I had pretty good results also from a plastic 8" fan blowing at my stove. My living/dining/family room is all open concept though. Dont like that I have to use a floor fan in the winter - would rather a ceiling fan or blower does the job - seems more natural.
I need to move the heat !!
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carlo said:Wow ..... that's all I can say is wow.
I took a small floor fan and placed it in an adjacent room (family room) right next to my livingroom which houses the stove. The fan is facing the stove and blowing towards the stove. My adjacent room is now 69 degrees and what's even more amazing is that my kitchen which is the furthest away from the stove is 69 degrees. My baseboard heat is set at 64 degrees, so it has not clicked on.
Today is a warmer day weatherwise, but I have noticed my other rooms heating up as the sun went down and nightime set in. I would love to test this when it's 10 degrees outside though.
Also .... the room the stove is in is cooler yet very comfortable. In the past the room was too hot when crankin the stove. How did this happen ? Did that little fan create air currents that are now moving air around the open floor plan I have ? It actually feels like alot of the hot air in the room that houses my stove is flying out into other rooms. This all from one little floor fan ? AMAZING
There you go. It may seem counterintuitive, but working with mother nature to assist natural convection is the way to go. You are seeing what many others including myself have seen. I used to heat my office with a small electric space heater, but not anymore. Now I have a fan on the floor pointed towards the stove. My office is warmer and much more comfortable as a result.
Very interesting discussion but I have a question about moving heat between different floors. My stove is in my basement and I am surprised how much heat I am getting on my top 2 floors with a small fan pointing up the basement stairs (hopefully I can get my picture to print. The fan is two steps up from the FedEx box [guess I need to work on my photo composition skills]). To try and improve things this year, I have added a bathroom fan above the stove and vented it into the hallway to the second story.
After reading the prior posts, should I turn my fan around to push air down the stairs or is the fan already high enough to be moving warm air up? Thanks!
After reading the prior posts, should I turn my fan around to push air down the stairs or is the fan already high enough to be moving warm air up? Thanks!
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Wendell, that's a very nice looking stove. How's it working for you? It's placement right by the stairs probably is ideal for convecting heat upstairs. How well does it work with no fan running?
Just for yuks, try moving the fan to the top of the stairs and point it down the stairs, at an angle, towards the wood stove. That should make the fan act as an assistant to the natural convection of heat up the stairs and cool air replacing it. Changing the fan direction may or may not make a lot of difference, but I'd be curious to hear what you find out. My guess is that it will moderate temps in the basement if nothing else.
Just for yuks, try moving the fan to the top of the stairs and point it down the stairs, at an angle, towards the wood stove. That should make the fan act as an assistant to the natural convection of heat up the stairs and cool air replacing it. Changing the fan direction may or may not make a lot of difference, but I'd be curious to hear what you find out. My guess is that it will moderate temps in the basement if nothing else.
Thanks. I am really happy with how the tile worked out, especially for a first timer. Plus it gives me a lot more thermal mass to hold the heat during the night. I know many people say you shouldn't put a stove in the basement but it is where I could get access to the existing chimney and due to the layout of the house, the only place where I could get it centrally located. I tried to get a stove that wouldn't over power the basement but still be big enough to get heat upstairs and for the most part succeeded. The soapstone really helps, too.
I do get heat upstairs without the fan and now with both the fan on the stairs and the bathroom fan above vented into the hallway going up to the second story, I am able to heat the whole house exclusively with the stove as long as the temperature outside is above around 10 degrees.
I turned the fan around and put it at the top of the stairs. I will let you know how it goes.
I do get heat upstairs without the fan and now with both the fan on the stairs and the bathroom fan above vented into the hallway going up to the second story, I am able to heat the whole house exclusively with the stove as long as the temperature outside is above around 10 degrees.
I turned the fan around and put it at the top of the stairs. I will let you know how it goes.
