jonwright
Member
My thoughts: put the stove where you are going to be. If you guys spend at least 1/2 of your time in the basement, put the stove there and get a honkin' unit.
If not, I would consider adding one later (and you can do a cheaper unit if you decide you need to and not get a honkin' one since the upstairs will be taken care of).
So if it's in the basement you'll be running down there to check on the fire, or you'll forget about it. Instead of having it there in the room where you can enjoy all of the heat and see it out of the corner of your eye. That's just me. If you have small kids do you plan on leaving them in a room with a stove unattended? I wouldn't. But that's just me.
You do have an advantage with having the floor vents which I'm sure will help distribute heat from the basement if you decide to do that.
You planning on running this 24/7? That can also help you decide which material to use for the unit, too. 24x7 burning works really well the soapstone, IMHO, to keep a nice, even heat. If you plan to occasionally use "flash fires" metal is really good for that since it heats up pretty quickly compared to soapstone.
Both materials work very well and I have experience with both.
I also think your living room is very nice and I'd hate to lose functionality of that nice looking hearth. I'd make the most of it with a great looking insert as I'm assuming you'd want to spend the majority of the family time in the upstairs living room since it's a nice room and where the TV is. I'd put a smaller metal stove in the basement for supplemental heat and occasional use for the weekends (I'm assuming that is the use for the basement). That's just me!
If you know that you will be getting equal use of the basement during the week I'd go with a honkin' unit and get ready to feed it some wood.
If not, I would consider adding one later (and you can do a cheaper unit if you decide you need to and not get a honkin' one since the upstairs will be taken care of).
So if it's in the basement you'll be running down there to check on the fire, or you'll forget about it. Instead of having it there in the room where you can enjoy all of the heat and see it out of the corner of your eye. That's just me. If you have small kids do you plan on leaving them in a room with a stove unattended? I wouldn't. But that's just me.
You do have an advantage with having the floor vents which I'm sure will help distribute heat from the basement if you decide to do that.
You planning on running this 24/7? That can also help you decide which material to use for the unit, too. 24x7 burning works really well the soapstone, IMHO, to keep a nice, even heat. If you plan to occasionally use "flash fires" metal is really good for that since it heats up pretty quickly compared to soapstone.
Both materials work very well and I have experience with both.
I also think your living room is very nice and I'd hate to lose functionality of that nice looking hearth. I'd make the most of it with a great looking insert as I'm assuming you'd want to spend the majority of the family time in the upstairs living room since it's a nice room and where the TV is. I'd put a smaller metal stove in the basement for supplemental heat and occasional use for the weekends (I'm assuming that is the use for the basement). That's just me!
If you know that you will be getting equal use of the basement during the week I'd go with a honkin' unit and get ready to feed it some wood.