Hello all,
We're buying a new home (well, new to us!) .. which currently has an oil furnace. I've never used oil before as our homes have always been natural gas (which will not be available). What with oil prices as they are, I'm very interested in going with a wood stove for our primary heat, using the oil for back-up only.
The house is a 25 year old double-wide with a full unfinished basement (block walls, concrete floor). The basement had a woodstove in it, but the previous owners took it with them.. so there is a chimney all ready to go.
The house is about 1500 sq.ft, and the basement is the same, so I'm looking to heat 3000 sq.ft with the stove (we'd like to keep the basement nice and warm as well).
I guess my question is this.. what is the best way to get the most even heat thoughout the home.. it has an open floorplan with a master bed/bath on one side, and 2 beds/bath on the other..
My MIL said she used to have a stove with a "heat collector" that would vent the heat all upstairs to one room, and it would keep the whole house warm.. not sure how that would work though.
At the moment there is ductwork for the furnace, but the ceiling in the basement is unfinished with no insulation, so placing vents would be as easy as cutting a few holes in the floor!
Once I know how the heat is going to be installed/distributed, then we'll work on putting in insulation so we're not heating the entire neighborhood
Oh, and I would like the system to work without requiring electricity.
We have plenty of room in outbuildings to keep firewood, so I know to get that stocked up asap
We're buying a new home (well, new to us!) .. which currently has an oil furnace. I've never used oil before as our homes have always been natural gas (which will not be available). What with oil prices as they are, I'm very interested in going with a wood stove for our primary heat, using the oil for back-up only.
The house is a 25 year old double-wide with a full unfinished basement (block walls, concrete floor). The basement had a woodstove in it, but the previous owners took it with them.. so there is a chimney all ready to go.
The house is about 1500 sq.ft, and the basement is the same, so I'm looking to heat 3000 sq.ft with the stove (we'd like to keep the basement nice and warm as well).
I guess my question is this.. what is the best way to get the most even heat thoughout the home.. it has an open floorplan with a master bed/bath on one side, and 2 beds/bath on the other..
My MIL said she used to have a stove with a "heat collector" that would vent the heat all upstairs to one room, and it would keep the whole house warm.. not sure how that would work though.
At the moment there is ductwork for the furnace, but the ceiling in the basement is unfinished with no insulation, so placing vents would be as easy as cutting a few holes in the floor!
Once I know how the heat is going to be installed/distributed, then we'll work on putting in insulation so we're not heating the entire neighborhood
Oh, and I would like the system to work without requiring electricity.
We have plenty of room in outbuildings to keep firewood, so I know to get that stocked up asap