How many people heat their house with a wood burning stove that’s in a uninsulated. Basement rim joists that are insulated. beside the basement walls ?
Moving heat from basement
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Lots of people do and they all waste massive amounts of heat in the process as you have been told in multiple threads before. You really don't need a new thread each time you want to ask a question again
The stove will heat the big place much better if the heat is where it is needed, on the first floor. Instead of beating this dead horse, maybe change the subject to what is preventing the stove from being installed there. An issue with tapping into the chimney was mentioned in another thread. That usually is not an issue for a competent chimney sweep. Can you expand on this and maybe post a picture of this location and include a detailed description of the chimney?
I have no problem heating my house from my basement, my basement is insulated and the stairwell is in the center of the house. When it's below 20 degrees I put a fan slowly blowing cold air down the stairs.
I actually really like heating from the basement myself. But to do it efficiently the basement needs to be insulated and airsealed
It can work when all the ingredients are right. But IIRC this is a very large house. I think somewhere in past threads 3500 sq ft was mentioned? @Itslay90 correct me if I have this wrong. Add an uninsulated basement and it's going to take a wood furnace to heat well. That is one option to get more BTUs upstairs without the heat loss.
If this were my house, I would move the stove upstairs unless there were some serious complications. That way the heat is where it's needed and the fire view is not out of sight.
The total square footage is 2,800 that’s the total of the whole house plus basement.
Like I said before I going to foamboard the concrete and just leaving the floor uninsulated.. don’t get me wrong. The stove heats my house it will only get it to 65 degrees the problem I was having before I was still learning the stove, but I got the hang of it. And what I noticed what I am doing, I do not burn 24/7 and I think I need to. And stop letting the house cool down, just to reheat it again. That’s how I used to heat with my timberline wood burning stove. Getting the house up to temperature. And I think another problem was my wood wasn’t really that seasoned. But this year I am ahead of the game.. and with the chimney, tap in. It will be in my dining room, and there’s a wall 20 feet that will be in front of the wood burning stove. For me it’s best for me just to keep the wood burning stove in the basement, just for the simple fact my boiler and pipes are down there, so I don’t have to worry bout it freezing up. When you told me bout turning down the air control I was shocked because it was heating up the basement it was 70 degrees down there. To add to that my stairs is in front of my wood burning stove in the basement, so the heat goes upstairs
If your trying to heat from a basement heating 24/7 is must. It takes about a day to get all that concrete warm so if your just doing a load than letting it cool off you never really warm the basement up. Insulate the walls and put down some carpet tiles and keep the fire going 24/7. Will make a huge difference.
Ok I have heated from an uninsulated basement before I was able to insulate. And I am telling you it's a massive difference. I don't understand why you are questioning this.
Woody Stover
Minister of Fire
Yeah, but it's easy to dominate at this time of year when traffic has slowed.. 😏
Well, it can be done. Insulating the basement walls and rim joist areas will make a large improvement. For more even heat, it might require a return path via a floor register on the opposite side of the house.
Consider starting a thread in the DIY forum about insulating options for the walls so that others that have done this can help with the process. There are some caveats and best practices that should be followed.
stoveliker
Minister of Fire
I heat from the basement, and if I include my basement squre footage, I have 2500 sqft.
825 in the basement and 1700 above that. Late 70s. Brand new triple pane windows, fantastic sealing and insulation (R57) in the attic. Mediocre wall insulation.
My basement walls are insulated, but the floor is unfortunately not.
Heating my home above the basement is easy. Only when it gets to be 5 F do I have to push the stove (as in 8 hr reloads), still keeping my main floor around 70 F.
However, I second the comment above that heating from a basement benefits from consistency, i.e. you heat constantly. Because you are pushing a lot of BTUs into the thermal reservoir that is the basement. Once that's up to temperature, you can use only the "maintenance" heat output of your stove to maintain the heat. Having to burn a 1/3 load hard to heat up the basement each time after starting the stove is just not efficient imo.
So, I only burn when it's below 40 F for 24 hrs or longer (above 40 F I use a heat pump on my own solar electrons).
If it's 50 F one day, then one night 32 F, but the next day 45 F again, I don't light the stove.
Insulation is important. My basement is often near 80 F when it's windy or below freezing outside, and it keeps my home near 70 F.
