Best woodstove to heat house from basement

[chevyheim]

Hey guys,

I'm new to the forums. I bought a house in the country and it came with a dutchwest 2479 non cat stove in the basement. A Few of the cement pieces inside are cracked and I got prices to replace them and will now be getting a new stove based on those costs.

My home is a raised ranch 1100sq ft on the first floor (basement) and 1400 on the second (main living) levels. The woodstove is located at the far end on the home under the living room and kitchen. The main stairwell is located in the center of the home with the door open to let heat rise. There are holes cut in the floor to let the heat come up from the basement.

My question is what type and size stove would heat my home the best? The stove I have now does an ok job and I like being able to burn larger logs in the large box.

Currently I was thinking:

Woodstock progress hybrid
Hearthstone Mansfield

The big thing is I don't know if the gentle heat of the soap stone is best for my situation. looking for any input.

Thanks in advance. And what an awesome forum you have here!

Mike

 

[begreen]

Welcome Mike. Well, the truth is the best stove to heat upstairs from the basement is a furnace.

Is this a finished and insulated basement? It sounds like you are going for a stove that provides nice eye candy too. If you don't sit in front of the stove a lot I would go for a 3 cu ft convective stove. There are many on the market ranging from Drolet and Englander all the way up to big Enerzone, Regency and Pacific Energy stoves. And lots in between. Tell us more about the setup and visual desires.

 

[chevyheim]

Ok,

The basement is finished completely. The wall as are all insulated. The reason for burning wood is there is no gas available at my house. The house is heated with electric baseboard heaters.

I would like a stove that is nice to look at. It is more or less what you see when you enter the house where most people do.

We do not sit in front of it often. The room down there with the stove is usually too hot to stay in long.


Let me know what other info you might need to help with the install.

Mike

 

[oldspark]

It all depends on the basement how well it will work, BG is right for most basements however if you have an insulated basement it may not be a problem.
I have a berm house (walk in basement more or less) and my stove is on the lower floor and it heats about 2500 sq feet, I had to put in new windows and tighten up the house but it works for the most part. I do have 12 inch walls with 2 inches of insulation on the outside of the block.

 

[weatherguy]

I assume the basement is finished as most raised ranches are. I have a walkout finished lower level of 1200 sf and an upper level of 1869sf and I'm using a BK Princess insert, I think stoves about the size of mine 2.8cf and up so 3cf or so should do it. Moving the air around may take some experimenting due to your stoves location. My stoves in the middle of the house near an open stairway and I have a vent on the other end to circulate, I do this with ceiling fans and it works well.
I think the PH would work well, so would the Englander 30 the PE Summit, lot of choices.

 

[oldspark]

weatherguy brings up a good point, moving the air around could be an issue, my setup is much like his with my stove in the middle near an stairway and other openings to bring the air back down to the lower floor, I use ceiling fans also.

 

[chevyheim]

I have looked at the englander 30. The price of course attracts me to that one but I like the look of the soapstone units. So I feel like I might want the best of both worlds here

 

[chevyheim]

I currently use a floor fan and ceiling fans to move the air. The current stove worked decent for us last year but I think there are better stoves out there just don't know enough about them to know what would work best in the basement.

 

[oldspark]

Just buy what you like, do you want radiant or convective heat?

 

[chevyheim]

I'm not sure what's best. I want something that will easily burn overnight.

I like all of the stoves!! Lol.

 

[Kaptain]

I live in a similar designed home (Raised ranch - 1150 sq ft basement \ 1150 main floor). Stove is on the Living Room \ Kitchen end of the house with the stairwell positioned in center. The basement is currently around 80% finished\insulated. I have a register above the stove and another toward the end of hallway on the opposite end. The stairwell (always open - no door) allows most of the heat to rise to the living area - you can literally feel the draft. Because of this the heat is surprisingly equalized between the two floors, only a few degree difference once things are settled.

I'm running an Englander NC30 and it has done the job without any problems as our primary heat source.

