Finished basement or 12x14 1st floor?

[chadh]

Please help me decide on the best location to put a Woodstock Absolute Steele stove. In the link below I discussed the house and first floor location with pictures, but after kicking the idea around more and stumbling across a lightly used Absolute Steel, I went ahead a picked it up with intentions of putting it in the finished basement…..research on here is making me think maybe that’s not a great idea and my wife is ready to kill me for changing my mind every day and wasting time online

Progress Hybrid too big? Castleton reviews?

New member trying to figure out if a woodstove would work with the layout of our house and what size would be best. Thanks for all the great info I've been digging up since I found this forum! Our home is 2500 square ft with a lot of windows. Two story plus a full finished basement. We'd like...

www.hearth.com

The basement is fully Finished with a drop ceiling and the stove would be on the side of the house with the stair case. There is already an existing ventless gas stove in the corner we are considering. That spot would put the chimney exiting about ground level at the rear of the house.

The other corner would be at the base of the stair case and require the pipe to exit under the porch and go through the porch roof before going up to the second story. I’ll try to attach photos here to make It easier to understand.

Cost and ease of installation definitely goes to the first floor location….would fans push the heat around enough to keep me from regretting installing it there?

Thanks for any and all thoughts. I have scheduled an appointment for an estimate with and installer but they are past Thanksgiving just for the estimate

 

[rwhite]

I would base your decision on where you spend the most time. Beautiful stove so you want to be able to enjoy the view.

 

[chadh]

I would base your decision on where you spend the most time. Beautiful stove so you want to be able to enjoy the view.

That’s too logical! It did cross my mind that I’d rather see it on the main level for the view. Thanks for the reply. +1 for the main level

 

[begreen]

Running a long chimney pipe under the porch is a no-go. That will kill draft and lead to poor performance.

 

[chadh]

Running a long chimney pipe under the porch is a no-go. That will kill draft and lead to poor performance.

Good to know…glad I asked. Thanks

 

[begreen]

The first location looks tight for clearances to the 1st floor window eave and other side windows. That might not pass with local inspectors. Is there any way it can be piped straight up through the house?

 

[chadh]

I’m actually reading and measuring that right now. Side clearances all look good and it could sit out in the room some if need be. Just haven’t figured out if the roof is wide enough for the chimney pipe yet, gonna be close. Havent found a great location to come up through the house. Found one option but it would involve a couple awkward build
outs on the walls to cover it up. Not loving the workload/time investment in that idea.

Edit; just realized you were talking about the first basement location…my reply here was referring to the first floor location in the attached link. Here are pictures from that one

 

[Craig800]

I vote corner installation and in basement. Once the basement fills with heat it will raise upstairs fast...atleast it does in our house. You can actually feel the hot air blowing from the top of the stairs.

 

[907]

Shoot, it's too bad you can't tear down any of those walls! Tough decision.
How long would your chimney end up being if you went with the basement location replacing the gas stove?
@begreen knows MUCH more than me - but someone else experienced told me that chimneys more than 30' do tend to kill the draft with cat stoves- not to mention you'd be making 2 tight bends there AND most of the pipe would be outside. I am a novice though, I hope someone will chime in on the draft.
Is the breakfast area totally walled off?

 

[chadh]

I vote corner installation and in basement. Once the basement fills with heat it will raise upstairs fast...atleast it does in our house. You can actually feel the hot air blowing from the top of the stairs.

Glad to hear your experience, I see alot of mixed reviews and advice on here. Logic makes me think the heat will rise but I’m definitely no HVAC guy.

that chimneys more than 30' do tend to kill the draft with cat stoves- not to mention you'd be making 2 tight bends there AND most of the pipe would be outside

Good to know…I’ll crawl up and measure today but I’m pretty sure overall would be more than 30 feet from the basement. Breakfast area is open but off limits and there is already a gas fireplace on the living room.

The more I look at things, the more I’m leaning towards the first floor location. For these reasons….

That room is small but has two door size openings leading to other rooms. I’m thinking a fan at the top of each door opening could push the air around and the stairs leading to the second level are just outside the next room.

It has an outside door right next to the stove for getting wood in.

The install would be pretty straight forward and less expensive. If I decide I don’t like it later, it’s two holes to patch and I can reuse the chimney pipe.

It’s on the opposite side of the house of a gas fireplace,With a power outage, the gas fireplace in the basement, and living room plus this woodstove would easily heat the whole house.