I made a register in my living room floor, used metal ducting to go to the sidewall of the basement, used an elbow and a firedamper (this is important, see below), followed by flexible duct down to the basement floor. There I have an inline fan and a register. I chased all that up.
The fan is bolted to the floor so no vibrations are going into studs. The 5 ft of flexible duct decouples the vibrations from the metal duct.
The firedamper is a piece that shuts if it gets above (I believe) 140 F. Spring loaded with some metal that melts at 140 F holding it open. That means it's fail safe (no electricity).
This is required in most places (it is here) by fire code. Your floor, even if wood, is a fire barrier - it takes quite a long time for fire to get thru there. Unless you make a hole, which I did. Hence metal ducting and a firedamper.
Now my fan is blowing as follows: it sucks the cold air from my living room floor and deposits it on the basement floor. This results in the warm (hot) air near the basement ceiling being pushed up the open stairs in the middle of my living room floor. It's I believe a 140 cfm fan - but that's without any load. The flexible duct and registers etc. will make the flow slower.
Regardless, it keeps me warm. And does so at 26 W, easily plugged into the generator that runs my fridge if the power goes out.
So, insulation, insulation, insulation.
And continuous burning, if working from the basement.
And a fan system like I have helps a lot, in my case. I know because I initially ran without a fan and it was easy to stay in the upper 60s on the living floor. Now I have to take care not to get above 72...
My climate is of course way easier than yours, and I have 300 sqft less.
But at 5 F I can do it at 8-10 hr reloads, depending on the wind.
825 in the basement and 1700 above that. Late 70s. Brand new triple pane windows, fantastic sealing and insulation (R57) in the attic. Mediocre wall insulation.
My basement walls are insulated, but the floor is unfortunately not.
Heating my home above the basement is easy. Only when it gets to be 5 F do I have to push the stove (as in 8 hr reloads), still keeping my main floor around 70 F.
However, I second the comment above that heating from a basement benefits from consistency, i.e. you heat constantly. Because you are pushing a lot of BTUs into the thermal reservoir that is the basement. Once that's up to temperature, you can use only the "maintenance" heat output of your stove to maintain the heat. Having to burn a 1/3 load hard to heat up the basement each time after starting the stove is just not efficient imo.
So, I only burn when it's below 40 F for 24 hrs or longer (above 40 F I use a heat pump on my own solar electrons).
If it's 50 F one day, then one night 32 F, but the next day 45 F again, I don't light the stove.
Insulation is important. My basement is often near 80 F when it's windy or below freezing outside, and it keeps my home near 70 F.
I made a register in my living room floor, used metal ducting to go to the sidewall of the basement, used an elbow and a firedamper (this is important, see below), followed by flexible duct down to the basement floor. There I have an inline fan and a register. I chased all that up.
The fan is bolted to the floor so no vibrations are going into studs. The 5 ft of flexible duct decouples the vibrations from the metal duct.
The firedamper is a piece that shuts if it gets above (I believe) 140 F. Spring loaded with some metal that melts at 140 F holding it open. That means it's fail safe (no electricity).
This is required in most places (it is here) by fire code. Your floor, even if wood, is a fire barrier - it takes quite a long time for fire to get thru there. Unless you make a hole, which I did. Hence metal ducting and a firedamper.
Now my fan is blowing as follows: it sucks the cold air from my living room floor and deposits it on the basement floor. This results in the warm (hot) air near the basement ceiling being pushed up the open stairs in the middle of my living room floor. It's I believe a 140 cfm fan - but that's without any load. The flexible duct and registers etc. will make the flow slower.
Regardless, it keeps me warm. And does so at 26 W, easily plugged into the generator that runs my fridge if the power goes out.
So, insulation, insulation, insulation.
And continuous burning, if working from the basement.
And a fan system like I have helps a lot, in my case. I know because I initially ran without a fan and it was easy to stay in the upper 60s on the living floor. Now I have to take care not to get above 72...
My climate is of course way easier than yours, and I have 300 sqft less.
But at 5 F I can do it at 8-10 hr reloads, depending on the wind.
I heat this way. I Just got done Insulating the drylock coated walls with 1 inch foam insulated boards on the walls and also in the rim joist area , So I Cant wait till this heating season to see the difference.
Once the heat loss through the basement walls and sill leaks have been eliminated, a great difference is guaranteed.
Yeah, is really struggling this year. And a lot of heat is escaping out the chimney, 370-380 once I turn it down
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