Outside air intake

[MossRoad]

Open concept houses aren't that hard to heat with a central stove. However, traditional houses with separate rooms have a hard time doing gravity heating from a centralized stove. You need something like a fan to agitate the air, or some ducts or paths from the basement to the first floor to get good heat circulation.

While hot air rises and cold air sinks, there has to be some way for the two air masses to pass each other on the stairs. It's one of the reasons gravity flow of air doesn't work all that well in less there are two paths; one for hot to go up and one for cold to go down. Think about a furnace with no return air ducts. Doesn't work so well to just have all the return air tumble down the stairs to the return on the side of the furnace in the basement.

 

[atsah]

I grew up in a house with a stove in the cellar, my father put a grate in the first floor and another in second floor. the grates had a shutoff. We also had small low speed fans in a few doorways mounted in the top corner of the doorway.

 

[Rebeldad1]

We put in a wood stove with a direct floor vent thru to the underside of the house.
You dont see anything.
There is a great difference though.
Our last house drew air through the house. When the woodstove was burning there was a draft throughout the house.
With the through the floor vent there is NO draft in the house.

Big difference in heating throughout the house.
Wouldnt do it any other way on the next one.

 

[arrow]

We put in a wood stove with a direct floor vent thru to the underside of the house.
You dont see anything.
There is a great difference though.
Our last house drew air through the house. When the woodstove was burning there was a draft throughout the house.
With the through the floor vent there is NO draft in the house.

Big difference in heating throughout the house.
Wouldnt do it any other way on the next one.

Rebel when you say "direct floor vent" are you referring to combustion air intake and if so, is it attached directly to the stove?

 

[Rebeldad1]

Combustion air intake is drawn up thru the pedestal. A 4" diameter hole was drilled thru the floor to the underhouse crawl space.
Pedestal was set over the hole

 

[Rebeldad1]

Tamarack Wood Stove and Fireplace from Kuma Stoves

 

[Oaktree]

While hot air rises and cold air sinks, there has to be some way for the two air masses to pass each other on the stairs. It's one of the reasons gravity flow of air doesn't work all that well in less there are two paths; one for hot to go up and one for cold to go down. Think about a furnace with no return air ducts. Doesn't work so well to just have all the return air tumble down the stairs to the return on the side of the furnace in the basement.

I notice this much more with the furnace (FHA) than with the woodstove. The air coming out of the ducts just isn't warm enough to overcome that "barrier" at the top of the stairs, the woodstove (free standing, not ducted) gets the air warm enough that it overcomes that and does circulate upstairs, at least somewhat, and enough so the rooms my wife and I use for offices get comfortable. No furnace ducts upstairs, given the construction technique of the house I don't blame whoever installed it for not even trying.
Since the stove is in one corner of the house, we do have a couple fans to circulate...bathroom (opposite corner) doesn't get very warm otherwise.

 

[arrow]

Combustion air intake is drawn up thru the pedestal. A 4" diameter hole was drilled thru the floor to the underhouse crawl space.
Pedestal was set over the hole

Thanks. That's a nice unit.

 

[buickanddeere]

Why I was never a fan of a fireplace. Sure the fire feels good and warms you as you face it but, most of the heat is up the chimney and all the makeup air is pulled in from the outside (cold) air.

Why, back in the day rooms had 2 fireplaces. That way you could be warmed on 2 sides instead of one but the rooms were cold because all the heat was going out the stack.

An open hearth fire place is one thing .An air tight stove or air tight fireplace insert is another .

 

[buickanddeere]

Would have to bore through a brick wall to obtain outside air .