So let’s chance this thread to talk me out of putting it in the smallish room on the first floor.

Appreciate all the thoughts and ideas…this forum group has been a huge blessing for sharing all their experiences! Definitely information overload

 

[chadh]

Running a long chimney pipe under the porch is a no-go. That will kill draft and lead to poor performance.

Was thinking about this last night and I may have communicated that idea poorly…the pipe would exit under the porch and run up the side of the house, not a long horizontal run under the porch. Would that still be an issue? It would be the same through the wall connection as the one in the back as far as I can tell

 

[kennyp2339]

- but someone else experienced told me that chimneys more than 30' do tend to kill the draft with cat stoves- not to mention you'd be making 2 tight bends there

Not true, 30 + ft my require key dampers to slow things down, to much draft can sometimes suck higher temps into the cat which then degrades the cat life faster, even with secondary reburn stoves, to much draft from high chimney's can cause over fire's, you just have to be mindful of your specific setup and be prepared to add a damper should you need it.

 

[jfhull71]

Please help me decide on the best location to put a Woodstock Absolute Steele stove. In the link below I discussed the house and first floor location with pictures, but after kicking the idea around more and stumbling across a lightly used Absolute Steel, I went ahead a picked it up with intentions of putting it in the finished basement…..research on here is making me think maybe that’s not a great idea and my wife is ready to kill me for changing my mind every day and wasting time online

Progress Hybrid too big? Castleton reviews?

New member trying to figure out if a woodstove would work with the layout of our house and what size would be best. Thanks for all the great info I've been digging up since I found this forum! Our home is 2500 square ft with a lot of windows. Two story plus a full finished basement. We'd like...

www.hearth.com

The basement is fully Finished with a drop ceiling and the stove would be on the side of the house with the stair case. There is already an existing ventless gas stove in the corner we are considering. That spot would put the chimney exiting about ground level at the rear of the house.

The other corner would be at the base of the stair case and require the pipe to exit under the porch and go through the porch roof before going up to the second story. I’ll try to attach photos here to make It easier to understand.

Cost and ease of installation definitely goes to the first floor location….would fans push the heat around enough to keep me from regretting installing it there?

Thanks for any and all thoughts. I have scheduled an appointment for an estimate with and installer but they are past Thanksgiving just for the estimate

View attachment 302130 View attachment 302131 View attachment 302132 View attachment 302133 View attachment 302134

You'll get zero heat in the basement with a first floor installation, zero....

 

[begreen]

I’m actually reading and measuring that right now. Side clearances all look good and it could sit out in the room some if need be. Just haven’t figured out if the roof is wide enough for the chimney pipe yet, gonna be close. Havent found a great location to come up through the house. Found one option but it would involve a couple awkward build
outs on the walls to cover it up. Not loving the workload/time investment in that idea.

Edit; just realized you were talking about the first basement location…my reply here was referring to the first floor location in the attached link. Here are pictures from that one

View attachment 302137

That small room would overheat quickly with just a normal doorway for the heat to exit. The stove needs to be out into the open floorplan to be most effective. What is the A4 space to the left of the living room on the plan?

 

[chadh]

That small room would overheat quickly with just a normal doorway for the heat to exit. The stove needs to be out into the open floorplan to be most effective. What is the A4 space to the left of the living room on the plan?

Yeah I just reviewed the thread from my progressive hybrid inquiry and realized you said that last time…apologize for beating a dead horse! Was hoping the smaller stove and two door ways may have made that possible.

The A4 area is a covered porch. There is a gas fireplace in the living room located at the top of the drawing so away from that probably makes the best sense. I’ll keep poking around the basement and see if I can find a reasonable way straight up. Appreciate you bearing with me!

 

[Corey]

I've only scanned this thread, but didn't see mentioned - A main consideration for me would be access to wood. Seems like this is a full basement, not a walk out? So if you put the stove in the basement, is there access to get wood down there, too? Looks like I see some 'cellar doors' so possibly you could shovel it in there? Or are you prepared to haul literal tons of wood down the stairs? A good option to me seems to be the living room - with a deck right off the side. Though possibly that doesn't work for other reasons

I agree that I'd probably want the stove where I spend the most time. Luckily in my house, that also coincided with the family room where the fireplace already is. But I guess you could look at that either way... put the stove where you spend the most time, or find the ideal place for the stove and upgrade/remodel it to be a place you want to spend time.

If you put it in the upstairs room you show, any chance to demo the wall and open that room up to the kitchen / living area?

