Plumbing into central heating

[Chadillacgrill]

I have a large wood stove insert upstairs and downstairs but still have some chilly rooms upstairs. I want to mainly heat with the downstairs one because of size of unit and keeping the mess downstairs. I would like to plumb ductwork into central unit to heat all rooms. What would be the smartest way to do this without being able to directly plumb into the wood stove? Where would I need dampers and where would I need booster fans? Any help is appreciated. Thanks guys and gals!

 

[jetsam]

If you're ripping into the drywall anyway, the best plan is big open spaces between the stove and the upstairs. Maybe you have a narrow doorway you can turn into a big archway. Lots of people use a floor fan at the top of the stairs to blow cold air down towards the stove.

People have mixed success distributing heat with hvac systems. Some love it, some don't. There are a LOT of stories and opinions on this topic here on the forum- it is discussed every year.

Do not plan on having an intake right above the wood stove. It's a double CO hazard (single hazard because it can distribute CO in the event of draft reversal, double because the negative pressure can cause aforesaid draft reversal).

 

[Chadillacgrill]

If you're ripping into the drywall anyway, the best plan is big open spaces between the stove and the upstairs. Maybe you have a narrow doorway you can turn into a big archway. Lots of people use a floor fan at the top of the stairs to blow cold air down towards the stove.

People have mixed success distributing heat with hvac systems. Some love it, some don't. There are a LOT of stories and opinions on this topic here on the forum- it is discussed every year.

Do not plan on having an intake right above the wood stove. It's a double CO hazard (single hazard because it can distribute CO in the event of draft reversal, double because the negative pressure can cause aforesaid draft reversal).

I can’t wipeout any walls or doorways at the moment the hallways is a block wall that is supporting. I planned on putting intake about 3 or 4 feet out from the fireplace in the ceiling and forcing air through ducts into the central system. Not sure if that’s a good or bad idea. But I need to get warm air to other end of the house upstairs. Haha. I can take pictures if that helps. I will look into the other posts to see if anything there helps.

 

[Chadillacgrill]

If you're ripping into the drywall anyway, the best plan is big open spaces between the stove and the upstairs. Maybe you have a narrow doorway you can turn into a big archway. Lots of people use a floor fan at the top of the stairs to blow cold air down towards the stove.

People have mixed success distributing heat with hvac systems. Some love it, some don't. There are a LOT of stories and opinions on this topic here on the forum- it is discussed every year.

Do not plan on having an intake right above the wood stove. It's a double CO hazard (single hazard because it can distribute CO in the event of draft reversal, double because the negative pressure can cause aforesaid draft reversal).

I feel that if I put the intake in the ceiling and forced it into the ductwork (which is about an 8’ run...) that I could then use the fan on the furnace to circulate the warmer air. And leaving the basement door open and also having the cold air exchange from the furnace fan running would result in adequate cold air return for both furnace fan and wood stove to properly run. But I’m not sure if I can just plumb the forced air from wood stove anywhere in the ductwork or if I should run it to the main coming out of the furnace. And again...would I need to install damper somewhere along the line? I do not have central air if that makes a difference. Thanks again.

 

[maple1]

I am not sure this will be worth the effort. Usually there is only a few degrees difference between the 'hot' room and the 'cold' room, and that few degrees difference more or less almost all disappears by the time it gets to where you want it after passing through much ductwork.

No idea about your existing ductwork & system - can you block off certain registers/vents & run the fan as-is for a test to see what happens? Some seem to do 'OK', but don't think it's much more than 'just OK'.

Also uncertain exactly what you are planning - you mentioned both plumbing the stove into the ductwork, and not plumbing it in. Don't know for sure but am thinking actually plumbing it in might be a no-no.

 

[bholler]

I can’t wipeout any walls or doorways at the moment the hallways is a block wall that is supporting. I planned on putting intake about 3 or 4 feet out from the fireplace in the ceiling and forcing air through ducts into the central system. Not sure if that’s a good or bad idea. But I need to get warm air to other end of the house upstairs. Haha. I can take pictures if that helps. I will look into the other posts to see if anything there helps.

You can't do that a cold air return needs to be atleast 10' from the woodstove. And even if it is pulling air out of the stove room like that is just asking for negative pressure issues which can lead to co problems. A woodstove is a space heater if you want a central heater you need to get a wood furnace.

 

[Chadillacgrill]

I am not sure this will be worth the effort. Usually there is only a few degrees difference between the 'hot' room and the 'cold' room, and that few degrees difference more or less almost all disappears by the time it gets to where you want it after passing through much ductwork.

No idea about your existing ductwork & system - can you block off certain registers/vents & run the fan as-is for a test to see what happens? Some seem to do 'OK', but don't think it's much more than 'just OK'.

