Stones as heat sink.

[Oldmainer]

Hi Folks...my wood stove is located in my basement....on a concrete floor. What do you think of my piling cut granite stones...from an old foundation on my land...around and on top of the stove to act as a heat sink? The stove is an Allnighter...model unknown. Franklin

 

[branchburner]

Sounds like you're trying to create a soapstone stove out of granite. Are you trying to heat the basement or upstairs? My thought is the bigger the heat sink you create, the more radiant heat you will have for the area around the stove, but the less convective heat you will have for upstairs.

I have a few granite counter remnants, about 4 inches by four feet each, that I lean up against the stove once it's been cranking awhile. Then I put them on the bathroom floor or under the computer table, where someone (wife, kids) suddenly gets real happy to have a toasty footwarmer. It's my portable version of a soapstone stove.

 

[begreen]

If they're uninsulated, insulating the basement walls may provide better and more positive results.

 

[Wet1]

LOL, if that basement is uninsulated you have bigger concerns than placing stone next to the stove! You might want to consider a newer EPA stove as well.

 

[CarbonNeutral]

Sounds like you're trying to create a soapstone stove out of granite. Are you trying to heat the basement or upstairs? My thought is the bigger the heat sink you create, the more radiant heat you will have for the area around the stove, but the less convective heat you will have for upstairs.

I have a few granite counter remnants, about 4 inches by four feet each, that I lean up against the stove once it's been cranking awhile. Then I put them on the bathroom floor or under the computer table, where someone (wife, kids) suddenly gets real happy to have a toasty footwarmer. It's my portable version of a soapstone stove.

I love this idea - would have to work out how granite plus enamel stove would work though..

 

[branchburner]

I have a few granite counter remnants, about 4 inches by four feet each, that I lean up against the stove once it's been cranking awhile. Then I put them on the bathroom floor or under the computer table, where someone (wife, kids) suddenly gets real happy to have a toasty footwarmer. It's my portable version of a soapstone stove.

I love this idea - would have to work out how granite plus enamel stove would work though..

I have warming racks that extend about 6 inches, so I can lean a couple slabs gently against them on each side of the stove. At a slight angle, they get a good footing on my brick hearth. I think you could do it directly against an enamel stove, using great care, but eventually you might ding it.

 

[Wet1]

Just stick some 55 gal. drums of water in the area. :cheese:

 

[branchburner]

Just stick some 55 gal. drums of water in the area. :cheese:

Water is an ideal heat sink, but I think if he wants to heat the upstairs he wants to maximize convection and therefore minimize sinking heat. Whether it's granite or water, whatever he uses will just re-radiate and the heat will go into the basement floor/walls if uninsulated.

 

[Corey]

Specific heat capacity of granite is ~ 0.20 btu/lb ºF. So if you stack up 500 pounds of granite and get it to an average of 200ºF, then cool it to room temp, 70ºF, you get:

0.20 btu x 500 lbs x (200ºF - 70ºF) = .2 x 500 x 130 = 13,000 btu

Another way to look at it is if you're burning the stove @50,000 btu/hr, the granite will give you 13kbtu/50k btu/hr or about 1/4 hour (15 minutes) worth of heat. For useful heat storage, you usually need a lot of material (multiple tons). Specific heat capacity of water is 5x better at 1.0 btu/lb ºF, but of course you are limited to ~212ºF ! I concur, you would be much better off insulating walls/slab and you probably want more convective heat if you're planning to move heat upstairs as opposed to radiantly heating only the room where the stove is.

 

[madison]

Insulate, don't waste the energy lugging the granite.

 

[firefighterjake]

Hi Folks...my wood stove is located in my basement....on a concrete floor. What do you think of my piling cut granite stones...from an old foundation on my land...around and on top of the stove to act as a heat sink? The stove is an Allnighter...model unknown. Franklin

A great idea . . . if you want the basement to look like the quarry at Mt. Waldo.

