new here,.... and would love some help!!!

[krex1010]

Basement installs always make it challenging to get enough of the heat to the upstairs, and you are trying to heat a large area that has poor windows etc. I believe floor vents are a no no codewise in most places, as the allow smoke and fire to more quickly travel through the house, should you have a fire. Although I believe I have heard people speak of auto closing vents, I have never seen them though. Honestly I think you will likely be frustrated trying to heat your whole home with a basement installed stove. I would suggest putting the stove in the area of the house where you spend the most time, that is the best way to get enough heat to your primary living areas so you can comfortably drop your thermostat setting and see some savings in your heating bills.

 

[Hogwildz]

Crackshot, I know this is not what you want to hear, but the fact is, you ain't going to heat that entire area with a wood stove, no matter how large it is.
You truly need to be looking into a wood furnace with secondary burn tech, or a gasifier. I can guarantee you won't be happy with merely a wood stove. It just ain't going to cut it, at all.

 

[begreen]

Is there an existing ducted forced air heating system in the house?

 

[crackshot]

no,..... just baseboard

 

[crackshot]

I have decided i have no choice but to put it upstairs. I have a room in the opposite side of my house as the bedrooms,... thats where shes gonna have to go. called the local woodstove store,.... going there tomorrow to see what he has,..... just for info,.....my living space is 1760 sq ft, this does not include the tenants side,... so looks like ill be going for a nice mid- sized woodstove. ill let you all know what he has in stock, I hope you can give me some info on them..... thanks

 

[Hogwildz]

A drawing of the house layout would help greatly. You may still be wanting a large size, but depends on the layout, and where the stove will be located.

 

[crackshot]

absolutley,.... give me a minute

 

[begreen]

no,..... just baseboard

Ah, OK, I was thrown off by the "furnace". Sounds like you have an existing hot water boiler system. Floor plans will really help.

Also, is the basement insulated or uninsulated?

Before ruling out a hot water boiler system you might want to visit the boiler room forum here and post your questions. Your 8K budget will be tight, but they will have a better idea of current costs, what will be a good fit and what your options are and what boilers to avoid. Have specifics on hand like the input rating of the boiler (in btus) and some pictures of the current setup.

 

[crackshot]

a few things to remember,
-stove room,kitchen, and dining room are all cathedral ceilings
-the stove will be kittycornered
-i would like to do a through the wall set up, as for ease of cleaning
-1760 sq ft
- floor is well insulated

 

[Hogwildz]

If your going with a stove, the more centrally located the better.
Ceiling fans will be a must in those cathedral ceilings, otherwise the heat will hang there.
I agree with BG. With the basebaord HW there already, a wood boiler would be a something to consider.

 

[crackshot]

I thought all these wood boilers were creasote and chimney fire nightmares if there not a gasser???? I know, wrong place...lol...... fans in all the door corners, should be enough I would think,..... and one large fan blowing from the stove..... i dont really have a good spot in the livingroom,.....plus I dont want to be burned out of there

 

[krex1010]

Since you are not planning on putting the stove in the living room, it looks like it is going to be over away from your main areas. I would lean towards a larger stove, especially since that area of the house has cathedral ceilings. As was mentioned in another post, the heat really is going to stay in that area. With all the things you have going on I would be looking at some pretty stout stoves.

 

[begreen]

Also post in the boiler room to clarify concerns about boilers.

For a stove, it's an area heater. The heat should be where you hang out the most. With a properly sized stove and one of convective design, it wouldn't drive you out of the livingroom, even with normal height ceilings. Our stove is in our LR and it never gets too hot there. I'm not saying that the stove will not work in the area indicated, just that it will make that end of the house warmer and the bedroom livingroom side will be a bit cooler. However, I can see the stove room spot working pretty well with a fan blowing cool air 'towards' the stove room from the livingroom. Warm air be drawn in behind the fan so that some heat circulates through the livingroom area. And if the stove room ends up being the new family gathering spot that's great. Consider a straight up chimney right off the stove. It will vent better, stay cleaner and will be cheaper. As for flue cleaning, many stoves have easy to remove baffles which makes cleaning a very straight-forward process. No need for a clean out tee with this style stove.

 

[crackshot]

hey all,.... well went to check out my local woodstove store and heres what he had, please give me some info if you have experiance with either one of these,.... or just have heard of anything about them,..... Im leaning towards one brand, but i dont want to influance you…......... here we go,.....
......appalachian woodstove,....32 xlbw….. its a cat stove, comes with a 300 cfm blower on it, claims to heat 1500-2500 square ft
he would like 2000.00 for that… it claims to heat 1000-2200 square ft

...... next up is a enviro KODIAK 1700 step top ,.... has a slightly larger FB capacity than the app, and is a non cat stove…. he is asking 1550 for that…..it claims to heat 1000-2200 square ft


I am going to be heating 1760 sq ft,ranch , and the stove will be going on the main floor .... he also suggests i do a straight through the ceiling(cathedral) vent for either,.... i can do both…. direct or through wall chimneys….