Also uncertain exactly what you are planning - you mentioned both plumbing the stove into the ductwork, and not plumbing it in. Don't know for sure but am thinking actually plumbing it in might be a no-no.

sorry. I’m typing and taking care of the baby. Hahah. I don’t mean to directly plumb the wood stove. Just make an intake vent in the ceiling about 4 feet out from the insert and force the air from there into the ductwork. It’s a rambler style house and it get excessively hot in the room where the stove is. That’s why I thought I could maybe push some of that to the furnace and use the fan to circulate it around the house.

 

[bholler]

sorry. I’m typing and taking care of the baby. Hahah. I don’t mean to directly plumb the wood stove. Just make an intake vent in the ceiling about 4 feet out from the insert and force the air from there into the ductwork. It’s a rambler style house and it get excessively hot in the room where the stove is. That’s why I thought I could maybe push some of that to the furnace and use the fan to circulate it around the house.

Nope can't do it. It is against code and asking for trouble

 

[Mech e]

sorry. I’m typing and taking care of the baby. Hahah. I don’t mean to directly plumb the wood stove. Just make an intake vent in the ceiling about 4 feet out from the insert and force the air from there into the ductwork. It’s a rambler style house and it get excessively hot in the room where the stove is. That’s why I thought I could maybe push some of that to the furnace and use the fan to circulate it around the house.

I inherited a setup something like you want when I purchased our home 20 years ago. We have an alcove installation and the previous owner installed a register in the ceiling of the alcove. He then ran independent duct work from there to the four bedrooms with an inline blower attached near the register in the alcove. It never worked very well and then bholler and begreen pointed out to me that this was not code so I disabled the system.

I have been thinking about resurrecting it however. If I do, I am going to reverse the flow direction and blow air in above the stove, removing air from the bedrooms. This, in theory, should push warm air from the family room towards the bedrooms. I am still deciding whether or not it is worth the effort.

 

[bholler]

I inherited a setup something like you want when I purchased our home 20 years ago. We have an alcove installation and the previous owner installed a register in the ceiling of the alcove. He then ran independent duct work from there to the four bedrooms with an inline blower attached near the register in the alcove. It never worked very well and then bholler and begreen pointed out to me that this was not code so I disabled the system.

I have been thinking about resurrecting it however. If I do, I am going to reverse the flow direction and blow air in above the stove, removing air from the bedrooms. This, in theory, should push warm air from the family room towards the bedrooms. I am still deciding whether or not it is worth the effort.

Reversing the flow may work well.

 

[maple1]

A ceiling fan in the stove room plus another one or two strategically placed smaller ones blowing cold 'back room' air towards the stove room can work small wonders sometimes.

Moving air around is kind of a catch-22. The faster it moves, the colder it feels - even if it is warmer.

 

[Chadillacgrill]

I inherited a setup something like you want when I purchased our home 20 years ago. We have an alcove installation and the previous owner installed a register in the ceiling of the alcove. He then ran independent duct work from there to the four bedrooms with an inline blower attached near the register in the alcove. It never worked very well and then bholler and begreen pointed out to me that this was not code so I disabled the system.

I have been thinking about resurrecting it however. If I do, I am going to reverse the flow direction and blow air in above the stove, removing air from the bedrooms. This, in theory, should push warm air from the family room towards the bedrooms. I am still deciding whether or not it is worth the effort.

so it would be better to run a duct from farthest room to stove room blowing air back? And say I put another one in the stove room blowinghot air up into the living room upstairs. In theory it would circulate the hot air up....down to farthest room where duct would be. And another fan would push the colder air back down into the stove room? Just wanna make sure I’m reading this correctly.
thanks guys. Haha

 

[Chadillacgrill]

so it would be better to run a duct from farthest room to stove room blowing air back? And say I put another one in the stove room blowinghot air up into the living room upstairs. In theory it would circulate the hot air up....down to farthest room where duct would be. And another fan would push the colder air back down into the stove room? Just wanna make sure I’m reading this correctly.
thanks guys. Haha

or even just gravity fed hot air up into upstairs living room.

 

[begreen]

I have a large wood stove insert upstairs and downstairs but still have some chilly rooms upstairs. I want to mainly heat with the downstairs one because of size of unit and keeping the mess downstairs. I would like to plumb ductwork into central unit to heat all rooms. What would be the smartest way to do this without being able to directly plumb into the wood stove? Where would I need dampers and where would I need booster fans? Any help is appreciated. Thanks guys and gals!

That is not permitted by code. Some stoves even specifically have this in their manuals. If you want to duct heat out to the central hvac then you will need to get a wood furnace instead. You will also need a backdraft damper in the supply plenum.

 

[Sawset]

I inherited a setup something like you want

He then ran independent duct work from there to the four bedrooms

It never worked very well

I have been thinking about resurrecting it however.

I am still deciding whether or not it is worth the effort.

Better kept in the arm chair stage. Homes designed around forced air are sometimes best if left as designed. Point source heaters such as wood stoves or radiators seem to work best if things are kept simple.