Need help picking a stove

[lilroy]

OK, I read the sticky about not using this forum for making my final selection on what stove to buy and it is very clear.

Here's my situation. I want to install a wood stove in the basement of my large victorian home. The installation will be very simple and the appearance of the stove is not at all important. I'm not interested in a new stove either. What I am looking for is a used stove that makes a lot of heat and has long burn times. The stove does not need to be EPA certified or even be currently in production. I don't plan on buying one based on a recommendation from this site alone, but will use your suggestions to start researching the best make and model for my needs.

I'm ready for your ideas!!

 

[begreen]

OK, I read the sticky about not using this forum for making my final selection on what stove to buy and it is very clear.

Here's my situation. I want to install a wood stove in the basement of my large victorian home. The installation will be very simple and the appearance of the stove is not at all important. I'm not interested in a new stove either. What I am looking for is a used stove that makes a lot of heat and has long burn times. The stove does not need to be EPA certified or even be currently in production. I don't plan on buying one based on a recommendation from this site alone, but will use your suggestions to start researching the best make and model for my needs.

I'm ready for your ideas!!

Lots of potential issues here:
I want to install a wood stove in the basement of my large victorian home. - Strike one. The stove is an area heater. It is going to be most effective heating the area in which it's installed. Is the stove just for heating the basement or is the intent to heat the house? If the house, then maybe a wood furnace or boiler would be more appropriate.
The stove does not need to be EPA certified or even be currently in production Possible strike two. Why? Is this cost driven? If so, has the tax credit figured into the equation?

To avoid strike three, how about starting with describing the house, the square footage, open or closed floor plan, etc. so that we can visualize what is really being asked here? Is there already a chimney flue in the basement? Will a safe liner be installed? Is the basement insulated? How is the heat getting upstairs?

 

[EatenByLimestone]

And what is your source of wood? Do you have space to store all of it? If you have a large non EPA stove you will be feeding it quite a bit of wood to heat a "large" victorian home. It's not uncommon to hear of at least a 30% reduction in the amount of wood used. Sometimes you hear of a larger reduction. You could be looking at 4-5 thousand pounds less wood fed into the stove.


Matt

 

[Fsappo]

Putting the stove in the basement is fine if your just looking to heat the basement. You also may want to consider insulating the basement walls. It's my personal opinion that if you got a stove large enough, even with the basement sucking up a lot of heat, you could make enough heat to go up the basement stairs depending on air flow, cold air return, etc. Whats the square footage of the basement? Also, you can buy a large decent quality used stove for 500-800 dollars. You can buy a monster of a stove like the one I use, (buy it new, not used) the Enerzone 3.4 for about $2,000, get 30% as a tax rebate and your net cost will be about $1400. If you dont already have a chimney in the basement you can also deduct 30% off the labor and materials involved in getting your new EPA certified stove installed. Sometimes when you factor in the cost savings via the federal rebate on the materials/labor a new stove ends up costing the same or less than a used one.

The only down side to the monster I used to heat my home was the burn time. It was hard to get it to go more than 8 hours..the heat though was insane. I was only offering this as an example.

 

[VCBurner]

Lilroy,
I've heated my whole house for a year with a used stove I bought from craigslist for $80. The only difference is I only heat 1000 ft °F of a single story ranch and 760ft ² of the basement. If you want something that'll create enough heat to go to the upstairs you may be asking a little too much. Not because of its heating capabilities but because of getting the amout of heat you want up two stories. If you attempt it, I would suggest the biggest stove with a blower you can get for your budget. There will be at least a ten degree difference from floor to floor in certain areas.

 

[summit]

All nighter... you'll burn at least a cord more, and you should clean the chim 2x a yr, but it will heat your house from the basement... next is to find one, they are a rarity.

 

[lilroy]

Thanks for the help. I will try to answer some of the questions.

First, my goal is not to heat the house entirely with wood, but instead to supplement my heating system.

Second, I have an excellent supply of wood on my property.

What has happened here is that I installed a high efficiency boiler in my house and now I have a free chase in my masonry chimney. The house is roughly 3000 square feet. The basement is roughly 1500 square feet and the chimney is located in roughly the middle of the home. There is only one register in the home between the basement and the first floor and none between the first floor and the second floor. The house has two staircases, one is very large and open and the other is not. The basement is insulated. If I install a wood stove I plan to have a professional install a stainless liner.

The idea of getting an older stove is simply cost driven. No matter what stove I install, I have to have a safe chimney. Like I mentioned, I will have a professional install the chimney (looks like 6 inch is the standard size). With that said, I would like to try this out with a cheap stove before buying a more efficient model. I have to imagine that no matter how many questions I ask online or how many times I have a Pro come in to look at my situation I won't know if this will work until I fire up a stove.

Thanks for the ideas so far.

 

[moosetrek]

Englander NC30 - New about $900; sometimes less on sale. Factor in a 30% tax credit, it is EPA approved. Total about $5-600. The chimney will run you a lot more than the stove. You get a big relaible stove, new, for the same you might shell out for a decent used one. Drop another $150 on the blower, or wait and see since you're in the basement and need to move the heat upstairs.

