement wood stove

[zachsmith]

Hi everyone! So I've been reading a lot about this topic, (which has been beat to death at this point) maybe a bit too much to the point where I might be a bit confused. I have a 900 square foot house with a staircase practically in the middle, and am trying to get the heat from the wood stove to go upstairs, mostly because the basement gets way to hot and uncomfortable to live in. Currently experimenting with fans to get a convection loop but not overly happy with the results. I have one small fan pointing down the stairs, and tower fan taking that air and pushing it towards the wood stove. My basement is insulated except for the floor and two walls at the back (although the entire exterior foundation has foam board).

I'm under the impression that I may need some sort of heat transfer kit to get the results I'm looking for, using an inline duct fan to push heat from the stove area to directly above on the main floor (will have to check on whats code in my area). But I've also read that pushing hot air is a waste of time, and the same setup doing the opposite and blowing cold air from upstairs into the stove room is more effective. I don't mind cutting some vents in the tiles upstairs, and the duct work would be easy with the drop ceiling. I've attached some pictures and floor plan to help visualize the situation. Thanks in advance for any help on this matter! All opinions are much appreciated

Also, the main living area of the basement is a drop ceiling and is insulated with R14, would taking this out help get the hot air upstairs faster through the floor?

 

[begreen]

The setup looks like it should convect nicely. What stove is in the basement and what are the upstairs temps? To improve convection consider adding floor return registers at the far wall locations. These will need fusible link dampers and should be large enough to convect without restriction - 6x20 should work. That said, the basement will almost always be somewhat warmer than upstairs.

 

[stoveliker]

I do the exact thing you want.
See here.
Don't push the warm air up, push cold air down thru a vent. Be mindful of fire code as you'd be making a hole in your floor.

Post in thread 'Moving heat from basement'

May 1, 2023

I heat from the basement, and if I include my basement squre footage, I have 2500 sqft.
825 in the basement and 1700 above that. Late 70s. Brand new triple pane windows, fantastic sealing and insulation (R57) in the attic. Mediocre wall insulation.

My basement walls are insulated, but the floor is unfortunately not.

Heating my home above the basement is easy. Only when it gets to be 5 F do I have to push the stove (as in 8 hr reloads), still keeping my main floor around 70 F.

However, I second the comment above that heating from a basement benefits from consistency, i.e. you heat...

• stoveliker

• 

 

[crstrode]

I have a 1200 foot walkout basement and a 2600 main floor. Main floor has 16-foot vaulted ceilings in the main living, kitchen and dining areas, along with floor to ceiling windows of 1990 vintage. Lots of glass, skylights, and sliders every where. The vaulted ceilings are beautiful cedar 3x6 boards on 4x8 beams. Pretty, but un-insulated.

A Blaze King Sirocco insert in the basement was installed for auxiliary heat, ambience, and power outages. It does a great job of boosting the gargantuan gas furnace, and does indeed make the entire house feel cozier. Without a fire burning, the furnace runs almost constantly in the cold months. With a fire downstairs, the furnace runs only now and then.

Heat soaks into poured gyp-crete floors from below and wafts upstairs via the wide and open (save for a standard sized interior door at the bottom) stairwell . By no means would the Sirocco insert begin to keep this 1972 drafty and poorly insulated house warm during fall and winter here in the Selkirk foothills.

Like I said - it may only be auxiliary backup but wood heat is cool beyond compare.

 

[bigealta]

What about getting rid of the drop ceiling and letting the hot basement ceiling warm up that tile floor upstairs?

 

[stoveliker]

I've done that. The heat on the floor feels nice to walk in but doesn't heat the room above enough. Air flow is what moves the heat - for me at least.

 

[bigealta]

I've done that. The heat on the floor feels nice to walk in but doesn't heat the room above enough. Air flow is what moves the heat - for me at least.

Yeah just adding this as a bonus to the air movement plan, he's got a lot of tile and that's so much better warm or at least not cold especially in Canada.

 

[zachsmith]

The setup looks like it should convect nicely. What stove is in the basement and what are the upstairs temps? To improve convection consider adding floor return registers at the far wall locations. These will need fusible link dampers and should be large enough to convect without restriction - 6x20 should work. That said, the basement will almost always be somewhat warmer than upstairs.

