Need stove help with house blueprint pictures!

[CJW88]

I will be installing a stove in my mothers house and we are throwing around the two options of putting it upstairs or in the basement. No matter which floor we decide to put it on it will have to go in the corner where the gas insert is now in the living room. The house and furniture layout just doesn't leave any other option. The kitchen, dining, and living room is one big open space, approximately 550 sq.ft., and the basement is pretty much the same layout. The stairway is open, the basement walls are finished and insulated and their is a drop ceiling which isn't insulated and is approximately 8 ft. high. The stoves we are looking at are either the Englander NC30 if we put it in the basement or the NC13 if we put it upstairs. She will still have the forced air furnace but the stove is so she can stay warm if their is a power outage and so that she can keep the temperature in the main living space around 70 without paying such a huge heating bill. She also wants to put in wood floors so having the floor a little warmer would be nice. We can get alot of free or cheap wood up here. My main question out of this is if we put the NC30 in the basement, will the heat make it's way upstairs adequately? If I need to put in floor vents I think I would be able to put in at least four within 12 feet of the stove plus there is the open stairway.

Any help? If you need me to answer any questions about the house just ask, but I believe I've explained it pretty well.

Thanks

 

[Jags]

Classic thought is that a wood stove is a space heater. It is to be placed in the area you want heated. There are plenty of folks here that run a basement install that works. There are plenty more, that have had trouble with basement installs.

From your above post, the first question I would ask is "how does/did the current heater on the main floor work? And could you move the heat around effectively? If the answer to those were "good" and "Yes", I know where I would put the new stove.

 

[CJW88]

I can't really go off of the gas insert because it never seemed to throw off much heat in the first place. I worded that wrong in my post and called it a stove, I'll go back and change that.

 

[Jags]

Was the gas insert placed into an original fireplace or was it an after thought in the house?

 

[BrowningBAR]

Is the basement area used as a living space or is it just a basement? If no one spends anytime in the basement, I wouldn't put the stove there.

 

[CJW88]

The house was built in '95 and the insert was put in then. It just had wood framing built around it and finished with drywall and T&G pine.

 

[Jags]

The house was built in '95 and the insert was put in then. It just had wood framing built around it and finished with drywall and T&G pine.

Hmmm...you are beyond my knowledge level of insert wisdom of what is/is not allowed in that situation. I will step back, and let some of the insert pros work on that (and maybe even learn a thing or two. )

However, it doesn't change my opinion on stove placement.

 

[CJW88]

The house was built in '95 and the insert was put in then. It just had wood framing built around it and finished with drywall and T&G pine.

Hmmm...you are beyond my knowledge level of insert wisdom of what is/is not allowed in that situation. I will step back, and let some of the insert pros work on that (and maybe even learn a thing or two. )

However, it doesn't change my opinion on stove placement.

All of the framing for the gas insert is gone. Like I said it was just 2x4's, plywood and drywall. It opened up about 10 sq. ft. The corner is ready for a traditional wood stove hearth to be built. It just looks like a normal corner now.

 

[Jags]

The house was built in '95 and the insert was put in then. It just had wood framing built around it and finished with drywall and T&G pine.

Hmmm...you are beyond my knowledge level of insert wisdom of what is/is not allowed in that situation. I will step back, and let some of the insert pros work on that (and maybe even learn a thing or two. )

However, it doesn't change my opinion on stove placement.

All of the framing for the gas insert is gone. Like I said it was just 2x4's, plywood and drywall. It opened up about 10 sq. ft. The corner is ready for a traditional wood stove hearth to be built. It just looks like a normal corner now.

Well heck - now I have NO doubt where the stove would go. :cheese:

 

[CJW88]

Is the basement area used as a living space or is it just a basement? If no one spends anytime in the basement, I wouldn't put the stove there.

Nobody spends too much time in the basement right now because it's too cold in the winter but in the future it would be a nice place to have another living space or office.

It would be nice to have the stove in the basement so that it would be inhabitable during the winter but if it can't be done it's not a huge deal. My thinking was that since heat rises would it be a better plan to have the heat in the basement and let it rise to the top floor utilizing the open stairway, uninsulated floor and some floor vents? The basement being heated would be a bonus.

I guess what I'm looking for here is people who have heated or attempted to heat multiple floors with one stove to tell me wether my theory will work with this particular house. I've read about how much heat the NC30 and similair stoves can put out and was figuring that into my thinking.

 

[CJW88]

The house was built in '95 and the insert was put in then. It just had wood framing built around it and finished with drywall and T&G pine.

Hmmm...you are beyond my knowledge level of insert wisdom of what is/is not allowed in that situation. I will step back, and let some of the insert pros work on that (and maybe even learn a thing or two. )

However, it doesn't change my opinion on stove placement.

All of the framing for the gas insert is gone. Like I said it was just 2x4's, plywood and drywall. It opened up about 10 sq. ft. The corner is ready for a traditional wood stove hearth to be built. It just looks like a normal corner now.

Well heck - now I have NO doubt where the stove would go. :cheese:

Top floor and just forget about the basement and possible problems?

 

[CJW88]

Would the NC13 be enough for the first floor to keep the temps around 70 during the coldest part of winter? Usually the small bedroom door is closed. The NC30 would be nice but it's just too deep and would stick way out into the living room.

 

[Jags]

Top floor and just forget about the basement and possible problems?

Purely up to you. As said above there are plenty of forum members that have done what you are questioning. Some work. There are plenty of things to think about though. Are your basement walls insulated or not? If not, you are gonna loose tons of heat to the cement - matter of fact, you will never heat those walls to any discernible temp above ground temp. Do you want to haul firewood down and ash up? Do you want to run those stairs every time you need to fire/refire/reload/monitor the stove? Only you can answer those questions.

With a first floor install, I can be relatively assured of successful heat output into the home.

 

[Jags]

Would the NC13 be enough for the first floor to keep the temps around 70 during the coldest part of winter? Usually the small bedroom door is closed. The NC30 would be nice but it's just too deep and would stick way out into the living room.

The NC13 is a powerful little stove. It should have no problem with the living area, but not sure how effective it will be for the bedroom. You are hitting the smallest recommended size if you are looking for a 24/7 burner (that would be Jags recommendation, that is )