 

[lilroy]

Englander NC30 - New about $900; sometimes less on sale. Factor in a 30% tax credit, it is EPA approved. Total about $5-600. The chimney will run you a lot more than the stove. You get a big relaible stove, new, for the same you might shell out for a decent used one. Drop another $150 on the blower, or wait and see since you're in the basement and need to move the heat upstairs.

This seems to be exactly what I am looking for, THANK YOU.

 

[begreen]

I would second the idea of getting a big Englander to try out this hypothesis. The real challenge will be getting a meaningful amount of heat upstairs from the basement. But I would also seriously think about putting the heat where it will be most effectively appreciated. Usually that is on the first floor. Look and think hard about installing an insert, hearth stove or freestanding on the first floor for a possibly more satisfying experience.

 

[lilroy]

I would second the idea of getting a big Englander to try out this hypothesis. The real challenge will be getting a meaningful amount of heat upstairs from the basement. But I would also seriously think about putting the heat where it will be most effectively appreciated. Usually that is on the first floor. Look and think hard about installing an insert, hearth stove or freestanding on the first floor for a possibly more satisfying experience.

I here ya about getting it up on the first floor. Right now there is an open fireplace one the first floor. I realize no one will believe me, but for whatever reason I can heat my first floor with the fireplace. I imagine that it is a combination of factors like the fact that the chimney is centrally located, that the firebox is at floor level, that there is marble and brick that radiates heat, and that there is a fire back. The big problem with the fireplace is that the fires don't last very long so no heating takes place at night and my wife doesn't like all the work needed to constantly feed a fireplace fire when I'm at work (I don't blame her). I am thinking this little experiment will take the edge off over night and if it works, provide some heat all winter long instead of just weekends. Not only that, but I have two kids and heat in the basement might come in handy someday soon (They're 3 years old and one month old right now).

Bottom line, we really like our fireplace, but we aren't completely ruling out a hearth stove. Any suggestions for those? The fire box is 31x27x16.

 

[VCBurner]

I didn't know there was an option, at least a glimmer, of putting in a hearth stove/insert. No doubt, if you can heat the first floor with a fireplace (they achieve less than 20% efficiency at best,) the proper size stove could potentially heat your entire 3000ft °F home. This may be your best option. Later on, when the kids start using the basement as a play area, then add another one. By then you'll be totally hooked on wood heating and the saving/enjoyment you'll get!! The options are endless, cast iron, plate steel, soapstone, or a combination of those. Catalytic or non catalytic. Anywhere from large to no fireview window. You'll get a variety of answers here! People can tend to be biased. Your best bet is, look at different kinds of stoves at a few different places, narrow down the kind of look you and your significant other like. Then come back here and look at the stove ratings. This will tell you what kind of experiences people had with specific stoves. You can also post about a certain stove and get an array of answers, good and bad. If you are new to burning wood it's a learning experience no matter what you get.

I have a couple of questions. Where's your wood stored? How much wood do you consider a lot? What kind of wood is it you have? Do you plan on cutting, splitting, stacking the wood your self?
A suggestion: if you plan on burning soon, get it out of the rain if it's not already.

 

[lilroy]

I have a couple of questions. Where's your wood stored? How much wood do you consider a lot? What kind of wood is it you have? Do you plan on cutting, splitting, stacking the wood your self?
A suggestion: if you plan on burning soon, get it out of the rain if it's not already.

A few years ago we had some really bad storms go through. Many trees in my parent's woods and on my grandfather's land were broken off roughly six feet off the ground. (Tornado) The wood is oak, poplar, and hickory. I have been burning poplar and hickory in the fireplace. I haven't had to season the wood. I have been testing it with one of those electronic 4 prong testers and it consistently comes in at 20% moisture, which I understand is ideal. There is about thirty acres of this wood.

So to answer your questions. The wood is stored on my family's land. All I have to do is cut, split, and stack it in my garage. (This has worked on the first two cords that I have ran through my fireplace.) I expect that I will go through a least 3 cords of wood in a winter. I do plan on doing all of the cutting, splitting, and stacking. I need the exercise

 

[VCBurner]

Good! Hickory and oak are some of the most dense woods, they also yield the most BTU's when seasoned correctly. Burning wood in a fireplace is a totally different experience. To burn wood in most newer stoves it must be dry. even if the moisture meter reads 20% on the surface of a split it could be 30% humidity in the center. You will find, most new burners on this site run into problems because of semi seasoned wood in a new stove!! In order to unlock the benefits of that dense oak and hickory it must be kept out of the rain for one to two years. Sun and wind exposure are what dries the wood, but all you need is one rain storm and that wood will suck up water like a sponge. Trust me, you'll only be doing your self a favor by covering as much as you can (tarps can do wonders, plastic, etc...) If you think you'll be burning 3 cords/year, then get 4-5 ready because people burn more than they expect once they get used to the heat. If I were you, I'd get at least 8 cords ready as soon as possible!! That may last you the next two seasons. Once you burn for a whole season, you'll get the hang of how much you'll really need. Keep records: log your outdoor temps and wood consumption, they'll help you determine how much you'll need in the future. I'm heating 1,760ft ² entirely by wood. I've saved over 1,500 in heating costs just this winter. Once you see the savings and feel the nice heat you'll be hooked.

Selecting a stove is a totally different subject. It's highly subjective to personal preference. All I can say is, to heat the kind of space you have, from the basement or upstairs, you'll need something big!