opinion wanted . stove in basement

[gerrythegreat]

I had my mind set in installing a EPA fireplace in the living room of my house but a friend of mine has a quadrafire 5700 that he is willing to let go for 500.00$. My reasoning is that I could finish my basement and install the stove there, the whole project costing about the same as the fireplace in my living room.


My house has a special layout. It was originally a 1500 square foot 1 storey house. They then added a second floor making it 3000 square foot and finally they split the first level in 2 making an apartment with one side(where my parents now live). I presently have 2 old oil furnaces, one for the first floor and one for the second.

now here is where I need help.

Can I heat half the basement (750) and the first floor(1500) with the quadrafire leaving only one furnace working? In the long run will this be a cost efficient way of heating? any other suggestions?


thank you

 

[begreen]

The 5700 is a seriously respectable stove, if it's in good condition, your friend is giving you a heck of a good deal. The question is not whether it could possibly heat that sq ftg, but how will the heat get from the basement to the first floor? Is there a large open staircase leading from the basement to the 1st floor? If not, assuming the basement walls are (getting?) insulated, the basement room could get a tad roasty toasty. Other things to consider are the flue, two furnaces competing for the air supply, and cost of installation + finishing the basement.

Is there room to put the 5700 on the first floor as a freestanding stove? It has fairly close clearances for a big stove.

 

[gerrythegreat]

The 5700 is a seriously respectable stove, if it's in good condition, your friend is giving you a heck of a good deal. The question is not whether it could possibly heat that sq ftg, but how will the heat get from the basement to the first floor? Is there a large open staircase leading from the basement to the 1st floor? If not, assuming the basement walls are (getting?) insulated, the basement room could get a tad roasty toasty. Other things to consider are the flue, two furnaces competing for the air supply, and cost of installation + finishing the basement.

Is there room to put the 5700 on the first floor as a freestanding stove? It has fairly close clearances for a big stove.

thank you for the reply

What do you mean the flue (sorry newbie here) and 2 furnaces competing for air supply?

I could install it on the house side of the first floor right beside an open staircase that leads to the second floor. Would that enable me to heat the first floor on one side and the second all together without making the main floor too toasty ? then again what will I do for heating when I do decide to finish the basement?

 

[begreen]

The flue is the smoke pipe exhaust for the stove. The stove will need an independent flue system. Basement heaters can be troublesome because there are often other appliances that need air for combustion. In your case that would be at least the 2 furnaces unless they have external air supplies. Other competition might be clothes dryers, gas or oil HW heaters, bathroom fans. All these appliances create negative pressure as they remove air from the room. Often this can be worked around, but needs to be considered.

The location of the stove (on the 1st floor) would depend on the overall floorplan and where you are trying to heat. If the stove is right next to the stairwell a large portion of the heat will likely head up to the second floor. If you can post a rough sketch of the floorplan that would help. I'm having a hard time visualizing how the 1st and 2nd floor are laid out. Is the first floor you are trying heat 750 sq ft. and the second floor 1500 sq ft? Are there more than just bedrooms on the 2nd floor? If so, then maybe that location is a good placement. In general, wood stoves heat the best in houses that have open floor plans. That way the heat has a good chance of being evenly distributed.

And remember, you don't have to run the stove at capacity all the time. So even though this is a big stove, it can be run at half capacity with wood that puts out less heat. That is pretty typical fall and spring burning for a lot of us.