 

[chadh]

is there access to get wood down there, too

plan is to go down the cellar doors in the back to keep the mess out of the rest of the house. Living room already has a gas fireplace as shown below and a stove in the breakfast area would really crowd out the table. Its more of a full time dining area than just breakfast.
Cant really demo the wall in the kitchen since it has cabinets, stove and microwave on it.

 

[begreen]

Your home has the same issue as ours, too much glazing. Lots of heat loss with all these windows.

Would the stove be able to go just outside of the breakfast nook? The red X marks this spot.

 

[chadh]

Your home has the same issue as ours, too much glazing. Lots of heat loss with all these windows.

Would the stove be able to go just outside of the breakfast nook? The red X marks this spot.
View attachment 302173

Yeah the home build is not my personal preference but we couldn’t pass up the property.
No room where the red x is, that wall is actually in line with the breakfast area, the drawing is off.

I’ve located an area near the corner fireplace in the basement that I think would allow a straight up pipe with the First floor section needing framed around on an open wall and the top story hidden in a closet. Still exploring this idea

After explaining the issues and workloads with the boss lady, the breakfast area may no longer be off limits…would it be a bad idea to install it in that dining area with all the windows? Thinking far right corner where the hanging plants are. It’s wide open to the kitchen and half the heat will probably go out the windows lol. Is it Still possible to eat ”near” the stove or would that be too hot? Could move the table to another room for a couple months

 

[begreen]

After explaining the issues and workloads with the boss lady, the breakfast area may no longer be off limits…would it be a bad idea to install it in that dining area with all the windows? Thinking far right corner where the hanging plants are. It’s wide open to the kitchen and half the heat will probably go out the windows lol. Is it Still possible to eat ”near” the stove or would that be too hot? Could move the table to another room for a couple months

Might work, but is this a single-story roof here? If so, that is an issue. I don't see an exterior shot of this room.

 

[chadh]

Might work, but is this a single-story roof here? If so, that is an issue. I don't see an exterior shot of this room.

It is a single story but a bit taller. Figured I’d have to extend the pipe above the lower roofline of the second story to meet the 2’ above 10’ horizontal rule but haven’t measured it yet. Really don’t love the clutter of the stove there but it may work.

Going back to the under the porch draft issue and making sure I’m communicating that plan accurately; would there be a problem coming out under the porch with a through the wall kit and running straight up the side of the house, through the porch roof and exiting above the upper eve? Would the pipe go through the eve or around it🤔 . The edge of the eve is only 10” from the side of the house so I’m guessing around since the pipe is also 10” and needs the 2” clearance? The only horizontal run would be the through the wall kit, not a long run under the porch.

 

[begreen]

To me, a long silver tube on the front of the house is going to look bad.

How about in the large hallway on the backside of the house, around where the number 13 or above that?

 

[chadh]

To me, a long silver tube on the front of the house is going to look bad.

How about in the large hallway on the backside of the house, around where the number 13 or above that?

Here are a few shots of the front of the house and what I have in mind. The pipe is on the side of the house nobody sees and would be broken up as it passes through the porch roof. You’d see the extension above the roof line from the front.

The only spot I could find to go strait up through the house left the stove 5’ off the wall in the basement and my wife really didn’t like that idea.

On the layout picture, the “bottom” of the picture is the front of the house and the breakfast area is the top. I don’t have a 2nd story layout picture to post but all the bedrooms and laundry are upstairs

 

[begreen]

OK, this makes more sense. What I was calling the front is actually the back.
Is this location in the Library room? If so, it's a little better, but primarily heating just the room due to the doorways. A ducted system in the basement could help move the heat. For the porch pipe exit location be sure to fly this proposal with dimensions past the inspecting authority to be sure they will be ok with it. Physically, it will work, but they may want it chased at the porch level.

 

[chadh]

OK, this makes more sense. What I was calling the front is actually the back.
Is this location in the Library room? For the porch pipe exit location be sure to fly this proposal with dimensions past the inspecting authority to be sure they will be ok with it. Physically, it will work, but they may want it chased at the porch level.

Ok thanks! Sorry for the run around.
This location is in the basement corner at the bottom of the steps.( Orange corner behind the couch in the earlier pictures). It is under the library but the library is too small for the stove as well so we had to go down stairs with it. Kids do some home school in the basement so should be comfy for them this winter…I’m guessing it will become the new hangout

Good call on the inspecting authority….we’re a bit out of the way so been debating if I wanted to get them involved or not lol