Mod. House for Wood Heat?

Now THAT is a great idea, putting a ceiling fan at the top of the stairs! I truly hate the light fixture up there - it's original to the house (1965) and looks like three upside down wineglasses with different length stems. A ceiling fan would be just dandy!

Our house is 2 story and square. We mounted a small fan to the ceiling in the corner behind the wood stove,and another to the ceiling going into the kitchen from the heater room. It works really well, and surprisingly it moves the heat better thn the ceiling fan. All they are is the little personal fans as it doesn't take much to move the heat. Our stairs are in the corner oppsite the heater so heat goes up cool air comes down. Hope this helps Tamsam

Our house is 2 story and square. We mounted a small fan to the ceiling in the corner behind the wood stove,and another to the ceiling going into the kitchen from the heater room. It works really well, and surprisingly it moves the heat better than the ceiling fan. All they are is the little personal fans as it doesn't take much to move the heat. Our stairs are in the corner oppsite the heater so heat goes up cool air comes down. Hope this helps Tamsam

How cold is it actually in their bedrooms? Did you know it's better to sleep with cooler air? The bedrooms may warm up a bit after 3-4 days of burning. The floor registers are a good idea. Our upstairs gets way too hot for me to sleep there. It's perfect for hubby, a California boy who grew up with an electric blankey. BY the way, I think you set your "sleep heat point" as a kid, I grew up having the window wide all year, and I sleep plenty warm. Hubby with the electric blankey always complains of being cold(despite all the tricks to warm him up), my boys sleep in a cool room too and they are little hot potatoes as well like me.

I'm with Cabin one wood burner per flue and never two appliances vented on different levels of any type. I know it usually works OK to cheat but the laws changed as people died. Not that current codes are perfect, people still die and laws still change.

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Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup........

We owned a house years ago that had a wood burner in the basement. The previous owners cut holes and installed the large registers like CF mentioned. They were in every upstairs room and quite a bit of heat gravitated upward.

On using one "chimney" for two appliances....If your house is insured you may want to check that out. I'd be surprised if it wouldn't void your insurance. Most building codes don't allow it.

One of the biggest factors in even heat distribution with single point heating is making sure your house is properly insulated and weather sealed, that allows the heat to creep as far as possible before being "diluted", and the cost is always a good investment. Otherwise I think simple through floor venting would help a lot (I am always a fan of passive circulation). It may be enough to set up a convection circle. Just try to set it up in a circular fashion, so the hot air can rise as easily as possible and the cold air can fall as easily as possible. If it works out just right, it may even feel like the hot air is "blowing" through the vents upstairs. Someone mentioned a ceiling fan at the top of the stairs, I think that my mess up your convection circle, and just use more electricity.