Currently in my house I have only one heat option which is propane forced air furnace and the operating cost is outrageous. I am trying to figure out what would be the best option for a wood stove or furnace would be. My house in on the larger size. It is 35' X 70' and a very open floor plan. There is a full basement under the house also that is completely unfinished but stays fairly warm because the walls are a foam core form. It is foam on the inside and outside of the cement wall making the walls about 14" thick. The floor is a bit cool but stays pretty warm even though there are no vents down there from the furnace. My thoughts are putting the wood stove near the center of the basement and letting the heat rise. There are actually open vents that are in each room to the basement as they where suppose to one day be plumbed into the gas furnace for a cold air return. Would a large wood stove put enough heat upstairs to heat it or would it be better to put the stove on the main floor. Or would an add on wood furnace plumbed into the existing pipes be the best option for my large house?
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- Thread starter coldMN17
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Welcome. With the insulated basement walls you are a step ahead. Can you put the stove relatively close to the stairway? Is the stairwell open or closed off? What would the stove use for a chimney?
How is the main part of the house constructed for insulation and ceiling?
How is the main part of the house constructed for insulation and ceiling?
The stair way is more towards one end of the house but there would be the possibility of putting the stove closer to it. There is a door into the stair way but has vents in the door and it wouldn't be a big deal to remove the door all together. For the chimney I am thinking I would get a professional to do the work as I want it done correctly and the insurance company prefers it. But, I am thinking it would go up from the stove and go through thru the main level floor with insulated pipe and I would locate it so it would come up from the basement near an existing wall. this way I could frame around the insulated pipe to hide it in a living area or corner of one of the rooms. The attic is nothing but a crawl space with around 14"-16" of blow-in insulation and the outside wall are 2x6 fully insulated walls. 8' ceilings throughout the house. The house stays pretty warm but living in northern Minnesota the last couple days we have woke up to 30 below temps and propane is not cheap. Just had the tank filled and the bill was not pretty.
How much fuel did you use in Dec.? That will give you a rough guide for stove size. I'm suspecting you'll need a 3 cu ft stove.
During the month of December I used up around 150 gallons of propane. But the temperature was below average during the month. It was -20F on multiple days. So I used more fuel that I had anticipated. This is why I want to use wood as my fuel source from now on.
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