What’s best for me?

You can heat the house with a stove, but it takes some work doing it and fans.

Some more info would help. Is the basement finished and whats the layout like? Do it have a furnace and what type?

j-takeman said:

...Is the basement finished .......

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OP stated it was.

Typically pellet stoves are room heaters, but depending on the layout, as jay mentioned, it is possible to heat other parts and occasionally the whole house.

More info on how well the basement is insulated, is the floor bare concrete, etc, etc will help.

connecting into existing ductwork is ideal & cant remember which member has that setuup= bump

imacman said:

j-takeman said:

...Is the basement finished .......

Click to expand...

OP stated it was.

Typically pellet stoves are room heaters, but depending on the layout, as jay mentioned, it is possible to heat other parts and occasionally the whole house.

More info on how well the basement is insulated, is the floor bare concrete, etc, etc will help.

Click to expand...

Missed that ! Thanks pete!

BLIMP said:

connecting into existing ductwork is ideal & cant remember which member has that setuup= bump

Click to expand...

The stove people don't recommend you hook a stove to the duct work. It has to much output temp and could overheat the duct outlet. This could cause a burn hazzard(hot totsies). If they have a ducted furnace? Better to do a pellet furnace add on. Much higher CFM from the blower to reduce the burn hazzard.

Meneillys Woodland Products said:

Here is the monster in my fathers basement. We took a quad Mt Vernon and converted it into a furnace and added a magic heat.

That is powered by a 14" duct fan and is controlled with an AC thermostat set to turn on and off at 115.

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It works good but looks bad. The temp on the duct stays ok but it is 14" duct work and fan so it really moves the air. Thats a quad Mt. Vernon behind the mess.

Eeps24 said:

It's a finished basement... I actually want to install a pellet insert into my fire place. The finished basement is half carpet floor/half slate floor. There is a walkout as well. I know the floor above it ... There is no insulation under the floor... But I'm not sure for the ceiling of the finished basement. I have central air that connects to a oil furnace. The supply and return ducts are installed high on the walls .. Not into the floor.

How would I connect the insert to my duct?
I can hook up a add-on pellet piece to my furnace? (furnace is in the garage)

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Yes there are several manufacturers of pellet furnaces that you can tie into your existing duct work and leave the mess in a furnace room in the garage.

you'll also consume more fuel with an add on furnace.

Eeps24 said:

If I have the pellet insert on....will blowing a fan next to it towards the hallway so it can raise better be sufficient to heat the house? Also, having the pellet insert on in my finished basement..will it make it really hot down there?

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Yes it could, But the stoves with a t-stat should help. Just keep in mind that its a room heater, It may not transfer much heat up stairs. Being a finished basement the heat will have a harder time rising threw the drywall(acts like an insulator). Fans will help, But may need to cut in ducts to assist heat transfer.

The only sure-fire way is with the pellet add on. Or 2 stoves(one down and 1 up), But still may need to assist with fans to move the air around.

The 3 most popular furnaces are Harman PF-100, St Croix Revolution and the Fahrenheit Technologies Endurance.

I'm heating 2000 feet, raised ranch with my stove on the bottom level. My entire home is very well insulated. I use a double entry to control even more heat loss. Yes, the use of fans is important, but as odd as this may sound, if your fan is on the floor, aim it towards the stove. You will be moving heavier and cooler air by the force of the fans. The heated air will then be drawn to replace to cool air you have pulled away from the cooler areas. I keep one floor fan going at the base of the stairs. Only when the outside temp goes below 15 degrees does the furnace kick on for a few minutes. I burned 5 tons in 2008-2009 and 4 tons in 2009-20010. I used 196 gallons of oil in 14 months, and that also is the fuel for my hot water. So many factors will effect your success in heating your whole home. It can be done, but you will have to have many other factors in control.