Locating Wood Stove in the Basement Question

[mbcijim]

I've looked for a while, by searching the forums, the answer to my question but didn't really find an answer.

I would like to install a wood stove in my basement for back-up and maybe primary heat at times. I use a wood stove at our cabin, but not sure if I want the full time lifestyle of burning wood.

The home is this size:
2100 sft basement (wall to be built making a large open room of 1200 sft). Wood stove to go in finished room of 1200 sft. Walls are Superior Walls R-13
2100 sft first floor, R-19 walls
700 sft 2nd floor, R-19 Walls
Celing/Roof R-38
Brand new home with good, high quality windows.
Location, Pennsylvania, usually hits 0 a few times a year, the charts say 6000 heating degree days here
I used a rudimentary heat loss calculator and it came in at 40,000 BTU (I am no expert). I should have a proffesional opinion on system size in a week or two.
Construction starts in May so I can still make necessary accomodations.

I'd like to put the largest sized available wood stove in (Jotul Firelight/Isle Royale/etc...).

Here's my questions for you guys:
1. How good will it do at heating the first floor? I have no regard at all for 2nd floor heat.
2. How do I maximize location of the stove to get the heat upstairs?
3. Would vents in the floor help? Or with the negative pressure will I just be sucking air down instead of up?
4. Am I nuts?

 

[Todd]

No, your not nuts. Getting heat to rise from basements can be tricky, but it can be done. Expect anywhere from a 5-10 degree difference from the 2 floors. Try to locate the stove as close to your stairwell as possible. It will be your major supply/return for your stove. See how it works before you cut any holes for floor registers. Basements are notorious for negative pressure. I found that hooking up outside combustion air works great to compensate this. Good luck.

 

[BotetourtSteve]

And plan on a big stove too. I have a Big 6 in a 1000 sq ft basement which stays well over 80, first floor stays around 70, and second floor mid-60s. (with day/night temps 50ish/30ish) And that is in an old house with poor insulation. Heat rises up from 2 registers (I loosened a pre-existing heating duct, plus opened cool air intake) and also up stairs, where at top I always leave door cracked and ceiling fan running in room (kitchen) it opens to.

 

[RonB]

I heat from the basement (1000 sf). Main floor is 1500 sf. Quad 5700 works for me.

 

[Ken45]

Have you considered a wood furnace instead of a wood stove?

When we bought this place, it had a wood furnace in the basement but it just dumped the heat into the family room in the basement, no ducting to upstairs. It was about 8' away from an open stairwell.

It did heat the house, but the basement was too hot and the first floor a little cool.

I finally "bit the bullet" and put a register in and a duct from the furnace. Wow! What a difference! Upstairs is wonderfully warm and we use a LOT less wood. There is enough draft from the vertical duct that the blowers rarely come on unless it gets below 25 degrees.

Ken

 

[northwinds]

It works for me with the Isle Royale and a finished daylight basement. Family room can be
toasty warm, but the upstairs (main floor) and the lower level bedrooms are just about right.
About 2100 finished square feet (1300 up and 800 down). The wood stove is close to the
bottom of open staircase leading upstairs.

 

[Martin Strand III]

Here's my questions for you guys:
1. How good will it do at heating the first floor? I have no regard at all for 2nd floor heat.
2. How do I maximize location of the stove to get the heat upstairs?
3. Would vents in the floor help? Or with the negative pressure will I just be sucking air down instead of up?
4. Am I nuts?

Jimbo:

I have a Harman wood/coal stove (70,000+ BTU) in my now finished 1590 SF basement and it will heat my 1590 SF main floor and 400 SF loft above very well.

See it here before basement finishing: https://www.hearth.com/gallery/pics/woodcoal/source/harmanbasement.html

Here's why I feel it works so well:
* Central location in house (vs against outside wall)
* Open staircase just behind stove to main floor (no hazardous floor vents cut in)
* Outside air to help minimize negative effects in depressurized basement
* Brute heating capacity of stove (too bad it's so ugly...)
* Single wall metal chimney exposed in basement and on main level of house (double approved Hi-temp chimney in mainfloor and roof penetrations)
* Finishing lower level helped speed up heating main floor level (less raw concrete to heat up first in unfinished basement)

My only complaint is, when winter temps plummet near single figures, my feet get cold near the basement floor. Should have installed low volt electric radiant floor heat in sitting area.

Aye,
Marty

PS: Everybody is nuts.

 

[begreen]

With 4900 sq ft of space, even if only 4000 gets heated, it's going to be a bit hard for one stove to heat the house *evenly* in the dead of winter. In fall/spring the stove will carry the load, but that is a lot of space to heat when the temps are low. If there are cathedral ceilings on the main floor then there will be even more cubic footage to heat. Maybe plan on two stoves, or a first floor ZC fireplace or possibly a wood or coal furnace or boiler for more even heating? Another thought would be a large masonry heater that extends from the basement into the first floor?

It sounds like you are doing it right and trying to build a well-insulated home, good start! Get good windows and insulate the basement floor before pouring the slab. Follow the advice given the other posters and it should work moderately well. A lot will depend on the openness of the floor plans, ceiling height, and house sealing. But you are off to a good beginning with a tight, well insulated house.

Here's a masonry heater example. It's shown with a cathedral ceiling, but perhaps the upper part could be through the first floor.

 

[Ken45]

My only complaint is, when winter temps plummet near single figures, my feet get cold near the basement floor. Should have installed low volt electric radiant floor heat in sitting area.

Low voltage electric socks would be less expensive ;-)

Ken