few questions about basement install and help with adjusting the burn on a lakewood

[jeepin in maine]

i recently purchased a bank foreclosure ranch and started using an old single door lakewood with an enormous firebox to heat my 1100 sq. ft. home from the basement(1100 ft. also).i've read enough to know that the basement isn't the ideal location,that an outside chimney isn't the hot set up,and that the old lakewood is inefficient.for now i'm going to have to deal with it,so i want to make it as easy on myself as i can.the basement is insulated and has a bulhead if that matters.

first,the lakewood has 3 air knobs on the front.can any one assist me in some baseline settings for start up and overnight burn?i've got it running ok,but i'm using a ton of wood per day and am unsure if any of the knobs serve a specific purpose.

next in line is getting the warm air up to the second floor.the house originally had forced hot air,and now has forced hot water.the floor registers are still in place,but there is no duct work.i bought a few register boosters and that seemed to help,but it seems as though the warm air is having a hardtime getting past the cold air(registers that aren't boosted are cold,basement stairway is cold first 3 steps from top,its like running into a wall of cold air).should i be leaving the basement door open or closed?cold air return,where and how?is it legal to use a hood and duct work with a duct fan connected to the old forced hot air registers?(i really like this idea).any diagrams or tips on getting air to flow?the house is 30 years old,poorly insulated,and has leaky windows and doors,so i've got my work cut out for me i think.

and last,i just bought a quadrafire 4300 step top and will be installing it after the first of the year in place of the lakewood.anyone have one installed in a basement in a similiar climate that can give me some feedback?
thanks in advance for any advice.jeremy

 

[jeepin in maine]

bump

 

[jeepin in maine]

anyone care to chime in?could really use some advice......thanks

 

[Todd]

Not familiar with your stove, but a long time ago I burned a Woodsman stove that had 2 spin air nobs, and like yours ate wood like crazy. I ended up installing rope gaskets on the doors and nobs which helped a little. I use to fill the beast up, open the air and burn on high for about 10-20 minutes or until the thermometer was up over 500 or so, then shut down the air nobs til they are just cracked open. Then I would adjust the pipe damper, this would help keep the heat in the stove. You really have to experiment with these stoves and need good dry wood for overnight damped down burns or you will make major creosote.

As far as getting heat from the basement, try pushing the cold air down those registers into the basement and leave the stairwell door open. Most of the time the heat will rise out the stairwell. But every house is different, you need to find some kind of supply/return circulation that works best.

 

[jeepin in maine]

thanks for your reply.i've seen in some of the air return threads that people are running the cold air return almost all the way to the basement floor.is this the correct way to return the air?also is there a certain area of the house i should be drawing the cold air from?coldest room?vent farthest from or closest to stove?
i also notice a few of the guys are running long spans of metal stove pipe.is there any benefit to this?right now i come strait up out of the stove 3 feet,90 degree elbow,then about 3 feet horizontal out the wall.
my flue damper is only about 8 inchs off the top of the stove.........is this correct?
i only have to deal with this dinosaur for a few more weeks until i put the quadrafire in..i'm hoping it will cut down on my wood consumption.this stove is a pig..........
thanks.jeremy

 

[WarmGuy]

What is the peak temperature in the basement, and the corresponding temperature upstairs?

For the sake of experimentation, you might see what happens with a big box fan running at the top of the stairs to the basement.

 

[jeepin in maine]

basement temps peak about 86-88....upstairs peak temps range from 68-72.

 

[Todd]

thanks for your reply.i've seen in some of the air return threads that people are running the cold air return almost all the way to the basement floor.is this the correct way to return the air?also is there a certain area of the house i should be drawing the cold air from?coldest room?vent farthest from or closest to stove?
i also notice a few of the guys are running long spans of metal stove pipe.is there any benefit to this?right now i come strait up out of the stove 3 feet,90 degree elbow,then about 3 feet horizontal out the wall.
my flue damper is only about 8 inchs off the top of the stove.........is this correct?
i only have to deal with this dinosaur for a few more weeks until i put the quadrafire in..i'm hoping it will cut down on my wood consumption.this stove is a pig..........
thanks.jeremy

It depends on where your stove located in your basement in relation to your stairwell. Just be aware that floor vents can help spread smoke, fire and co2. Make sure you have smoke/co2 detectors, and it's a good idea to have some sort of fusible link vent to close in case of fire.


Long runs of single wall stove pipe can cool the flue gases to where it can create more creosote. Yours doesn't sound like too much. But if your clearances allow try cutting back that horizontal run a bit and make sure there is a slight rise and not level.

 

[jeepin in maine]

we have both co2 and smoke detectors in the stair way and on the main floor.the stove is about 2/3 of the way back on the right hand wall.stairway is about halfway back on opposite wall.
also i've heard no feedback on building a suspended hood and hot air duct system........bad idea?unsafe?illegal?

 

[Gooserider]

we have both co2 and smoke detectors in the stair way and on the main floor.the stove is about 2/3 of the way back on the right hand wall.stairway is about halfway back on opposite wall.
also i've heard no feedback on building a suspended hood and hot air duct system........bad idea?unsafe?illegal?

Bad idea in terms that most who tried it didn't think it worked very well.

Unsafe in terms of spreading possible fire and / or noxious fumes in case of disaster.

Illegal according to at least some interpretations of code. Code says you aren't supposed to have an HVAC intake w/in 10 feet of the stove. Most stove manuals also have prohibitions in them against hooking up to any sort of ductwork. We have users that claim to have done it and gotten inspector signoffs, but it is definitely a dodgy approach.

More usefully I'd try to work on getting a convection circuit going to circulate air with your existing returns - remember that just like with electricity you need a COMPLETE path for this to work. It is usually easier to blow cold air towards the stove than it is to move hot air away from it. It is also better to work with nature than against it. I would probably start by turning off all your air distribution, and go around to all your registers and door ways with a lit candle and see which way the flame is blowing, then set up my fans to help those flows along.

Gooserider