I am a forester and I get free firewood. Lots of it. So I am going to pay for a nice soapstone wood stove that will be a primary source of heat. We also have an insulated slab, pure south sun and good glass on the south and west. I want to use an HVAC for backup heat and I want to use the fan to move heat from near the wood stove to the upstairs. The HVAC contractor wants my return on the second floor, but that kills using it to move air. We will also have a HRV. The HVAC contractor says putting the return downstairs, near the heater, will make it noisy. I live in Lake Tahoe and I pay less the $30 per month for heating in a very poorly insulated and very drafty house. I hate paying a lot for a heating system because I dont pay much for heat.

How about a dedicated duct + fan to move the stove heat and then electric duct heater + electric baseboard heaters for backup? You might also find that a lot of heat rises to the upstairs even without a duct or fan.

As jonr suggests a dedicated duct & fan - you might also want a reversable fan! I built a modified "A" frame in 1978 with the master in the loft and I had to install a ceiling fan in the great room just to blow the heat down out of the loft.

Thats an interesting solution, we are going to install a gas HVAC for resale, the next person probably will not have the same access to wood, but the dedicated duct and fan solves this issue. I do agree heat will move to the upstairs, but we are planning for the day when our daughter no longer wants to open her door. Could the dedicated fan tie into the ducts for the HVAC.

'couple more things to consider...

 

A soapstone stove is a good heat source, but only provides radiant heat; they don't provide any convection heat. I'm not sure if a fan of any sort will pull alot of radiant heat to another part of the house. In other words, heated air will only be marginally produced by the type of stove you are considering. Radiant heat does work best in some situations. But a convection type heater will work much better in the application you have described.

The reason a convecton heater will work better is due to the fact that hot air will be produced, and hot air can be moved around quite easily. Radiant heat will not deviate from a straight, line of site, path. Stand in the sunlight, feel the heat on an otherwise cool day. Now walk around the corner into the shade...heat dissapears. A fan, no matter how big, will only blow  cold air from the sunny side into the shaded area.

 

I like wood stoves, and am very familiar with most manufacturers. There are lots of choices out there. Do a little more research before you decide on a soapstone stove. They are more expensive, and contrary to a common belief, they don't heat any better than any  cast or steel radiant stove. "But they are still warm, hours after the fire goes out" ... That's 'cause you had to wait for the stove to get hot when you built a fire, the soapstone absorbs the heat, stores it, then releases it after the fire has gone out. No 'free heat' there. It took a lot longer to get the house up to comfortable temp at the begining of the cycle.

My own house is a two story house with the kids' rooms upstairs. They have their windows open all winter cause it gets too hot for them up there. We have no ducting or hvac to move the heat. The stove is a convection style heater, the hot air goes UP; you cannot stop it!

 

Good luck with the project, and if you want my $.02 worth, get other opinions here, and tell your hvac guy that he will put the return air wherever you want it!

 

Mark