Static air advice

[davids]

We've got a static air problem.


Our stove is a large Pacific Energy stove supposed to heat 3000 SF. located downstairs in the family room as close to center of the house as we can get.

The stove works GREAT heating the living room, family room, 1 bedroom, and the entire upstairs. Actually the upstairs is to warm.

We have a downstairs wall that runs the length of the house with ONLY one doorway into the dining room. I can walk from the living room into the dining room and it's like walking into another house, it's WAY to cool.

I've tried using a small fan sitting on the floor blowing toward the stove and I gain about 1 degree by doing this.

We had EXTRA insulation blown in the attic, good windows, etc. couldn't be insulated much better.

I think we need to do one of the following but ain't sure.

1) put a register in each end of the house, in the wall at ceiling height.

2) or put a register in the ceiling at one end of the house to the upstairs.

3) I don't think we need a fan

Any suggestions here?

thanks in advance!

 

[greenskeeper]

I'm visualizing here but what I would do is install a through the wall fan at the point opposite from the door to the dining room. Set the fan to blow from the cold side to the hot side. If you already have an electrical outlet nearby you can extended the circuit to the fan.

 

[davids]

I'm visualizing here but what I would do is install a through the wall fan at the point opposite from the door to the dining room. Set the fan to blow from the cold side to the hot side. If you already have an electrical outlet nearby you can extended the circuit to the fan.

Thanks for your reply.
a pic is worth a 1000 words, here's the floorplan for down stairs.

 

[greenskeeper]

That's tough with a 2nd floor. My first house was a rancher and I was able to run a blower system in the attic taking the hot air directly above the stove and sending it to each room.

That being said, do you have central air? Could you try running the system on fan only to move air around?

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

That's tough with a 2nd floor. My first house was a rancher and I was able to run a blower system in the attic taking the hot air directly above the stove and sending it to each room.

That being said, do you have central air? Could you try running the system on fan only to move air around?

I have plans to do that, when it's -25* the back of my house only gets to 65* or so.

 

[blades]

using the central air seldom works. One thing is that the lines almost always are not insulated. These lines running through an unfinished basement lose most of their heat in the transfer. That is the one thing I never could understand you buy a 96% efficient furnace and then run the output through un-insulated lines to distribute the heat generated. Self defeating I think. I have been in brand new energy efficient homes- un-insulated furnace hot lines , I just do not understand.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

using the central air seldom works. One thing is that the lines almost always are not insulated. These lines running through an unfinished basement lose most of their heat in the transfer. That is the one thing I never could understand you buy a 96% efficient furnace and then run the output through un-insulated lines to distribute the heat generated. Self defeating I think. I have been in brand new energy efficient homes- un-insulated furnace hot lines , I just do not understand.

Need to heat the basement too.

 

[davids]

That's tough with a 2nd floor. My first house was a rancher and I was able to run a blower system in the attic taking the hot air directly above the stove and sending it to each room.

That being said, do you have central air? Could you try running the system on fan only to move air around?

yes, we have central air, but don't think that will work to much heat loss thru the duct work. I'm thinking a wall register at ceiling height in the master bedroom and one in the bathroom. Hoping to create circulation before the heat goes upstairs.

 

[farmer steve]

here is a link to a door way fan that mounts in the upper corner of a doorway to mo air. i haven.t bought one yet myself but it may help with you problem @davids . sold by lowes but you may be able to find one online. https://www.lowes.com/pd/SUNCOURT-Entree-Air-5-25-in-Brown-Plastic-Door-Frame-Fan/3383738









2

 

[davids]

here is a link to a door way fan that mounts in the upper corner of a doorway to mo air. i haven.t bought one yet myself but it may help with you problem @davids . sold by lowes but you may be able to find one online. https://www.lowes.com/pd/SUNCOURT-Entree-Air-5-25-in-Brown-Plastic-Door-Frame-Fan/3383738









2

thx for your input Steve I'll for sure keep that in mind. We're currently using a small fan about the same size sitting in the floor of the dining room blowing into the living room toward the stove. We've gained 1 degree by doing this however, it's at floor level. I just can't see how we can circulate without putting another register in though. It seems it would be similar to having a piping system with a suction and discharge. The single dining room door is the only means by which air can currently circulate, and it's like a "cold air" wall walking from the living room into the dining room.

