Pellet stove in basement ?

[HSBull]

Howdy gents,
A true pellet noob here.
Just bought a new house (ranch) and the previous owner was able to heat most of the house with a gas stove in the open concept living area.
He also used a 1993 Englander in the basement for help on the coldest of days.
I would like to do the reverse and have reap about the challenges.
The situation I am wrestling with is that the stove I want is a P61, but have a tough time dropping 4k on stove that I am not sure would work. The basement is well insulated including the ceiling. ....it also has 2 large vents..
One reason I am thinking of upgrading is that I am away for multiple days in the winter and want something the Mrs can handle .
Any thoughts and input are appreciated.
Thanks in advance for your time, Al

 

[Bioburner]

One problem I see right off is the basement ceiling being well insulated so now all the heat will have to go through vents and stairwell. With most heating fuels being pretty cheap right now maybe changing is not in the cards this year.
Keep an eye on CL for stove posts. The numbers of them for sale is going up around MN right now. Remember you still need venting and that can be expensive.

 

[HSBull]

Great point, and I have been wrestling with removing the ceiling insulation or running duct to the vents......got a HVAC guy coming over next week to take a look...

 

[Jack Morrissey]

Do you use the basement as a living area??

 

[HSBull]

We dont...just like to keep it warm enough so the pipes don't freeze

 

[dabbaah]

Al, Is your home a ranch or split ranch?

We have a split ranch with an open stairway and heat our whole house (1200 sq ft on main level) with a Harman P68. Stove is in the unfinished room in the lower level (not a true basement) about 400 sq ft. We don't have any duct work, basement room has insulation and drop ceiling. Only one tiny vent in the floor above the stove that I don't think brings much heat up. All the heat comes from the stairway. We have an open concept living room/kitchen with cathedral ceiling. I'm amazed at how well the stove heats the whole house. I keep the stove on 72 degrees room temp (4.5 setting out of 7) in the dead of winter. Main level over the stove (living room/kitchen) is a comfortable 70 degrees. Bedrooms on the opposite end of the house are 68 degrees. I also put shrink wrap plastic on a few drafty windows on the main level. We burned 6 tons last season, mid-September to end of April.

You've come to the right place...there are alot of helpful people on this forum.

Deb

 

[HSBull]

Thanks....we are in a real ranch and 68 in the bedroom would be the warmest it has ever been....

 

[Michael6268]

Basement installs sometimes work and sometimes dont.
I tried a stove in the basement years ago. Took out insulation, had floor registers cut in floors (not legal or code, I know) and a open staircase leading upstairs.
Basement would be 90 and top of stairs 60's
Tried fan pushing warm air up-didnt work. Tried fan down low pushing cold air down-no better.
Some people do have some success though.

 

[Jack Morrissey]

I say pellet stove upstairs,

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Basement installs sometimes work and sometimes dont.
I tried a stove in the basement years ago. Took out insulation, had floor registers cut in floors (not legal or code, I know) and a open staircase leading upstairs.
Basement would be 90 and top of stairs 60's
Tried fan pushing warm air up-didnt work. Tried fan down low pushing cold air down-no better.
Some people do have some success though.

You really need to move a lot of air, I can get each floor within 10 degrees of each other. Basement 85 next floor 75 next floor up 68. But i use those big squirrel cage carpet drying fans to do it. You wont do it with a box fan or a small room fan.

 

[moey]

What type of insulation is in your basement? Spray Foam? Glued up foam? We all have different definitions of what is a good insulation job for a basement.

 

[HSBull]

All this insulation is R11....so not the best.
Thinking I may get through this yr with the Englander and next yr go new pellet on the first floor and move the gas to basement as a backup

 

[mik_kane]

Thinking I may get through this yr with the Englander and next yr go new pellet on the first floor and move the gas to basement as a backup

I had the exact same situation as you do, insulated basement with insulated ceiling between the floors in a raised ranch. When the stove was in the basement it was 85 degrees downstairs and 65 degrees upstairs. I tried fans to move the heat, it did not work. I finally moved my pellet stove upstairs and it was the best thing I did. Now the living area can be controlled to what temp I want and I use a box fan on top of the stairs tilted down leading to the basement. My basement was a constant 54 degrees all winter. If you can I would suggest that you put the pellet stove upstairs in the living area. You will also save on the amount of pellets you use.

I would look on Craigs list for a stove there are plenty of deals right now.

