New house build. Stove location

[Brendan713]

Hi we are planing a new house build and would like a wood stove in the basement ideally to heat the hole house. 1400sqft.

Can anyone give me some pointers on where they would place the stove ?

Thank you
Brendan

 

[stoveliker]

I would say there where you can keep the full flue inside the home. WOrks better. (less gases cooling on the way up, less deposits).

If you have a choice, I'd put it near (right across from?) the stairs. Heat can go up the stairs nicely then.
However, this works best if you are able to create a air flow circuit: get cold air to go to the basement *in a different place from where the warm air goes up*.

See this thread how I did it.

Post in thread 'Moving heat from basement'

May 1, 2023

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...

• stoveliker

• 

If you make a cold air return down to the basement on the outside wall between kitchen and living room , you get some good flow to that side of the home. But the other rooms will remain quite colder,

However, in general, it's not easy to heat a whole house with what is a space heater.

 

[begreen]

Is there an exterior entrance to the basement? If not, how does the wood get to the stove? Also, basement locations can often be a negative pressure zone. That can make installing a stove there a gamble. Definitely plan on an interior chimney up through the house and if possible an outside air supply to the stove for combustion air. Possible chase location here? Or better yet, put the stove there on the main floor.

 

[stoveliker]

Regarding outside air supply, these cannot go "up" but should end up at or below the location the air enters the stove.
So if outside grade is above the stove air inlet, that's an issue.

Also I see a furnace; unless they have their own air supply from outside, they can they suck and exhaust a lot of home air. This can lead to (more) negative pressure in the basement (see BG above).

 

[begreen]

Regarding outside air supply, these cannot go "up" but should end up at or below the location the air enters the stove.
So if outside grade is above the stove air inlet, that's an issue.

Also I see a furnace; unless they have their own air supply from outside, they can they suck and exhaust a lot of home air. This can lead to (more) negative pressure in the basement (see BG above).

Yes, thaat's a concern. There are no elevations showing grade. An outside air connection can be made if there is an air gap. Some stoves have this built in to avoid the potential for reverse venting. Another important point, if the goal is to heat both floors, is that the basement walls (and ideally the floor too) need to be insulated.

 

[qwee]

And, is the basement insulated?

 

[Brendan713]

Is there an exterior entrance to the basement? If not, how does the wood get to the stove? Also, basement locations can often be a negative pressure zone. That can make installing a stove there a gamble. Definitely plan on an interior chimney up through the house and if possible an outside air supply to the stove for combustion air. Possible chase location here? Or better yet, put the stove there on the main floor.

View attachment 346433

If I place a stove on the main floor. How cold will the basement be?

And, is the basement insulated?

Yes, the basement will be insulated.

 

[kborndale]

If I place a stove on the main floor. How cold will the basement be?

Heat doesn't travel downstairs without ducting and fans, no heat from a stove on the main floor will be going downstairs. Myself and others on here heat successfully from the basement. That said in some instances (negative pressure being a big one) problems arise. I personally have no interest in a stove on my main floor, keep the wood scraps and ash and smoke mess downstairs, not in my living room.

 

[begreen]

If I place a stove on the main floor. How cold will the basement be?

If the basement is mostly underground and well-insulated it will probably settle in at around 50-55º in the winter. The hvac system could be zoned so that the basement has its own thermostat. In that case, its temperature will be what the thermostat is set to.