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Step 1
Position your wood stove in the proper location. There is no effective way to move warm air upstairs from a basement location. It's best to place your wood stove in a central location on the main floor of the house.
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Step 2
Place fans in areas where the ceilings are high, where warm air collects. If they are bi-directional, have them blowing down rather than pulling air up. Small doorway fans fit in an upper corner of a door facing to draw warm air through to the next room.
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Step 3
Remove the section of the wall between the top of the door and the ceiling, referred to as the transom. It was common for older homes to have hinged transoms for ease in opening and closing them. Removing this section of the wall allows the warm air from the wood stove to flow freely down the hall or in the adjacent room. Trimmed out properly, it looks like the rest of the door framing, but it does require some structural work and knowledge of woodworking.
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Step 4
Think about installing a grille in the transom, with an inline fan and ductwork leading from the wood heated room to the area you want to heat. Boxing in the ductwork makes it look more professional, and a regular bathroom exhaust kit can work for the inline fan.
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Step 5
Visualize the way the natural air currents move around your wood burning stove. Cool air moves across the floor towards the wood stove, encases it and then rises quickly towards the ceiling. It doesn't hover over the stove, though this is where most people think of putting a fan to blow air around the room. The best way to move this heated air is to pull it from the ceiling and direct it to the area that you are trying to heat.
Comments
rweebs said
on 11/7/2009 In this article it says, "There is no effective way to move warm air upstairs from a basement location."
In the article to the left "How Do Wood Burning Stoves Work" it says, "Since heat rises, placing the stove in a basement with vents and fans to the upstairs area is ideal." Maybe the two authors should talk to each other.