Starting from scratch

People disagree but generally chimney gasses should remain hot to prevent creosote build-up and pipe mounted heat exchangers work against you in this way. Moreover, 1600 square feet of new construction ain't hard to heat. In fact, you'll need no more than a medium sized stove, which may or may not hold enough wood to burn 8 hours or better. I don't know but if it were me, I'd cinsider builing a little bigger, get a bigger stove, have a bigger party when I was done. Have fun with the project!!

,

Welcome HDWizard!

Is that High Definition?

Since you're starting with a clean slate, let me suggest another alternative. Will your basement be a finished living area you will spend much time in? If not, how about designing a beautiful install on your main floor? It would be more efficient heating, if you don't care if your basement is cooler, and you will get to enjoy the stove more.

Just a suggestion. Good luck!

This is interesting to me, because I'm designing my own install.

Hdwizard said:

I am concerned that if the stove is on the main floor the basement would be freezing.

Click to expand...

Starting from scratch, I think you can easily avoid that, and in the process enhance your overall energy savings, stove operation, comfort, and enjoyment.

I believe you could do that by:

1. Insulating basement walls

2. Installing over-capacity ductwork in your air-handling system, with closeable returns and outlets in the basement. Put a large outlet near your stove--ideally behind it. Situate returns at the periphery of your cabin to draw heated air away from your stove.

3. Selecting a high efficiency DC fan for your air handling system. Mine is variable speed, and adjusts rate by temperature.

4. Locate your stove central to your living areas, with an interior flue running straight up through your roof. Design your floorplan for easy wood access and storage.

My reasoning:

5. Then you could adjust your air handling system to keep the basement cooler than the rest of the house for energy savings, or just as hot if you're using it.

6. An insulated basement improve comfort and saves energy

7. An integrated air-handling system with DC fan allows you to circulate air without using much electricity, or needing additional add-on fans, ductwork, etc.

8. Straight, interior flues draw better.

9. Now your stove can be where you can see and enjoy it, and be extremely efficient and comfortable.

What do you and other folks think?

Good luck!

Hello,
I have an 800 sq ft home (both main and basement) here in Southern Ontario Canada. I started out burning with my stove in the basement. The stack went straight up through the main floor into the attic and out. The stove I was using was a pacific Energy Vista. The basement is only about 5' 9" in height and is insulated. I moved my rig to the main floor the following year as I found the heat didn't really rise despite having vents in the floor and fans to try blowing the warm air up. The main floor was always cold but my home has no modern insulation because of the double brick walls. I put a larger stove in last winter and enjoy the fact that the stove is in usable room. I do not hang out in the basement so I don't worry about heating it. Good Luck!

Ian

Welcome to the forum Hdwizard.

The worst parts about having a stove in the basement is having to go up and down stairs tending the stove. You'll also be carrying the ashes up those stairs unless you have an open basement. In addition, you need to consider how you will get the wood down there to begin with. Also, if you store wood down there you may have some insects to contend with. One more thought is that some people seem to have pretty fair luck with basement installs but many have bad experiences and find it rather difficult to heat the upstairs even though heat does rise. Also, you really do have to insulate the basement lest all the heat get soaked into the cement walls.

This is a very interesting problem, one which can give us many hours of enjoyment if properly managed.

What is it that you mean by `cabin' and`basement'? Sounds like you plan to have electricity because of blower; what about running water? Is it a vacation cabin or your home-to-be?

Is your basement a windowless storage/mechanical systems hole under the house, or is it a built-into-hillside `walk-in' basement w/windows, door, and a fully-inhabitable living space?