All kidding aside, I agree with other folks . . . taking the time to insulate the basement (if you haven't done so already) would be a lot better for you in the long run in terms of getting more heat out of your stove and being warmer . . . or better yet, upgrade to a newer EPA stove and move it to the area where you spend most of your time.

One of the best tips I found on this site before I even bought my stove was to spend money on insulating one's home before spending money on upgrading/buying a new stove . . . otherwise you're just replacing one heating appliance with another and not really gaining anything on the overall heating efficiency of the home . . . although on the upside not insulating a home does mean you're helping to melt away the winter snow.

 

[fbelec]

definitely insulate. i did the insulation in my basement thing. simple 2x3 with 3.5 inch fiberglass insulation. my basement went from low 40's to mid fifties. my upstairs went from loading my stove (which was here when i bought the house so it was sized to what it was) 3 times a day to 2 times a day. and if i'm not careful it's gets to hot easy.

 

[Oldmainer]

Hi Folks...tnx for all the different points of view. I read an article about using granite/stone for a heat sink around your stove thats why I asked the question...wanted to see what the pros thought.
My house is a 28'by56' ranch 12 yrs old. pretty well insulated. I'm retired and on a fixed income is why I put the stove in the basement at the time. Chimney...double one for oil furnace also... on one end of the basement and room to store three cords of wood or so because there was/is no close place to have wood storage outside nr the bk door. I hv my own wood lot with mostly hardwood which my son and I cut for our own use.
At the moment I am in good health and strong for my age (72) so am thinking I may go with a new wood stove upstairs in my main living area and install a chimney etc where I will locate it. Again I want to thank all...but don't go away cos I'm sure I will be bk to do some homework on this site and ask a bunch of questions abt modern stoves and such... Franklin

 

[branchburner]

Well, the good news is you're keeping that wood nice and dry! But putting a new EPA stove upstairs will keep you a lot warmer and burn a lot less wood doing it. You can probably find a neat way to work some of that granite into your living room decor, too!

 

[begreen]

Hi Folks...tnx for all the different points of view. I read an article about using granite/stone for a heat sink around your stove thats why I asked the question...wanted to see what the pros thought.
My house is a 28'by56' ranch 12 yrs old. pretty well insulated. I'm retired and on a fixed income is why I put the stove in the basement at the time. Chimney...double one for oil furnace also... on one end of the basement and room to store three cords of wood or so because there was/is no close place to have wood storage outside nr the bk door. I hv my own wood lot with mostly hardwood which my son and I cut for our own use.
At the moment I am in good health and strong for my age (72) so am thinking I may go with a new wood stove upstairs in my main living area and install a chimney etc where I will locate it. Again I want to thank all...but don't go away cos I'm sure I will be bk to do some homework on this site and ask a bunch of questions abt modern stoves and such... Franklin

Good plan Franklin. One thing you will want to be sure to watch are the pipes in the basement when it gets very cold if the heat moves upstairs. A space heater or occasional run of the furnace or boiler is often enough.

In the meantime keep on describing the house, how many sq ft and how is the floorplan - open or many closed off areas? We'll help you with the stove and promise not to take it for granite. (ducking )

 

[SteveKG]

I tried something a bit similar in an attached greenhouse about 20 yr. ago. I had a wood stove in there and I constructed a fieldstone wall on the back side [toward the outside of the greenhouse] and partially around two sides to protect the wall plus hopefully absorb heat and etc. as you pondered. It worked great to protect the wall but, and this is without scientific testing or monitoring, there was little or no discernable benefit [in heating the room] "soaking up" of heat to be released slowly later. Perhaps there was some, but it was minimal and while the stone wall is pretty, helping heat the room didn't happen.

 

[daveswoodhauler]

Hi Folks...my wood stove is located in my basement....on a concrete floor. What do you think of my piling cut granite stones...from an old foundation on my land...around and on top of the stove to act as a heat sink? The stove is an Allnighter...model unknown. Franklin

cover walls with polyplastic & paint them with white paint for reflective, shinier the better [aluminum]oops= thought your foundation was granite

No plug for MajicHeat?