 

[farmer steve]

thx for your input Steve I'll for sure keep that in mind. We're currently using a small fan about the same size sitting in the floor of the dining room blowing into the living room toward the stove. We've gained 1 degree by doing this however, it's at floor level. I just can't see how we can circulate without putting another register in though. It seems it would be similar to having a piping system with a suction and discharge. The single dining room door is the only means by which air can currently circulate, and it's like a "cold air" wall walking from the living room into the dining room.

moving hot air in at the top will push cold air out at the bottom.it may take a little while for things to even out. cold air sinks and should move into your stove room. do you have a fan on your stove?

 

[davids]

moving hot air in at the top will push cold air out at the bottom.it may take a little while for things to even out. cold air sinks and should move into your stove room. do you have a fan on your stove?

yes we have a fan on the wood stove. I am also considering cutting the transom out above the dining room door, allowing more warm air into. We'll try the fan on top as well.

 

[greenskeeper]

yes, we have central air, but don't think that will work to much heat loss thru the duct work. I'm thinking a wall register at ceiling height in the master bedroom and one in the bathroom. Hoping to create circulation before the heat goes upstairs.

try running the air in fan only just to see what happens.

 

[davids]

tried recirculating w/ the central air but, don't get good results. haven't tried the fan in the top of the doorway yet though

 

[farmer steve]

tried recirculating w/ the central air but, don't get good results. haven't tried the fan in the top of the doorway yet though

you may have to play with air return vents and registers in the stove room and the cold room. hard to explain without knowing returns and vents on you a/c system.

 

[Deleted member 116684]

I have to get my air from the den with the stove to the other side fo the house. Moving air with a doorway fan blowing hot air away from the stove and a small fan blowing cold air to the stove woks good, except for the noise. A transom will help as well if you can catch the air before it goes up. It won't work if the hot air isn't pooling up on one side. I'd like to do a transom at some point but Don't want to disturb the lead paint I know is under the sheetrock. Or maybe I should say my better half doesn't want to...

 

[kingOFgEEEks]

If you go the route of adding vents, maybe add one at the top, and one at the bottom, to allow more circulation? Just an idea.

 

[TimberWolf530]

Full basement? I would consider moving the stove to the basement, and installing registers in the floor, and also in the ceiling to get the air to the 2nd floor. Then I would install a return from the 2nd floor back to the basement with a duct fan in it, maybe one on each side of the house depending on the size. Since heat rises, convection will do most of the work for you, pushing the hot air up. If you put a return from the second floor back down to the basement, it should move the air pretty good, and you'll have uniform warmth on all floors. You can close registers in individual rooms to cool them.

 

[davids]

you may have to play with air return vents and registers in the stove room and the cold room. hard to explain without knowing returns and vents on you a/c system.

well I found the temporary fix.
I used the temperature sensor for our outdoor thermometer and placed it atop of the ceiling fans to determine ceiling temps, and they were running from 78-81 degrees in the living room and family room.
Then I took a small Honeywell 8" fan sit it atop of the armoire about 6' from the floor, directed it toward the dining room doorway, turned it on low and bingo that worked. Temperatures in the dining room have risen 6 degrees or 72 degrees.

I think the next thing we'll try is a doorway fan closest to the woodstove and directed toward the dining room doorway. Then hang the fan from the dining room doorway blowing toward the kitchen. If this works better for heating the kitchen then we'll try a wall register fan mounted in the transom of the dining room. We'll gain another 18" or so in elevation with a transom fan.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys.

 

[davids]

I have to get my air from the den with the stove to the other side fo the house. Moving air with a doorway fan blowing hot air away from the stove and a small fan blowing cold air to the stove woks good, except for the noise. A transom will help as well if you can catch the air before it goes up. It won't work if the hot air isn't pooling up on one side. I'd like to do a transom at some point but Don't want to disturb the lead paint I know is under the sheetrock. Or maybe I should say my better half doesn't want to...

Thanks for your input! The fans are working great and I'll probably install a wall mounted transom fan. Most of us old farts survived the lead paint era just fine, wouldn't let that deter me from doing an install.