Stove Placement

With difficulty.

A big factor is whether the basement is insulated - if not, it absorbs much of the heat.

Very good question - and I'll be very interested to hear from successful basement burners. Our stove is in the basement (it's where all the hook ups were). We only have a 1100 sf ranch, which seems to be very well insulated. We have 2 grates in the upstairs floor (one in the kitchen; one in the hallway). We installed a wooden screen door in place of the basement door. The stove is directly below the steps, but facing into the enclosed basement room.
We have no problem keep the living area at 70 or 71 when temps are no lower than 20*. But get any lower and we struggle. Also, our bedrooms don't benefit from the rising heat; our home inspector told us that the rooms are each fully insulated (was originally electric baseboard heat), so no heat gets in except thru the doorways.
We are seriously thinking of building another chimney and moving the stove upstairs next year.

Luv2BWarm said:

Very good question - and I'll be very interested to hear from successful basement burners. Our stove is in the basement (it's where all the hook ups were). We only have a 1100 sf ranch, which seems to be very well insulated. We have 2 grates in the upstairs floor (one in the kitchen; one in the hallway). We installed a wooden screen door in place of the basement door. The stove is directly below the steps, but facing into the enclosed basement room.
We have no problem keep the living area at 70 or 71 when temps are no lower than 20*. But get any lower and we struggle. Also, our bedrooms don't benefit from the rising heat; our home inspector told us that the rooms are each fully insulated (was originally electric baseboard heat), so no heat gets in except thru the doorways.
We are seriously thinking of building another chimney and moving the stove upstairs next year.

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Lay a small fan across one of the grates and set it on low. Let it blow the colder air INTO the basement and it has to force warm air either up the stairs or through the other grate to equalize the pressure. I cut a vent hole in my stove room to let heat 'rise' into the bedroom just above it ... no go. Put a fan in the bedroom blowing down and now I get great circulation up the stairs. That and the fan on the floor blowing hallway air into the stove room have made a HUGE difference in the household temps. Didn't realize at the time that it might be against code to cut a hole in the ceiling. Not positive it is but read something here about it.

You probably want to get one of those ducts with a fusable link. They're fire rated. If they get above a certain temperature, a part melts and the louvers snap shut.

I'm planning on putting a stove in our basement next season. Mainly to heat the basement on the weekends and so forth. I think it would also help some with upstairs heat. Heat conducts, so if the basement is 70 instead of 60, then the ceiling will be warmer and the heat will warm the floors. But like I said, it will mainly be for basement heat.

I'm sure that in general, it makes a lot of difference how tight the house is and how well it's insulated.

It doesn't take much air volume at all, just consistent movement. If you pressurize the basement the air down there has to go somewhere. Seems like it would be worth a try for a day before you dismiss it completely.

mine is in the basement of my raised ranch. If I stand in the staircase, I can actually feel the air moving up the staircase. The problem I have is at the top of the staircase, theres a cathedral ceiling. Turn the ceiling fan on low blowing up and were good to go!! We also have a small fan at the end of the hallway blowing from our bedroom towards the catherdral ceiling room. This lets us keep downstairs stoveroom 75, upstairs around 66-67, and bedroom around 62, with temps around 20-25 outside. perfect for sleeping!! Our house once had elec heat, so very well insulated every room. The previous owner installed oil forced hot air, so in the am when the stove is around 200 after a overnight burn, our oil kicks on and brings the upstairs up to 64 so the wife can be "warm" in the AM when shes getting ready for work.

i have one downstairs that i haven't burned until last sunday or monday becaus while my little Jotul was doing a bang up job of keeping the upstairs warm, the downstairs was getting colder (@50) and it was seeping into the upstairs walls and while the air temp would be 75, the wall interior wall the thermostat was on was @ 60 and would start the furnace. also, the uncarpeted floors in the kitchen and bath were starting to get a lot cooler at 57 degrees (IR thermometer). so, i started my basemet pacific summit and have been running it since while opting to let the Jotul go out. the interior walls are 72 and the floors are now 70 degrees. ambient temp is 78.

i have a single story ranch with a full basement with about 1400 sq ft on each floor. i have stairs leading from one end of the house down to the basement where you turn and go down a 20 ft hallway to an open rec room and the stove is at the opposite end of the basement from the stairs. I've used box fans, removed one vent from the system and put a register fan over it to help move the air and used corner fans to help push the air up along the hallway and up the stairs. I'v quit using the fans, reconnected the vents and taken down the corner fans. BY FAR, the best investment i made was a fan to go on the stove when i bought it. by using it, i've quit using all other fans. it circulates the air, bringing the cold air into the stove and convection does the rest. as long as the fan is running and the stove is hot it heats up pretty well. it takes a little while (couple of days) for the heat to run through the house, and get really warm, but its easier once up to temp to maintain it just using the stove fan.

Additionally, my winters here arent that hard. normally 20-30 during the nights and 30-40 durning the days....its been a little warmer lately. however going to be in the 20's tonight with a wind chill.

i know some blow cold air along the floor toward the stove using a box or other type fan. fortunately, i don't need to do that any more and it heats much better letting the stove fan handle it.

hope it helps

cass

My folks setup had the stove downstairs and their was ductwork and a blower pretty much same idea as a forced air furnance, but just using a wood stove to make the heat. My brother has a similar setup as well.

no on the nc13, YES on the 30. Bigger is always better. My downstairs stoveroom I haven't been able to get over 78ish with it 25 outside because all my heat is going upstairs, and the downstairs is only 300sq