If the former, why are you building a basement? Do you live in an area where storms or earthquakes make a `safe room' wise to incorporate into your structure? Will you have mechanical systems that you want to have down there? What can a basement do for you that good design, or an inexpensive shed, or a wrap-around, semi-enclosed porch could render unnecessary? How would you manage the logistics of the wood-down-ashes-up chores? What would cooking in the basement look like? Would you have plumbing down there? What is drainage like in the area? Is radon an issue? What are the soils like? (Easily excavated, or rocky?) How easy would it be to get heavy equipment into the building site? What kind of construction do you have planned for the above-ground portion? (Frame, log, strawbale, ?) What is the climate like where you bought land? Do the neighbors all have basements, or is it a mix of crawl space/on-slab/basements? Do *none* of the neighbors have basements? (This can be a clue that soil or moisture or insect problems make this a not-good idea.) Is resale price an important factor, or are you building simply to suit yourself? (If all the neighbors have basements and you don't, it may make selling a bit of a problem later.)

Not to be a nosy parker.

Other people have stoves in their traditional basements, and you could pull this off, too, but you'd miss a lot of good things about having a stove at hand--getting to know how it functioned and being able to respond quickly, the enjoyment of the fire. My HO? Putting a stove in an unoccupied basement would be like getting a wonderful dog and then putting it on a chain next to a doghouse to live out its years. Have you considered building two stories up rather than one story in, one up? Not my field of expertise, certainly, but it's my understanding that the most expensive parts of a house to build are the foundation and the roof, and the cheapest way to add space is with the addition of another floor out of the ground. (Not that money is necessarily an issue for you.) That can also allow you to take advantage of a great view.

If you have a daylight basement planned, then what rooms do you plan to have downstairs? Circulation of heat into living area will be easy to achieve with an open stairwell and a good ventilation plan. That's my layout, and I am heating my 2Ksf house w/just the heat that floats up the stairwell on the north wall, and I live in interior AK. The house is warmer now, including the far bedroom upstairs, than it was with my oil-fired boiler, but it's taken getting to know the stove and its function to get heat uniformly distributed in the house--that's the art.

What does your heating season look like? Will this be your only means of cooking/baking, or supplemental? Will cooling the house after cooking/baking be an issue? If you hope to cook out of the stove as well as heat, I am partial to the looks and function of the Bake Oven by Down Under (made in Australia). Not everyone's esthetic ("It's just a box"), but I find it rather elegant in a functional way. However, since it's a cook stove, it may or may not be eligible for the tax break--I wouldn't know. In the local urban area, it's not regulated in the same way that heating stoves are, and that may be a plus/minus/non-issue for you. Since it's made overseas, prices can fluctuate w/the exchange rate if bought new. It also comes with an option for heating water, which again, may or may not be a consideration for you. If I were to install this, I would definitely want a high-mass hearth (such as granite) that would be an additional heat sink/distributor--that adds a lot of comfort as well as visual appeal.

Welcome to the forum, congratulations on your new land, and best wishes for success in this delightful endeavor. This is, btw, a *great* time to be asking all these questions. It's never easier to fix than when it's in your head or on paper.

Random thoughts . . .

Welcome to the forum.

I would suggest . . . if at all possible . . . putting the stove in the room you plan to spend the most time (while awake) in . . . which would be a family room or living room for most folks. You get the benefit of being able to watch the fire which is enjoyable . . . and more importantly you can monitor the fire and know when it is time to load it up again and you get the direct benefit of the most heat being in the one place you want the most heat -- where you are.

Basement . . . if your basement is in the ground . . . like most basements . . . you should not have an issue . . . especially with a modern poured cement or cinder block foundation. My basement is never freezing due to both the fact is under ground (well all but 1-2 feet) and the domestic hot water plumbing running down there seems to keep temps up. I have insulated the joists and staple up plastic over the basement windows . . . and when the temps are sub-zero I may turn my oil boiler on once or twice a day to run some hot water through the pipes to avoid freezing.

Hdwizard said:

Based on the thought provoking questions I have decided to not put the stove in the basement.

Click to expand...

Yay! I like the idea of people enjoying their stoves in person.

I want to option of stove top cooking as a back up. Will keep a tea kettle going.

Click to expand...

Just a random thought, but the PE Alderlea could be a great choice for this. Folks are very happy with it, and it has awesome cooking and swing-out heating surface.

Good luck!

Hdwizard said:

This will be a weekend cabin with a full inground basement, I meet with the GC tomorrow to discuss build costs and this plan could very well change.

Click to expand...

so . . . ?