 

[krex1010]

When if comes to choosing the right size stove, by far the most important number is firebox size, square footage and btu numbers can be a bit misleading. For your size home and climate I would think you should be looking at stoves in the 2.25+cubic foot firebox range. Definitely don't go less than 2 cu ft, regardless of what the salesman and the brochures say. I don't really know anything about the brands you mentioned. Take your time, don't buy a stove from the first shop you go to without checking out some others.

 

[snowleopard]

You may want to consider a soapstone stove set on a high-mass hearth. The Hearthstone Equinox is about 4K for the stove, so you could build a stone hearth under and around it. If you're determined to put the stove next to an outside walll, you could build an innie-outie woodbox that could be filled from outside, so much of the dirt could be contained that way. The Equinox is rated to heat 3500 sf--just a rule of thumb, as "it's accordin'".

I have the kid sister of this stove, and it keeps the room downstairs that it's in at 70 and the upstairs at 68F--amazing consistency of heat. (I think it's about -30 outside, and my son was dressed in nought but skivvies tonight. Not that you heard that from me.) However, I have a circular path of doorways upstairs that I keep open to promote circulation, and I'm sure that helps. So no, you don't have to have hot spots and cold spots--insulation matters, but so does circulation and location. Also, the Hearthstone is a pretty user-friendly stove--not completely idiot-proof, but idiots should not be heating their homes w/wood, I think. I also think they're a little bit safe around small kids--stone can burn, but not like hot steel--use your judgement, of course, but another factor to at least look at.

You might also look at a Blaze King.

If a stove takes care of 80% of your heating needs, you're still way ahead of the curve, esp. w/your access to seasoned wood.

If you had the stove more centrally located, esp. in a room w/o the raised ceiling, you could probably get a lot more bang for your heating buck. The location you have picked out right now seems kind of tucked away from the action. In that case, you may end up overheating the great-room area to try to get heat into the bedrooms. I'd think about tucking it in the livingroom, near the stairwell, especially if you have an 8' ceiling there. Might be you could even install a little hand-cranked dumbwaiter to deliver firewood from that 15-cord basement directly to the burning area.

If you go this route, you'll definitely want to beef up the floor for the weight.

I've seen a post in here from a masonry stove (former) owner that said it did a great job heating the place, but he needed to be able to predict the weather three days in advance when heating with it.

It's a lot easier to move the stove on paper, so you're doing the right thing to play with these ideas as much as possible before you commit.

 

[begreen]

In this size main floorplan I would lean toward a Mansfield if looking at soapstone. Though a Woodstock Fireview should be able to carry it if you prefer a cat stove. I know a Pacific Energy Alderlea T6 would not overwhelm it either. Just burn half loads of wood in milder weather.

 

[crackshot]

thanks guys,... im leaning towards the enviro. My biggest concern with placement of the stove, is ,am I going to have to have the woodstove room so hot just to make the bedrooms 65? and by saying so hot, I mean like 80? cause thats gonna make me sweat!lol,... i understand all your placement issues with the stove on the far end of the house, but its really where it needs to be. so there it is,... how hot do you think that room will have to be to support 65 degrees down the hallway??? Ballpark??

 

[Jimbob]

thanks guys,... im leaning towards the enviro.

http://www.enviro.com/fireplace-products/wood/freestanding-fireplace.html

Also check out the Summit, it looks a lot like the Enviro, but it's bigger, and SHOULD give a bit longer burn time.
The Summit has very close installation clearances, so it won't stick way out in the room.
http://pacificenergy.net/product_summit.php

 

[krex1010]

thanks guys,... im leaning towards the enviro. My biggest concern with placement of the stove, is ,am I going to have to have the woodstove room so hot just to make the bedrooms 65? and by saying so hot, I mean like 80? cause thats gonna make me sweat!lol,... i understand all your placement issues with the stove on the far end of the house, but its really where it needs to be. so there it is,... how hot do you think that room will have to be to support 65 degrees down the hallway??? Ballpark??

Alot depends on how well your house holds onto heat. If your house let's heat go quickly then you will likely have to keep that room with the stove really warm all the time, 75-80 yeah. But if your home is tight then you may be able to keep it a bit cooler. Just make sure get get a stove that is large enough to give you a longer and consistent heat. This will help space out your burn cycle and minimize the yo yo effect on your house temps, this way you won't be trying to play catch up all the time. Just remember you cant avoid the fact that a woodstove is a space heater. The areas closer to the stove are warmer than the areas farther away. It is not possible for a woodstove to give even temps across a whole house. So be realistic in your expectations and I think you can expect about a 10-15 degree difference between the stove room and bedrooms. That being said I think if you get a proper sized stove and burn dry wood then you will find a system that works for you

 

[crackshot]

thanks for the advice,.... thats exactly what im hoping for ,...bedrooms around 60-65, livingroom like 70-75 and the stove room 75-80,.... fans in proper places i hope this can be achieved