Heat rises. That is how most old farmhouses in the midwest were heated. They had "gravity grates" in the second story floor to let the heat rise easier. And a brick chimney up the middle of the house.
How big is the house?
You can't dump all the heat into the bench and have any left for upstairs. Have you looked at heat bells? You could mount the second and third bell on the second floor and get more heat there.
There are fire code implications in how you do this. Once you go through a floor/ceiling, you need to be insulated with fire stops and chases--makes it all but impossible to capture heat legally if you have a
mortgage or restrictive zoning. If you have a loft and vaulted ceiling, however, you can put the bell out in the vault 6 inches away from the edge of the loft and be legal.
"You must be the change you want to see in the world." "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." --Mahatma Gandhi
"Preach the Gospel always, and if necessary, use words." --Francis of Assisi.
"Family farms work when the whole family works the farm." -- Adam Klaus
