Basement Englander install

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suzannegale

New Member
Oct 11, 2008
29
Central NH
I'm looking for feedback on the type of install I want to do. I've read that basement installs aren't recommended to heat the entire home. Mine is a 1893 New Englander with 1600 sq ft, 2 floors, basement and attic. I have an oil-fired forced hot air system. I have hired a chimney company to drop a liner in my chimney next to the one for my oil furnace. This meets code and there is room to do it. This will hook the Englander stove to my forced hot air system - I wanted to use the existing system.

So, I won't trying be trying to heat the whole house with a traditional basement install - this install will push the heat through my forced hot air system, which is a high quality system - I have grates in every room and the oil heat worked great. The stove will be next to the forced hot air system, though not too close for code reasons. So, my question is whether this will be sufficient to heat the house. Thanks for any feedback or like experience anyone can offer.
 
I have not heard a lot of success stories with folks hooking pellet stoves up to their existing ductwork. Pellet furnace, yes, but not a stove. I'd say generally speaking the distribution blower is not going to be powerful enough to move the heat in that way.
I have a little experiment in my basement where I hooked up some ductwork to my Harmon P61 to redirect the flow of the heat. I'm only going through about 12 feet of ductwork and my results are still not terrific. The heat gets there, but doesn't come out with much force on the other end.
You could try adding some booster fans and such things, but then you might start cooling the air and doing more harm than good.

It is likely that your oil furnace is probably rated at least double the BTUs of the stove you are considering, and i'm sure fan on it is in another league as well.

Not say it won't work, but i'd be very surprised if your results were satisfactory.
 
Well, I decided to continue with my original plan because it is not the only heat source & I want to take advantage of my forced hot air venting. I have installers coming tomorrow - yay! They are a chimney installation company & will be snaking a separate steel pipe up the chimney - it's a big chimney so there is room for the oil furnace pipe and a separate pellet stove pipe.

I'll come back in a few days, as there is a cold weather snap this week, to report on the results. Thanks to those who responded, even if it was discouraging to hear that this is not the most effective install. Hindsight is 20-20, I would have bought a biomass furnace had I read this site before buying a stove. but, I have 6 tons of pellets and got a good financing deal - no interest for a year. Bought a hot water heater from Lowe's that way last year and made sure to pay it off in time.

BTW, Mike Holton, my BF is currently listening to your instructional DVD - wasn't expecting the thick Southern accent, ha. Pegged you for a northeasterner.
 
Like mkmh said, haven't heard any success stories
about this type of install but it's your money. With
installation prices being what they are I think it's
a mistake.
To get the full potential out of a pellet stove you must install
it in the area of your home where you spend the most time.
Much luck to you.
 
coldinnh said:
BTW, Mike Holton, my BF is currently listening to your instructional DVD - wasn't expecting the thick Southern accent, ha. Pegged you for a northeasterner.
Click to expand...


heck i even type with a drawl :) , actually a misconception that we are located in "new england" is not true , we are located in Monroe Virginia near Lynchburg. the company's name comes from its founder Robert Summers England, actually the "summers heat" brand name was a play off his middle name as in "Summer's heat" as Englander is a play off his last name. not the geographical area. i actually am quite proud of how that video came out i hope you find it educational and helpful, dont misplace it as there are many helpful procedures in it that could be useful down the road when it comes time to change gaskets and such.
 
I've read a couple of stories on here, but not from anyone who had an actual install like this, so it's difficult to judge.
 
Let us know how it turns out, good or bad, feed back is good here.
 
Good luck and keep us posted with some pictures.

Eric
 
I will report back with the results - hopefully, they will be good!

So, a completely unrelated question . . . prebuying 6 tons of pellet makes me one of those Pellet Pigs, yes? Is there a story behind that? I just though it made sense to stock up.
 
One of the Bi-Laws of being a Pellet Pig is to buy and horde so others can not have. Please remember not to post or brag on where you get your pellets (unless it is Kinsman or Brookfield Stoves) because that might let them stay on the shelf longer so you can go get more.

