Help with a possible newbie to wood heating

[huddy]

Hello all,

I currenlty heat my ranch house in the northeast with a oil boiler. I have 1200 square feet of living space on the main floor and then a completely finished basement with another 1200 to heat. I really want to rid myself of the boiler outide of supplementing a very small amount of heat.

I would really like to put a stove in one corner of my upstairs and then put another one in the opposite side of the house in the basement.

My questions:

1. Is that too much or is the space big enough that I will need two stoves?
2. Would wood stoves be the best in both spots?
3. Roughly how much wood am I looking at to heat each winter?

thanks in advance

 

[NortheastAl]

I'm thinking you could heat the house with one stove in the basement. Two would be better, of course, but then you need two flues. If price is no object, go for it.

The amount of wood you use is going to be dependent on a lot of variables, like, insulation, ceiling height, type and amount of windows, etc.

I heat 1600 sq ft with my medium sized stove and I had the oil furnace turn on maybe twice since we put in the woodstove, and that was in the morning when the temp fell below 62°on an overnight burn.

 

[rwhite]

1. Can definately be done. It's pretty hard to get heat to move through a floor though. If I tried with one one big stove in my basement I would cook out before I got the upstairs warm. So it depends on how much you use the basement. My office and tv room are there so I spend quite a bit of time down there. I have a gas furnace in the basement and a wood burner on the main floor. I can run my furnace for 1/2 hour or so in the morning and it's good all day with no other heat. If you set on wood stoves then 2 that are the right size would work fine. Have you looked into a wood furnace or boiler to replace the oil burner?

3. Someone else from your area may chime in but I usually figure at least a cord a month. I'm usually a little less than that but it don't go bad.

 

[Motor7]

Hud there are lot's of variables in your question. For starters, what part of the country are you in & how well is your home insulated?

My basement is unfinished & I am currently heating 1080 sq ft(ea floor) and there is no way my stove would heat the main floor if the basement was finished. I am using two computer fans to pull warm air up into the main floor at two registers & with that the basement stays around 75+ degrees & the main at 65ish. A two stove set up for your application is most likely the best scenario.

 

[huddy]

Thank you for all of the replies.

I understand that there are too many variables going on to give me clear answers and I just wanted to get a general idea.

I have not really thought about a wood boiler, and I really liking the idea of having the stoves.

My house is not insulated that well which is a bummer. There are a lot of drafts through the upstairs windows and I cannot affort to get those fixed plus the new stove(s).

 

[rwhite]

Insulation and good windows will pay far more dividends than more heat. Even if its just the ceilings and floors the insulation will help immensly.

 

[HotCoals]

Put one stove on the floor you are in most is my thought.
Then help heat the other floor with your furnace...see how it goes?
Two floors above grade will heat way easier then if one of the floors is below grade.

 

[HotCoals]

Insulation and good windows will pay far more dividends than more heat. Even if its just the ceilings and floors the insulation will help immensly.

Insulate the floors?

 

[rwhite]

Insulate the floors?

Guess I should have qualified that statement. My basement has a crawl space utility corridor down each side. So there was empty unheated space there and the floors were constantly cold over those areas. I insulated those and the outside stub wall that I could get to.

 

[HotCoals]

Guess I should have qualified that statement. My basement has a crawl space utility corridor down each side. So there was empty unheated space there and the floors were constantly cold over those areas. I insulated those and the outside stub wall that I could get to.

Ah..I see!

 

[Motor7]

One more thing Hud...are the basement walls either under ground or insulated? Regular block wall only has an R-value of 1, so heating a block basement is tough unless you have insulated the walls either inside or out.

 

[Waulie]

Howdy!

Minnesota or Alabama? Makes a big difference.

Is the floor plan on both levels pretty open or all chopped up?

If money is no object, then 2 stoves would definitely be the way to go. I would get two identical small to medium size cat stoves if money was no object. Look at Woodstock Keystone or the smaller Blaze King stoves. These can be turned low to offer a lower heat output but much longer burns.

I would plan on at least 4 full cords of wood a year but it really depends on your climate. If you're thinking about doing this next winter, get your wood split and stacked now! Without nice, dry wood, you'll likely go back to the boiler out of frustration.

 

[dwaynecornhauler]

I would go with a wood burner on main floor in the living/family room with a ceiling fan to disperse heat. In basement I would go with a multi-fuel or pellet stove. Turn the pellet stove on when you want it and you don't have as much install price for the pipe. Also gives you many variables for a fuel source.