Is a Wood Stove Right for Me?

[Rocksy]

Hello all,

Excited to have found this forum and have been reading for hours and soaking in all of the great information.

I have a few questions regarding whether or not a wood stove is right for me.

I recently purchased a 3k square foot home. The main living space is 1500 Sq ft on one level, and the basement is a mother in law apartment of roughly the same size.

I am extremely interested in installing a wood stove, and have wanted one for my entire life. The home currently has a non functional gas insert and I plan on removing it and constructing a small hearth to put a woodstove on. I'm familiar with the install process as I have assisted in installing/feplacing them for a few friends and relatives.

The install location is on the main level. I have no doubt about the ability of the correct size wood stove to heat the space, but I am also not delusional enough to believe that it will heat the basement by any discernable amount. That's where my main concern is. My permanently disabled mother and my father will be living in the MIL apartment in the basement. My mother is extremely temperature sensitive (but is more sensitive to heat than cold, prefers it colder). The house is unfortunately on a single zone, and the thermostat is in the same room as the potential wood stove placement. The home is equipped with a gas furnace that is the primary heat for the home.

All of this said, I am in search of solutions to this problem as I don't want to freeze anyone out of the basement. I have thought of a few solutions that involve moving the thermostat either to the basement or to at least a different room on the main level. My mother also has doubts about the central A/Cs ability to adequately cool the 3k square ft space (despite it being rated to do so), so we might be installing one mini split unit in the basement anyways.

Does anyone have any insights for me? I realize that I haven't asked a very specific question, but any information regarding my concern about the thermostat placement and the wood stove not allowing the gas furnace to turn on and heat the basement would be much appreciated.

I again appreciate all the knowledge shared here.

 

[begreen]

A wood stove on the first floor will not heat the basement at all. Hot air will rise, but it will not sink on its own. A wood burning EPA ZC fireplace can be set up to pump some heat into the basement with a convective fan pulling heat off of one or both of the gravity vents. It's not super efficient, but possible. A good vented gas space heater may be an easier solution for the basement apartment or the mini-split as suggested.

 

[Rocksy]

A wood stove on the first floor will not heat the basement at all. Hot air will rise, but it will not sink on its own. A wood burning EPA ZC fireplace can be set up to pump some heat into the basement with a convective fan pulling heat off of one or both of the gravity vents. It's not super efficient, but possible. A good vented gas space heater may be an easier solution for the basement apartment or the mini-split as suggested.

Totally understood that no heat from wood stove will make it to basement. Hence my concern. The more I think about it, the more the mini split unit makes sense as it's probably gonna go in anyways. I appreciate you taking the time to respond. Now likely have to incorporate minsplit costs into my woodstove fund. How fun!

 

[peakbagger]

You may want to hold off on a minisplit. The federal government IRA threw a lot of money at the states to subsidize a lot of energy efficiency project including heat pumps. The problem is that the IRA directed that the states have to manage the program and many states have to build a new program to administer the grants. In most cases these programs at best will be available late this year. The guidance I have read i that these program are not retroactive, anyone doing it in advance of the programs being approved by the fed will not get the credits. The programs vary from state to state. I did a quick search for Utah and got this website which admits its out of date and subject to changes https://hub.utahcleanenergy.org/energy-efficiency/electric-home-incentives/

 

[bholler]

Totally understood that no heat from wood stove will make it to basement. Hence my concern. The more I think about it, the more the mini split unit makes sense as it's probably gonna go in anyways. I appreciate you taking the time to respond. Now likely have to incorporate minsplit costs into my woodstove fund. How fun!

Or money to split into 2 zones

 

[begreen]

You may want to hold off on a minisplit. The federal government IRA threw a lot of money at the states to subsidize a lot of energy efficiency project including heat pumps. The problem is that the IRA directed that the states have to manage the program and many states have to build a new program to administer the grants. In most cases these programs at best will be available late this year. The guidance I have read i that these program are not retroactive, anyone doing it in advance of the programs being approved by the fed will not get the credits. The programs vary from state to state. I did a quick search for Utah and got this website which admits its out of date and subject to changes https://hub.utahcleanenergy.org/energy-efficiency/electric-home-incentives/

Very good point. We are tracking the WA state process and they are at least 9 months away from being ready to implement this program. It is unclear at this point whether it will cover 2024 system installations.

 

[peakbagger]

The NH program claims that the program will be up and running this year but I am a skeptic. Reportedly Florida's governor has directed the state not to set up a program https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/...-of-dollars-in-federal-energy-rebate-programs

 

[bigealta]

Where are you in Utah? There are quite a few no burn areas and days out there. I'm up in Eden so lucky that we are ok up there, but down in the valley i'm pretty sure it's tougher to install and burn a wood stove.

 

[TheElementalCashew]

The NH program claims that the program will be up and running this year but I am a skeptic. Reportedly Florida's governor has directed the state not to set up a program https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/...-of-dollars-in-federal-energy-rebate-programs

Yeah we are holding out for this, but I doubt it will be running this year.

 

[Garbanzo62]

You said that your MIL prefers it colder. So I don't see the stove causing the heat to kick on. I think your issue would be keeping the basement warm enough. Is it a walk out basement? Keep in mind below the frost line, the ground generally stays about 55 degrees. A few years back we had a Freak October smowstorm in CT that knocked power out to most of the state. I did not have a stove at that time, the basement was the warmest place in the house

 

[Sealcove]

Food for thought as I dealt with a related issue. A couple of years ago I added a small office to my basement space and I had zero heat there. Certainly it will be system specific, but I have a fairly recent Veissmann gas system and it ended up being not all that expensive to add a zone for the office . This included running new lines to two new panel radiators. The radiators I am assuming would not be needed in your case, and they were the biggest part of the project cost by far. It might be worth exploring that to see if it would be possible.

As it turns out, I rarely use that heat, but it has been nice to have. I am able to use a fan from my wood stove area, directing air down a short single flight right into the office space. This is a very specific situation, but I am able to heat my basement office with wood heat upstairs. It does not get nearly as warm, but I can keep it 62-66F when it is single digits outside.