 

[ScotL]

Pellet furnaces and pellet boilers are basement dwellers. They work well for heating a whole house rather than a specific area. But, you need ducting with a furnace and hot water baseboard registers with a boiler.
I went from an oil boiler to a pellet boiler so it was a great fit for me. Your situation sounds different.

 

[bogieb]

Basement installs sometimes work and sometimes dont.
I tried a stove in the basement years ago. Took out insulation, had floor registers cut in floors (not legal or code, I know) and a open staircase leading upstairs.
Basement would be 90 and top of stairs 60's
Tried fan pushing warm air up-didnt work. Tried fan down low pushing cold air down-no better.
Some people do have some success though.

My exact experience (including the not-so-legal floor registers). Ended up placing a smaller stove on the main floor as with the required clearances, I had absolutely no place I could place the P61a.

 

[UpStateNY]

Best to have pellet stove in living area. That is where I get most of my savings heating the living room to 74 and the adjoining kitchen and dining room to 69. The back bedrooms are 64 and 62 just the way we like it.

 

[FishHarder]

I'm doing a wood insert in my ranch this fall. But my basement is driveway level with a garage door. So if I run the insert. The boiler won't heat my basement and possibly freeze my pipes. Any suggestions. I do HVAC work and welding for work. But industrial applications so residential I sometimes draw blanks on possible processes.

Would it be done to put a wood burn stove in the basement as well a cheap one and run it out the basement wall then through the ground and up the house?

 

[FishHarder]

Would it be dumb. Sorry. Only have one wall exposed. But it's above the bedrooms. Don't wanna freeze the little ones while they sleep. Or the pipes

 

[mass_burner]

Would a properly sized stove in the basement warm the floor above if there were no insulation in the ceiling?

 

[FishHarder]

That's what my theory was. I have a exposed ceiling and since hot air rises I would imagine it couldn't hurt

 

[bogieb]

That's what my theory was. I have a exposed ceiling and since hot air rises I would imagine it couldn't hurt

Great theory when it works (exposed ceiling, cut vents, door off of stairway), very disappointing and frustrating when it doesn't. However, having a wood stove downstairs would keep pipes warm and help heat the upstairs. my downstairs stove does assist in heating the main floor, I just can't get enough heat to rise to heat the whole house, which it should be capable of doing easily.

As far as keeping your pipes from freezing, I assume you are worried about FHW? My garage is also underhouse, so is basically half my basement (with a wall between). The garage also stays about 10-15 degrees warmer than outside temps. My FHW pipes run smack dab thru the garage (along all 3 sides and in the middle - don't ask me what they were thinking when the built this place in 1960). I was worried about those freezing so I installed a ThermGuard on my thermostat and ran that on days/evenings it was supposed to be under 15 degrees. I had it set to run for 15 minutes 3-4 times a day, depending upon temps. Easy to install, easy to program, and easy to use. Ignore that the website concentrates on those with FHA, it works fine with a boiler system.

 

[FishHarder]

Yeah. I thought of heat tracing. But the ceiling is still exposed jn the garage area and it's my kids rooms above it. Planning on removing the cinder block wall and remover garage door. Then it will be a 1350 sqft basement wide open. Was contemplating zoning the basement out but if I do that. I have to really change the half ass pipe layout of copper fin tube. Just if I could be oil free I would like to try

 

[olmec]

I heated my ranch with a 25-pdv last year. Leaving the door open and the kitchen fan on reverse. For the size of the stove, and partially finished basement; it did very well. House was always 70 unless it was really windy.

I bought a drolet eco 65 that I'm putting in soon. Gonna run the duct work to the kitchen and living room. Hoping to be more efficient this time around. Maybe a ducted stove would be better suited for you?

 

[ScotL]

I'm doing a wood insert in my ranch this fall. But my basement is driveway level with a garage door. So if I run the insert. The boiler won't heat my basement and possibly freeze my pipes. Any suggestions. I do HVAC work and welding for work. But industrial applications so residential I sometimes draw blanks on possible processes.

Would it be done to put a wood burn stove in the basement as well a cheap one and run it out the basement wall then through the ground and up the house?

I use a pellet boiler in parallel with my old oil boiler. I only use the oil boiler if I'm gone on vacation. If I had a bulk silo, I wouldn't have to use it even then. No freezing pipes that way and it heats the whole house - and provides my hot water.

 

[mass_burner]

I have a full basement, fully exposed ceilings, walled/2" thick insulated metal sliding doors separating the garage. No stairway in fireplace side of basement where I want to put in stove. I'm working now 3 days/week from home in my basement office, so I'll need something come winter.

I guess in this scenario, a stove would not help much in heating the upstairs.