View attachment 331175

Doesn't look to have a name on it, I attached a picture. So far it's barely freezing temps over night in Canada so it's not a fair test, but it was 30 degrees Celsius in the basement and 22 upstairs last nigh. Without the fan at the top of the stairs it was like walking through a wall of heat into the basement, so I definitely feel like it's helping with that. Thanks for the tip about the vents! So is the idea behind that the cold air falls down then the hot air rushes through? I'm ok with the basement being a bit warmer, but it's a sweat lodge after 2 fires lol

 

[zachsmith]

What about getting rid of the drop ceiling and letting the hot basement ceiling warm up that tile floor upstairs?

I might start by removing the insulation between the two floors since I feel it's kind of pointless, besides noise reduction. Warm tiles do sound nice!

 

[stoveliker]

With the drop ceiling in the basement the floor in my living room is a nice 75 F or so. Drop ceilings don't seal very well.

 

[zachsmith]

With the drop ceiling in the basement the floor in my living room is a nice 75 F or so. Drop ceilings don't seal very well.

Good to know thanks!

 

[begreen]

I might start by removing the insulation between the two floors since I feel it's kind of pointless, besides noise reduction. Warm tiles do sound nice!

That would help. The basement ceiling insulation is keeping the heat down there.

 

[begreen]

Doesn't look to have a name on it, I attached a picture. So far it's barely freezing temps over night in Canada so it's not a fair test, but it was 30 degrees Celsius in the basement and 22 upstairs last nigh. Without the fan at the top of the stairs it was like walking through a wall of heat into the basement, so I definitely feel like it's helping with that. Thanks for the tip about the vents! So is the idea behind that the cold air falls down then the hot air rushes through? I'm ok with the basement being a bit warmer, but it's a sweat lodge after 2 fires lol

It's old, inefficient, and strongly radiant. A modern convective stove could be more moderate.

 

[stoveliker]

Good to know thanks!

To be clear, the floor is nice but I need airflow to make the room comfortable. That doesn't happen only via heat coming up thru the floor.

 

[zachsmith]

It's old, inefficient, and strongly radiant. A modern convective stove could be more moderate.

What brand and size would you recommend for a 900sq foot house with finished basement?

 

[begreen]

If the budget is tight, the Drolet Deco Nano is a good choice. If there is more wiggle room, then the Jotul F35, Pacific Energy Super or Alderlea T5, Lopi Evergreen or Endeavor, Quadrafire 3100, etc. are all good non-cat choices. In catalytic, the Kuma Ashford and Blaze King Sirocco will get the job done cleanly.

 

[zachsmith]

Is there any benefit to installing a ceiling fan above the wood stove?

 

[EbS-P]

I might start by removing the insulation between the two floors since I feel it's kind of pointless, besides noise reduction. Warm tiles do sound nice!

It only works well within 5-7 feet of the stove no insulation or drop Ceilings. Have you thought of upgrading stoves? Just throwing this out there.

Wood Stove | Austral III With Heatflow S5 Forced Air System

Austral III wood stove with forced air system Heatflow S5 - EPA certified at 0.95 g/h - 90 000 BTU/h - Heats up to 2,100 ft² - 20 '' logs - Made in Canada Us.

www.drolet.ca

 

[begreen]

Is there any benefit to installing a ceiling fan above the wood stove?

No, especially not in this case.

 

[stoveliker]

It only works well within 5-7 feet of the stove no insulation or drop Ceilings. Have you thought of upgrading stoves? Just throwing this out there.

Wood Stove | Austral III With Heatflow S5 Forced Air System

Austral III wood stove with forced air system Heatflow S5 - EPA certified at 0.95 g/h - 90 000 BTU/h - Heats up to 2,100 ft² - 20 '' logs - Made in Canada Us.

www.drolet.ca

My experience is different.
My floors are warm 30 ft away from the stove location in the basement. Even with a drop ceiling. No glass fiber between the joists though.

And no ceiling fan indeed where the stove is if in a basement; you want the warmest air to rise thru your stairs, not mix it with cooler air on the basement floor.

Do read the post I linked to above, it explains all of that.

 

[zachsmith]

It only works well within 5-7 feet of the stove no insulation or drop Ceilings. Have you thought of upgrading stoves? Just throwing this out there.

Wood Stove | Austral III With Heatflow S5 Forced Air System

Austral III wood stove with forced air system Heatflow S5 - EPA certified at 0.95 g/h - 90 000 BTU/h - Heats up to 2,100 ft² - 20 '' logs - Made in Canada Us.

www.drolet.ca

I will, but most likely before next winter. That forced air system stove looks very interesting!