Eric
 
kinsman stoves said:
One of the Bi-Laws of being a Pellet Pig is to buy and horde so others can not have. Please remember not to post or brag on where you get your pellets (unless it is Kinsman or Brookfield Stoves) because that might let them stay on the shelf longer so you can go get more.

Eric
Click to expand...

Ha, that's funny. Probably not so funny if you're out of pellets.
 
I think you'll be disapointed with the results. You'll have to burn a lot of pellets to get any satisfactory results. If I were going to do this, I'd build a large hood over/around the stove and connect it to the ductwork.
 
A good Pellet Pig would never be without pellets because Pig's plan ahead. I know this is a shocker to some people but if you are scrambling to get pellets right now you are out of the running to EVER become a true Pellet Pig.

I know I have only been around 39 summers but after the first few I learned that when summer is over it will be cold. When it gets cold you need to stay warm. Body heat only goes so far.

Just my thought
Eric
 
I have a basement install with an Englander 25PDV. I'm having great luck heating my 1800 sf raised ranch. Downstairs(finished) temp is around 78-80, upstairs 72-74 in living space, 68 in the bedrooms. I also cut a couple holes in the floor and installed two booster fans that really seem to move the heat around. http://www.atrendyhome.com/durebofan.html I turn the stove down to 1 or 2 during the day when everyone's at work and school, then turn it up for a couple hours to get the chill off. Going through about 1 bag of pellets a day doing this. I'm saving so much money and soooo much warmer then I was with the electric baseboard heat.
 

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Good for you. This being installed in a "finished" basement is the key.

Eric
 
Couple of very cold and windy days/nights to test things
so how is it working out for you?
 
Greetings all,
New to the forum as a user but been lurkin since I put my stove in this September (great site for info).
I too have a stove in the basement, which is finished. I'm fortunate to have a 10" x 20" return in the ceiling just over top of the stove and I have set my furnace fan to run constantly on low speed and it goes to high when (oops if ) the furnace calls.
I am in the 80's downstairs, which is the rec room and around 68 upstairs while it is 15 - 20 deg. F. outside. The cold air return could be a little bigger to work more efficiently but so far its been working good.
Oh and I'm using an Enviro EF3. Thought I'd throw my pennies in over this one ;)
 
Zeta,

Very cold and windy nights! Haven't had the chance to test, as I'm waiting for an electrician to come over and fix my basement hookup - there is electricity down there but it's not functioning & I want to have an expert come over & check it out.

I think it will be fine - I have an old New Englander with the tall ceilings - the floors are always cold, so I'm looking forward to warm floors, at least on the first floor. I keep the temperature at 59 now with the oil,cause I'm cheap & it's colder than tht upstairs. We've been used to sleeping with several blankets & wearing sweaters, so this should be a nice upgrade in temps. I'm not looking to have it be 72 throughout the house - it would be too much of a bodyshock. 65 on the first floor would be fine and dandy.

I'll post back after we get the electricity addressed and the stove is up and running.
 
With today's oil prices, it's going to be significantly cheaper to heat your house with oil than it will burning pellets in an uninsulated basement!
 
It's going to be trial and error this first year - we may buy a smaller stove for the upstairs if needed. The basement is partially insulated and we'll be fortifying that too. And it won't be hooked to the duct work - we're cutting holes in the floors of the two rooms right above the placement of the stove - I have extra grates in the basement to use as a cover. Even though it won't heat the whole house, we are used to very cold floors and chilly (and cheap!) controlled temps of 59 degrees, so I think the additional heat will be very welcome.
 
Just my 2 cents. Wouldnt it be less hassle at least to install the unit on the first floor? If your basement is unfinished, your wasting a lot of heat down there even if it is insulated. I have mine on the first floor and just installed a digital thermostat on it. I set the thermostat at 70 and my house stays very warm including the floor. If your worrying about saving money I would suggest moving it upstairs and don't worry about the second stove. You'll be burning twice as much. Either that or sell your current stove and buy a stove that will hook into your duct work. Cutting more vents in your floor just seems a little much. I dunno though good luck!!! :cheese:
 
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