Wood stove recomendation for finished basement

[RSNovi]

Hello All,

I am in the process of finishing my basement and I would like to install a wood stove. The finished area in the basement will be just under 500 square feet and the rest of the house is a 2 story 2300 square feet. I would like your recommendation for a wood stove to be the main heat source for the finished basement and if possible, spill some of the heat to the upstairs. An overnight burn would be great too, but I only really plan to use the stove on the weekends. Please recommend a wood stove manufacturer and approximate size.

From a little bit of research, I have been looking at a Quadra-fire millenium 2100. I see a lot of people on here discussing the Jotul brand. Thanks for you help.

Chris

 

[wendell]

There are many choices for you. I think the Morso 3450 would be a really good choice for you. With the soapstone sides you won't get heated out of the basement and you will get some heat upstairs. I was actually able to heat most of my house from the basement 2 winters ago. And if you pack it full for your last load of the evening, you should have enough coals left in the morning to get another fire going.

I'm sure you will get lots of other recommendations, too.

 

[RSNovi]

Thank you. I will check that stove out. That is a brand which I was not aware of.

 

[begreen]

It would help to have some more information about the basement. Can you describe the area (fairly open space or not, insulated, windows), stove location (central or off to a side) and how the heat will get upstairs? (ie: is the staircase large, central and open or is it at one end, small and with a door?)

 

[RSNovi]

I would be happy to provide more information and I also posted my plans for the basement. The area with the windows, bar, couch, etc... is the part which is finished. The rest of the basement will be left unfinished with concrete floors and walls. The wood stove will be placed on the far right and you might be able to see the symbol for the stove. There are two pretty large windows on the south side of the house. All of the walls are 2x4 studs with fiberglass insulation. The stairway is closed with a door at the top of the stairs. I will leave the bottom of the stairs open. I also installed a DriCore subfloor to give some insulation from the carpet/tile and concrete floor. The ceiling will be a suspended ceiling.

 

[begreen]

Great, that helps. It looks like the stove will do a good job of heating the basement area. Based on the floorplan and offset stairway it looks like whatever gets upstairs, will probably be spill.

To achieve the goal, I suspect the Quad 2100 will be too small a stove. I'd go up at least a size and look at the 3100 or 4300 for longer burn time and better reserve heat.

 

[RSNovi]

How do you think a Jotul F400 would work for my situation? I think that would also be a step up in size from the Quad 2100.

 

[wendell]

I think that would be fine. You wouldn't have to run it full out but it will give you some more firebox room for longer burns. If you are starting to look a little bigger, might also consider the Pacific Energy T4.

 

[begreen]

Yes, the F400 would be a nice fit for you plans, it's a great looking stove. For steel/cast hybrid I would opt for the PE Alderlea T5 in this situation. This size PE is a very flexible burner. I suspect on those cold, windy, zero degree nights it would be loaded to the gills.