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How can I set up a wood stove in a basement that I can connect to my electric HVAC system to utilize the heat from it and use less electricity in the winter? I am assuming some sort of fan set up with a damper? If this is the case if both fans run at the same time will I end up with a lot of air going through the vents causing a whistle in the house? Will this extra pressure do damage to fan motors?
Technically you may be able to set this up, however it is not recommended and I will explain why. Depending on the layout of your HVAC system and the type of wood stove, you can use the blower on the wood stove to supplement the furnace heat. This will require you to duct the wood stove blower pipe to the return side of the furnace if you want both of them to operate together. Usually the blower on most wood stoves is not very powerful so an air “whistle” is not a concern. A potential concern however is that the air going into the return will be much hotter than normal (usually the air is room temperature). This hotter than normal return air could overheat the blower motor or cause the furnace to achieve a high temperature limit. In addition, if the home as a heat pump then the hotter than normal return air could cause issues with the refrigerant pressures if both were operating at the same time. I hope this information helps.
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