Ducting Systems and Air Ventilation - Fireplace hot air circulation

So here it is....my wood burning stove insert is in my kitchen and has built in fans. I also have a ceiling fan in the kitchen. My bedrooms are at the opposite side of the house (ranch). 2 of 3 bedrooms also have ceiling fans. My gas forced hot air return is in the den between the kitchen and bedrooms. During the winter with my stove on and all fans going my kitchen could be at 78, den at 72 and bedrooms at 62!

How to I get the hot air from the kitchen to the bedrooms?...

I tried keeping the hot air furnace fan on but the return is not near the stove therefore I am not pulling the hotest air into the return. I also put a thru the wall fan (200 cfm) between the den and hallway to the bedrooms. That is not powerfull enough.

Here are a few ideas I have (easiest/cheapest case senario first). Let me know what you think or if you have a better idea.

1) Put a more powerfull thru the wall fan (400+ cfm) between
the den and bedroom hallway.

2) Put a return over fireplace. Run 15' of 8" insulated flex duct from the fireplace return to the furnace return. Additionaly add an inline fan with a toggle switch to control the amount of fireplace hot air being directed into the furnace return. Keep the furnance fan on all times to circulate air to all registers throught the house.

3) Put a return over fireplace. Run 30' of 8" insulated flex duct from the fireplace return to a 3 way spliter. Off each split would be about 8' of reduced 4" or 6" insulated flex duct going to registers in the ceiling of each of the bedrooms. Additionaly the 8" duct will have an inline fan with a toggle switch to control the fireplace hot air being directed into the bedroom registers. *no need to keep furnace fan on*

If any of this sounds good or bad please let me know. Thanks.

I think the best thing you could do is to run your furnace fan 24-7.

I tried that but no luck. The hot air still doesn't circulate to the bedrooms. I have a weather station in the kitchen, den and bedroom and like I said there is a good 10 degrees difference from the kitchen and the bedrooms! My wife isn't too happy about that. And my ranch is only about 1600 sq ft.

I just ordered a Broan 510, 380 cfm, room to room fan to replace the Suncourt Model TW208P ThruWall Fan, 200 cfm. The Suncourt fan seems like it is a 40 cfm! We will see what difference that will make. I can always return it. I am also going to be putting a ceiling fan in the den eventually.

My hall to my bedrooms is an L shape. The one side being the side that seperates the den from the hall. That is where I have the thru the wall fan mounted up close to the ceiling. I was thinking about blowing that wall out and making it a 1/2 wall but we kind of like the privacy and separation from the den and the bedrooms. It would open up the floor plan a bit though. That may be an option. But a bit silly just for heat circulation reasons. It also has to look good.

10 degress from one side of the home to the other with fan running 24/7, does not sound right. Maybe you have air flow issues with the duct.

My duct work is all good because when I run the ac all rooms stay relatively close in temp. I am thinking that it may have to do with my duct work being in my slab? By the time the warm air travels through my duct work it may cool significantly especially in the dead of winter when the ground is quite cold. At least when the furnance is actually heating the house the air temp is hot and still a good temp by the time it reaches the bedrooms.
I will see how this new room to room fan works and maybe run that with the 2 bedroom ceiling fans, the kitchen ceiling fan, and the furnace fan! If that doesn't work than what will?!...I might as well pay for the gas to heat my house instead of using the wood stove because my electric bill is going to be higher than the gas bill!

Placing a return over a fireplace isn't a good idea. You could potentially depressurize the room, causing a weak fire, or backdrafting. Also with the potential to draw in co2. Alot of people have luck with taking a box fan, or such and blowing the air out of the room they are trying to heat towards the heater. This allows for air to be brought in to make up the air coming out. Its one of the biggest complaints of people with stoves or inserts. Thats why we burn with a wood furnace to heat the whole home. If all said and done why not supplement with a small electric heater?