Interesting discovery with woodstove and fan pointed in front of it

[joshuabardwell]

I am no expert on HVAC systems but I know that blocking vents or intakes can make the system work harder.

We do have a heat pump, and I believe it came with the house, but I don't know what the house's HVAC ducting was originally designed for. The house is a log home, and I believe it was a kit, so if that's true, it stands to reason the ducting (if it was included) may not have been designed for a pump. What we find is that, during the summer, the upstairs and loft get so much hotter than the rest of the house that the AC can't keep up. Part of the problem is that it is single-zone, and the thermostat is on the middle floor. There can be a ten-degree difference between the loft and the middle floor. We figured, by blocking off all registers on the middle floor, more air will be forced to the upstairs and the AC will run longer because the middle floor (and thermostat) will take longer to come to temperature. It worked out pretty well; now there is only a few degree difference between the floors. It really made a difference in last year's hot, hot summer.

 

[tractchores]

Definitely works well, I use a fan on my wood stove (usually blowing on the back of it). I watch the temp as I don't want to cool the flu to much (causing excess deposits), but it works wonders VS just letting it heat up naturally