Newbie looking for direction...

[gypsy-spirit]

Hello all,

We're buying a new home (well, new to us!) .. which currently has an oil furnace. I've never used oil before as our homes have always been natural gas (which will not be available). What with oil prices as they are, I'm very interested in going with a wood stove for our primary heat, using the oil for back-up only.

The house is a 25 year old double-wide with a full unfinished basement (block walls, concrete floor). The basement had a woodstove in it, but the previous owners took it with them.. so there is a chimney all ready to go.

The house is about 1500 sq.ft, and the basement is the same, so I'm looking to heat 3000 sq.ft with the stove (we'd like to keep the basement nice and warm as well).

I guess my question is this.. what is the best way to get the most even heat thoughout the home.. it has an open floorplan with a master bed/bath on one side, and 2 beds/bath on the other..

My MIL said she used to have a stove with a "heat collector" that would vent the heat all upstairs to one room, and it would keep the whole house warm.. not sure how that would work though.

At the moment there is ductwork for the furnace, but the ceiling in the basement is unfinished with no insulation, so placing vents would be as easy as cutting a few holes in the floor!

Once I know how the heat is going to be installed/distributed, then we'll work on putting in insulation so we're not heating the entire neighborhood

Oh, and I would like the system to work without requiring electricity.

We have plenty of room in outbuildings to keep firewood, so I know to get that stocked up asap

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Welcome to the forum!

The first thing I would suggest would be to have the chimney checked out. It may be in bad condition or in need of repair. It's cheap insurance to have somebody come out and make sure it's right. You'll be playing with fire.

A woodstove in the basement can give you a few special things to consider. Woodstoves are really big versions of the little space heaters you plug into the outlet on the wall. The heat comes from a central location and will radiate out from the stove. In a basement, much of the heat radiated out will be lost into the concrete foundation and ground surrounding it unless there is insulation to stop that from happening. On the radiation and space heating theme the areas closest to the stove will be warmest and the spots/rooms furthest will be coolest.

There are wood furnaces/add on furnaces that use existing ductwork. I don't have any experience with them, but others will be able to help with that.

Be careful when cutting holes in the floor. This can allow fire to move from the basement into the living areas quickly and may be against code. You also might or might not have to use a stove that is moble home approved. The full foundation may change that.

Matt