Heating the 20 x 34 two story

[dougpete]

Greetings -

Anybody have thoughts about the best way to heat the 20 x 34 Universal?

Our old house was a single story, not much larger, and we tended to have some mold in the corners of the back rooms.  Was this because the heat did not circulate well or because of poor insulation in the corners?

I would like to start out with wood heat only, but want to avoid a repeat esp with 2nd floor bedrooms.

House will be in the Ozarks, the area the Building Sciences site labels as "Mixed Humid"

DougPete

[MountainDon]

   dougpete

I'd bet that the problem with corner mold had a great deal to do with insufficient insulation and maybe poor air circulation. We had some moisture problems in two back corners of our single story home back home. Luckily we had no mold problem; none visible at least. It was wood heated with a central wood stove. It was built in the 50's and I know it didn't have sufficient insulation. We kept the problem under control with room fans and open interior doors when it was very cold outside.

I've not had any personal experience with trying to heat a 2 story home with only wood heat. Is that what you'd prefer?  What are the choices you would consider?

[Redoverfarm]

Greetings -

Anybody have thoughts about the best way to heat the 20 x 34 Universal?

Our old house was a single story, not much larger, and we tended to have some mold in the corners of the back rooms.  Was this because the heat did not circulate well or because of poor insulation in the corners?

I would like to start out with wood heat only, but want to avoid a repeat esp with 2nd floor bedrooms.

House will be in the Ozarks, the area the Building Sciences site labels as "Mixed Humid"

DougPete

Moisture is the main "menu" so to speak for mold.  Like Don has stated air circulation and insulation is the key.  That is why the majority of the homes have bathroom exhaust fans to remove that moisture from the room.  Depending on the layout of your plans a woodstove would works depending on whether you could circulate the air enough to mix that moist air with heated.  You could install floor registers to the rooms(loft) to except air from the downstairs (woodstove area) and then return the colder air back to the dowstairs with either a return air chase or open floor plan.  

Oh Yea I almost forgot