 

[oldspark]

(broken link removed to http://chimneysweeponline.com/horadiantconv.htm)
This is a good read

 

[chevyheim]

I read the page you posted. I now understand the difference, but i don't know if I understand what would be best in my situation. It sounds like I have the same house as Kaptain.

 

[oldspark]

More to chew on.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/difference-between-radiant-and-convection-stoves.39738/

 

[begreen]

Either of the two big rocks you mention should do the job well. If this is an area where you spend a lot of time then get the one you like to look at the most.

 

[tlingit]

To me, it sounds like air movement is a major part of the issue. That's how it shakes out at our house. A friend called and is so happy with his new kettle fan. He said it does a great job moving air and overall his whole house is more comfortable now.

 

[yukiginger]

I see you're in the northeast - Erie, PA. I like used stoves, especially for the soapstone. Search Craigslist or use Search Tempest to search the list for an area within driving distance of your home - search soapstone, hearthstone, woodstock, etc. I've seen some decent deals - but you need to know how to inspect a used stove (search this site).

Either way I'd be looking for 3 cu. ft. fireboxes for sure. I like the Englander and the Drolet (used to be the HT2000, I think) for this. For used look for a Lopi Liberty.

Those would be my choices.

 

[weatherguy]

I read the page you posted. I now understand the difference, but i don't know if I understand what would be best in my situation. It sounds like I have the same house as Kaptain.

You'd be better off with a convective stove

 

[weatherguy]

Meant to add, soapstone is generally a radiant stove but someone with more knowledge of soapstone stoves, specifically the PH as to whether that's also convective.
I know the PE Summit would be a good choice for your layout. I'm partial to the summit since my friend has one and is heating 2500 sf from an unfinished basement, his house is super insulated but the stove is a heating machine.

 

[begreen]

I know the PE Summit would be a good choice for your layout. I'm partial to the summit since my friend has one and is heating 2500 sf from an unfinished basement, his house is super insulated but the stove is a heating machine.

I have an admitted affection to it's dressed up relative so will put in a recommendation for the Alderlea T6 or a Blaze King Ashford 30 if a cat stove with very long burn times sounds more attractive. But I still think that the Mansfield or Progress will do the job well. They are not strongly radiant like a Quad IR or Jotul F600. The soapstone softens the heat so that it convects reasonably well too.

 

[oldspark]

If you had an 8 inch chimney I would go with the Equinox.

 

[Nimrod1911]

I have a bigger house than you are describing and my stove is also in the basement. I didn't feel the Englander would be enough for me, but It should be enough for you. Ultimately, I opted for the Woodstock PH and ordered a refurbished model. I only burned in it a couple times last season before it warmed up. I should be firing it up any day now. But we are very happy with it. It does put out a soft heat but don't let that fool you into thinking it doesn't put out THE HEAT. It does a great job. Even the legs put out a lot of heat. My old steel stoves would have cold legs even though a roaring fire was inside. I too was looking for something that would burn all night. That was a primary concern for me. That was another reason I opted for the PH. The Blaze King stoves are great as well.

 

[chevyheim]

Nimrod, that's what I was worried about with the soapstone stove. I was thinking in my head "soft heat" is that going to work for me? I am worried it won't make it upstairs. My uncle and grandparents both have hearthstone Mansfield stoves and love them, but they both have them on the main living room level where they watch tv.

Oldspark, I do have 8" chimney. I was interested in that stove just stickers shock on that unit.

I can't help but worry about the englander nc30. I usually don't buy things at big box stores so it makes me worried about the low price. Not that low price equals low quality, just makes one wonder.

 

[Rich L]

I recently sold the lopi liberty.It put out the heat but only for 6 or 7 hours.I sold a p.e summit which I couldn't get to throw off much heat even though the fire was blazing.I wouldn't take a chance on either of those.At least Woodstock has a return policy if the PH doesn't do it.The Mansfield is nice however your stove location may demand a larger stove in case the heat doesn't move well.I'd say go big a Equinox,Blaze King King and third choice the Woodstock PH.

 

[begreen]

Did anyone catch that he has already heated with a Dutchwest 2479? All stove mentioned exceed this stove's btu output by a considerable margin.