Wendell, I agree. I've relied on wood heat from a basement stove for many years. Fact is, it can work great. My basement is well sealed against drafts (except for the OAK) I also use a small fan on the basement staircase ceiling, when temps drop to zero or below. Someday I'm going to get around to installing a thermostat to turn that fan off when the stairway heat drops below 74 degrees. The neat thing, is getting all that heat up the staircase while the basement walls and floor are soaking up and re-radiating prodigious amounts of heat of their own. Imagine having good insulation outside the basement walls! Even with basically naked outer walls in the basement, when the outside temp hits 20 degrees or above, I can let the stove burn out and stay out for a couple days.
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Thought I'd just follow up. In a previous post I said I got indoor temp. of 69 degrees when facing a fan at the stove from an adjacent room. It just so happens that the outside temp. that day was 47 degrees.
Yesterday the outside temp. was 30 degrees (feels like 20 degrees snowy and raw). I was only able to register an indoor temp. of 66 degrees after 4 hours of burning.
Today temp. is 23 degrees (feels like 14 degrees). I used a larger fan and pointed the fan at the stove once again. Inside temp. reached 66 degrees in 2 hours, and after 4 hours inside temp. mesaured 67 degrees. Let me remind you my gas heat is set at 64 degrees.
So bottom line it looks like I'm moving the heat throughout the house. My house is 4000 sq feet and I have definetely taken the chill out of most of the main floor and a large part of the upstairs. This is exactly what I was trying to accomplish. Of course I'd like it warmer, but that ain't happening with the size of my house. If I ever want to be real warm I just go into the room that houses the stove.
Again ..... thanks for all your input.
Yesterday the outside temp. was 30 degrees (feels like 20 degrees snowy and raw). I was only able to register an indoor temp. of 66 degrees after 4 hours of burning.
Today temp. is 23 degrees (feels like 14 degrees). I used a larger fan and pointed the fan at the stove once again. Inside temp. reached 66 degrees in 2 hours, and after 4 hours inside temp. mesaured 67 degrees. Let me remind you my gas heat is set at 64 degrees.
So bottom line it looks like I'm moving the heat throughout the house. My house is 4000 sq feet and I have definetely taken the chill out of most of the main floor and a large part of the upstairs. This is exactly what I was trying to accomplish. Of course I'd like it warmer, but that ain't happening with the size of my house. If I ever want to be real warm I just go into the room that houses the stove.
Again ..... thanks for all your input.
UPDATE: I did turn the fan around and put it at the top of the stairs but unfortunately this corresponded with our latest cold snap so I don't know that my results are very scientific. Taking the temperature into account, i would say that turning the fan around certainly didn't make things worse and probably has helped to moderate the temperature in the basement.
And with the bathroom fan running above the stove, it certainly makes sense that there should be a "return air" fan also running.
Which brings me to a question about the bathroom fan. I just started with a 50 CFM cheapie to start with to make sure my idea worked before I upgrade to a 100+ CFM fan of much better quality. When the stove is going strong, it is definitely moving some warm air to the second story but once the stove gets to the last 1/3rd of its cycle before I reload, it is moving rather lukewarm air.
So, my question to all of you who are wiser than me, am I robbing Peter to pay Paul? I am moving some warmer air two stories up which is eliminating the use of the space heater up there but is the electricity I'm using to run the fan 18 hours a day negating any savings?
And with the bathroom fan running above the stove, it certainly makes sense that there should be a "return air" fan also running.
Which brings me to a question about the bathroom fan. I just started with a 50 CFM cheapie to start with to make sure my idea worked before I upgrade to a 100+ CFM fan of much better quality. When the stove is going strong, it is definitely moving some warm air to the second story but once the stove gets to the last 1/3rd of its cycle before I reload, it is moving rather lukewarm air.
So, my question to all of you who are wiser than me, am I robbing Peter to pay Paul? I am moving some warmer air two stories up which is eliminating the use of the space heater up there but is the electricity I'm using to run the fan 18 hours a day negating any savings?
If the ceiling is vaulted put the at least a 4-5 drop on it, I have 16' vaulted and have 4' ft down rod on mine works well. I also use the fan on furnace obviously forced air. Circulated heat through 1300 sf home pretty well. run the ceiling fan speed as low as possible too much seems to make it feel cooler. Lastly I went to walmart and paid like 10 bucks for a narrow line box fan low speed about 5-6 feet from stove blowin works well too.
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