Thinking of adding a sheetmetal shroud over the stove with a duct to direct hot air to vents cut in the floor. I’d run the duct along the center beam of the house in the basement where the stove is already. I’m well aware of legalities and insurance concerns. Just looking for others who’ve done this, and their experiences/pictures of setup if they have them.
Does your basement have any partition walls? If not, all you may need are floor registers, and let convection take care of the rest - assuming your house is a single story. If you decide to try it, you can locate and put the registers in as if you were going to duct them, and add the duct work later if it doesn't suit you with just the registers. Either way, you will need a return for the cooler air to get down to the basement so the warm air can rise. That may be as simple as cracking the basement stairs door, but you do need a circular path for air flow.
Have you ever tried having a small fan placed on the floor at the top of the basement stairwell but pointed down the steps, running on low? Cool air is denser then warm, so easier to move around...if you pressurise the basement with cool air, the warm will be pushed up/out. Slow n steady wins the race though...move too much air too fast and it makes the house feel cool/drafty.
We live in an old two story farmhouse with a central staircase, and a woodstove in the biggest room downstairs. If you sit down on the steps on a colder day when the stove is running well, you can feel the cold air on your back, running down the steps just like water would. At just the right spot along the 90-degree landing halfway up, you can feel the warm air stream coming up off the downstairs ceiling and rolling upstairs.
My best buds parents had exactly what you describe. Big old school stove with a sheet metal “plenum” directly over it with a 2x2’ hole in the floor. I can remember his sister standing over the grate, the moving air pushed her nightdress around, unfortunately not enough! This was over 30 years ago and I believe the same set up is still in use.
My ex father in law is off the boat Polish and has the same stove as me, and did what I’m describing like 30 years ago. I redid his kitchen maybe 15 years ago and could feel the warm air coming out of a floor vent
I have often considered cutting some holes in the floor for vents. The only thing stopping me is the hardwood floors would be a difficult to patch back up if I don’t like the results. I do take the door off going down there for the winter months.
Way back in the day it was common for 2nd story to be heated by a big 2x2ft hole in the floor. Had a couple homes like that pure gravity and there always was a door on the second story stairs. Huge old octopus type coal furnace or maybe updated to oil then later to NG. Don't even want to guess what the costs would be at todays fuel prices for winter heat.
