Anyone with a Castle Serenity or TimberRidge?

I don't think so. But We got my buddies if you really must to see it. Hint: He likes beer!!

 

Let me know and I'll ask for ya. But be careful, You might like it!!

 

The EP would be my stove of choice.

I like them all, but the heat exchanger is a large part of the stove.

The IP looks nice, but has an exchange system similar to the units (small box/surrounded by a large box)

 

You'll get heat, But ya get more with a higher efficient heat exchanger....... The heat exchanger is the heart of the stove, The more efficient the more heat you extract and send into the room, Less out the vent. It will improve your fuel mileage too!!

Moving heat upstairs is tricky if the area isn't open. Using a box fan and moving the cooler air down to the stove will help convection. The colder it gets the harder it is to move the heat. If you really want the house to be warm in every room, You might want to think pellet furnace. If you don't mind cool spots a stove or 2 will do.

What type and size of furnace does the house currently have?

 

For the most part pellet stoves are space heaters and they heat the room they are in rather well. Its when you need to move it around the fun starts. Its still going to be iffy moving the heat back to the other rooms. How tough it will be to get it to move? Is not a given and Your going to need to experiment with fans to get the heat to move where you need it!!

Some of the stoves I see have very similar features, But they will have higher price tags as you move up. I can recommend a stove that might be close, But I will need the square footage of the house. I will also suggest to go slightly larger because as it gets colder, Heat loss increases. Otherwise you'll need to use the current furnace to assist. Slightly over sizing can reduce the risk of over working the stove!!

To start with the heat exchanges I prefer are in the Enerzone/Drolet/Harman/Enviro/Vista Flame and a few others!

I have a similar set up, But my stove had to be in the basement. Adding ducting to every room was the best way I found to distribute the heat evenly to the dwelling. The furnace or a larger stove that excepts ducting will most likely give you the most even heating!!

 

A 5o to 60K BTU stove should be close. Depending on where you put it!

No, I don't dare show this to anyone. Pretty ugly. But its because I didn't have duct work installed. The previous owner had holes cut in the floor and floor registers. I had to make my own duct from 10"- 8"- and 6"sections and connect it to where the existing holes were. Looks like an octopus hanging from my basement ceiling! I have a stove and my stove was NOT designed for ducting to be installed to it. I made my own plenum and modded my stove to resemble a furnace! eeek!

Yes, But your better off doing it right the first time. There has to be a way, You just need to investigate and possibly do the work yourself. Might be able to save if you find a used furnace or stove that excepts duct work. The Drolet eco 65 and Enviro Maxx both have duct options. But will still heat the basement. To warm the basement and heat the upstairs only the furnace is the way to go. St Croix had the revolution. There are a few others as well. I like the Endurance and there are more of them out there. Seem to be dependable!!

When my stove wears out I too will be adding the furnace to do the heating choir. But its gonna be a while!

 

If I had to do my furnace ductwork over again, I would add more registers to the back side of the house, and let that hit air naturally "return" throughout the house. By putting the hot air at one end (opposite of where you basement door is) it will have to travel through the house, to get back downstairs. Unless you install a cold air return.

I have a wood stove in my basement as well, so I opted not to use a cold air return. But rather use my basement door/steps as the return. That means I also have to heat my basement (added sq footage), but I don't mind, because of the wood eater.



Is there a place that is centrally located that you can install a free standing stove upstairs? My Enerzone can easily heat my entire home on its own, but with 2 small kids, it's easier to for me to run the furnace when it gets below 32° . It allows me to keep their doors closed and heat is blown directly into their rooms via the ductwork. Above 32° we use the Enerzone upstairs.

I also installed through the wall fans, so in the event that the furnace is down, or I am to lazy to go downstairs, I can turn on these fans, and still heat the rooms, while still having the doors closed. We are a doors closed at night family.

If you need pics or info on the through the wall fans? I can supply those later tonight.

Also, as Jay suggested, the Drolet Eco-65/Enerzone Euromax, or Enviro Maxx have a ducting kit. This allows 2 ducts (4"?/5"?)to be ran to other locations in the house, while still having around 30%-40% of the heated air still come out of the front of the stove, and the other 60%-70% supplied to the 2 ducts.

You could probably stop kit those 2 ducts into two ducts (total of 4). The airflow would be reduced, but more areas would get heat. Check with the manual before taking that as truth though.

Here are 2 pics (not mine/Google image search).