question about clearance

We have an extra flu in our basement, and are thinking of putting in a wood stove. But the center of the flu is only 21 inches from the propane forced hot air system we have, which does heating and cooling. We aren't using the system right now because we are heating with the pellet stove instead. I'm wondering if putting a wood stove in there would damage the forced hot air system or not, or if it is considered "combustible". I don't think it is, but would the heat from a wood stove right next to the furnace pose a problem?

Thanks so much.

Thanks for your reply. I was reading that no more than 2 turns in the stove pipe is recommended. Is there any danger with a 3 foot stove pipe going laterally before it hits the chimney? It might make better sense for the stove to be way out in front of the chimney from a heat flow perspective, because going laterally would put the stove in an alcove of sorts.

Thanks again

In the attached photo you can see the stove flu with a towel stuffed in and the furnace to the left. Everything else is just storage (i.e. - no other fireplace or washer/dryer hookup). You can see the wall coming out to the right. This alcove is off to the right of the rest of the large area of the basement at the far end of the basement pretty far from the basement steps.

Our goal for this stove is to be emergency back up heat in the event of a prolonged power outage but it would be great if we could also use it as supplemental heat in the coldest months in addition to our pellet insert in the main living area.

Thanks so much.

There is no fireplace there, it's just stuff being stored from our previous fireplace before we put the insert in on the main floor. The washer and dryer are only being stored there. The washer/dryer and everything else except the furnace can be moved.

I'm worried about the heat flow with the alcove that way. As you can see, there's a wall off to the right that separates this area from the open area of the basement.

We were thinking of insulating the basement but we'd have to make a utility room around the furnace and I am concerned the wall would be too close to the furnace/wood stove since we have about 16 inches between the flue and the furnace.

If we did wall off the furnace and insulate the basement, and put in a shield, would that work, or we would still need 36 inches from the furnace. Any suggestions?

Thanks so much.

Thanks so much for all your suggestions. Here is the layout of the basement. On our ground floor we have a pellet stove insert in our fireplace which is in our central room with cathedral ceiling so there's no where to tap into the chimney. We are thinking of insulating the basement but still aren't sure if it's worth putting the stove down there. We have so many windows that it's hard to find any wall space. When we are able to redo our kitchen, we could create a space in the kitchen, but that will be a ways away.

Would you put a backup stove for emergency if the electricity was out in this basement, +/- insulation?

Thanks so much for your input.

When we bought the house about 2 years ago, it had both a propane furnace for forced hot air heating/cooling. The previous owner, who was a contractor, later installed an oil furnace for baseboard and did his own retrofit radiant heat. When we moved in the first year, we couldn't afford the cost of the oil. We did a lot of research and installed the pellet stove insert which now heats our home. We don't use the oil or propane except for hot water and for stove/dryer.

The thing is, all our heating is dependent on electricity. We live in a rural area at high risk for prolonged power outages and worry about our pipes freezing. The inlaws offered to put in a wood stove for us in the event that we're out of electricity for a couple weeks. An added bonus to a wood stove would be to supplement heating from the pellet stove since the house is not as warm as I would like it in the coldest months.

Ultimately we'd like to put in geothermal, but are in nowhere near the financial position to do so now. Also, a generator that would run our well, our pellet stove or furnace, and our long term freezer is currently out of our price range. Last year there were many in my area who were without electricity for 2 weeks due to an ice storm.

I really appreciate all the advice. Are you suggesting you would not put a wood stove in the basement? I'm not sure where else we could put it.

Thanks so much.

the stove would be free, a gift from in-laws. Wood could be free if we put the effort in, as we own 8 acres of forest.