Ceiling Fans Blowing Up or Down In Room With Wood Stove?

[WinterDeere]

I was watching a YouTube video yesterday that was showing an centuries old townhouse in London. One of the things that caught my eye was they had built a thin, wood paneling over the opening for the stairs on of the floors. The panel had two doors, one for going up a level and the other was for going down stairs. I think they did this for noise but also to keep the warm air in the room(s) on that floor instead of going up the stairwell to the next floor.

Our house was built in 4 phases starting 1734, and has a door on each and every one of our several staircases. I honestly don't know how I'd live in a house without this feature, as they isolate noise in addition to controlling heat flow.

More interesting than their existence, is the wear imposed on them by past inhabitants. There was apparently a very determined mouse, trying to get thru this door into the 1775 kitchen at some point, before the kitchen was relocated to a new addition ca.1896.



This 1775 kitchen is now my home office, and that door is what keeps me somewhat separated from the noise of kids and family during the work day. The older 1734 kitchen is directly below, and is now our tiny billiards room.

 

[dodge man]

I’m also up in the winter and down in the summer.

 

[MossRoad]

I honestly think the situation can be different for lots of scenarios. I am looking for what you do and why, also, I'd like to get your opinion on my scenario. Here is my situation. The room our wood stove is going to go in is 12x25 with a vaulted ceiling about 12' at the peak. The wood stove will be almost centered on that tall wall. To the left of the stove about 10 feet is our kitchen that is an open wall with a cabinet and counter in about 2/3rds of it. There is a ceiling fan on both sides of the room with the woodstove almost centered between them but a couple feet closer the left side. My goal is to get as much of that heat to rest of the house, past the kitchen as possible. So the heat will convect up above the stove, part of my thinking is if I put the fans on a low blow it will set up a nice convection current, creating some good mixing. My other thought is if I put them blowing up then that air would move along the ceiing, hit the wall and follow it down where it would hit the counter and bounce towards the kitchen. Does it matter? Am i just going to have to experiment when I get it in and see which works best?

Whatever you decide to do, just remember that after running the fan in one direction for 6 months, stop it and dust the blades off before you reverse directions, or you'll get dust bunnies galore falling off the now trailing edge of the blades. Ask how we know.

 

[Milo]

Once the living room is comfortable I have the ceiling fan on gently moving air up and the thermostat set to "fan on" which runs the air handler at slow speed to circulate the heat throughout my small 2-story house. Note the return above the stove.

 

[ponytug]

Reminds me of a Norwegian firewood debate on bark up or bark down on splits for optimal drying...

 

[deezler]

We blow down year round. Mostly due to being too lazy to get a ladder and flip the switch, haha.

But in my mind it makes sense, I want to blow warm(er) air down and soak it into the floor and furniture. It doesn't feel great to have a wind chill when you sit on the couch, but honestly once my wife has our wood stove on full boil, I am in a t-shirt and enjoy the minor cool off.

 

[ruffdog]

We use the ceiling fans blowing down in the winter to dry laundry on racks. It saves on energy and adds much needed moisture in the house.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Whatever you decide to do, just remember that after running the fan in one direction for 6 months, stop it and dust the blades off before you reverse directions, or you'll get dust bunnies galore falling off the now trailing edge of the blades. Ask how we know.

THAT IS SOME GOLD RIGHT THERE!! Now lets hope I remember!!

Once the living room is comfortable I have the ceiling fan on gently moving air up and the thermostat set to "fan on" which runs the air handler at slow speed to circulate the heat throughout my small 2-story house. Note the return above the stove.

I wish we could of had a return above the stove. Our new addition has mini splits. But I will still try to run the fan over in the old half to see if it draws it over there.

We use the ceiling fans blowing down in the winter to dry laundry on racks. It saves on energy and adds much needed moisture in the house.

I might have to buy the wife a couple drying racks.

 

[WinterDeere]

I wish we could of had a return above the stove.

Almost never works as folks imagine it should. The trouble is that most houses have insulated ductwork running thru unconditioned space, with an air handler also in a cooler basement or attic, and it's sucking in air that's only maybe 80 - 85F from the ceiling above the stove.

The losses going thru the cold ductwork are enough that the air blowing out the other end is too cool. These systems were designed to be pulling hot air off of a furnace or heat pump at much higher temperatures, such that losing 10F or more in the ductwork and air handler isn't such a problem.

If you happen to design your own house and place all ductwork and air handler inside the insulated envelope, then of course it can work, and I know at least two people who did exactly this. But in any house you didn't design specifically for this purpose, it's usually a losing battle.

 

[tracter]

Do not forget to install a smoke detector near the fire , not directly above