Should I be thinking of something for my basement?

[Bullyboy]

Ok people. I would love to hear your opinions on this. We just bought a 1250sq ft fairly open concept bungalow around Christmas. It's back up heat is a forced air electric furnace and mainly heated with an outdoor boiler which I am in the process of removing. We have purchased a Blaze King Ashford 30 and are eagerly awaiting install. It is going on the main floor almost dead center of the house, conveniently located about 8' in each direction from the only 2 cold air returns in the house. Now the basement is fully finished and the house seems pretty tight. We are planning on running the furnace fan all winter for circulation. So my question is, Should I be looking for an additional heat source for the basement or do you think we have enough? Should I just wait and see or am I out gunned right from the start? Sorry for being long winded and thanks in advance.

 

[jetsam]

I am heating a bigger house with a smaller BK and doing fine.. but I don't live in the Great White North.

Give it a winter and see. If you have to reload too often for your liking, maybe a second stove will be in order.

If you use the basement a lot, that may also be a factor.

 

[Bullyboy]

Ya, I should of mentioned usage. Zero use during the day but after school on week nights and pretty much all weekend long at least one of the kids is down there playing or watching tv. Wife only goes down to watch tv when she's had enough of hockey or football playoffs

 

[xman23]

The main living space is where the stove needs to be. I would wait and see how and when you use the basement space in the winter.

 

[bholler]

Also your stove needs to be 10 ft from any returns and circulating heat with the hvac blower rarely works well. If it was my house i would put the stove in the basement. That is just my preference.

 

[Bullyboy]

Is the 10ft from returns a suggestion or is it a serious no no? I work from home and will be on the main floor 99% of the time plus if I put it in the basement I think I would have a very hard time getting the heat upstairs. The staircase is at the opposite end of the bedrooms and additionally the entire chimney would be outside then.

 

[Bullyboy]

In saying that I spend all my time on the main floor I still want to be able to make my children comfortable when they are down there. Perhaps a smaller pellet stove?

 

[Rearscreen]

Also your stove needs to be 10 ft from any returns

I often get frustrated with directions, code, etc when there is no explanation as to why. So, my question is - why 10 feet? And additionally does this apply in another country? Does an OAK change this 10 foot rule.

 

[bholler]

I often get frustrated with directions, code, etc when there is no explanation as to why. So, my question is - why 10 feet? And additionally does this apply in another country? Does an OAK change this 10 foot rule.

The reason is that if the return is to close it can cause a negative pressure near the stove which can pull smoke and or co out and distribute it through the house. It is a very real danger the code is there for a reason. And no an oak does not change that requirement at all.

 

[bholler]

Ahh bullyboy i see now you are from canada you will need to check Canadian code

 

[bholler]

But having the only returns that close to the stove asdcares me.

 

[mcdougy]

Same code in Canada 10' minimum from a cold air return

 

[Bullyboy]

I felt like being sick when I read this. Had to take the kids to school this morning and then rush home and measure. Thankfully my perception of size and space is way off. From the front of the stove to tip of closest return is 140" just over 11 1/2 ft. Wow, that got my heart racing. Lol. Last thing I want to do is endanger the family. If something happens to them who's gonna take care of me when I'm older?

 

[MAD777]

Last thing I want to do is endanger the family. If something happens to them who's gonna take care of me when I'm older?

Now that's FUNNY! :D

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[Poindexter]

The trouble with cold air returns is they often run outside the insulation envelope.

Guven your basment is finished and likely the air returns are inside the envelope it is worth a try.

How well are tour basement walls insulated?

 

[Bullyboy]

They seem to be pretty good. 2x6 construction and I just put in new sliding doors and picture window. The floor seems colder then it should be but other then that it seems to hold the heat fairly well but not as much as the main floor.

 

[maple1]

In saying that I spend all my time on the main floor I still want to be able to make my children comfortable when they are down there. Perhaps a smaller pellet stove?

That might be something to consider - a pellet stove can ramp up & down as heat is needed too, with intermittent use down there. It might turn out to be pretty hard to get the upstairs heat circulated to the basement. That might also lead to chilly feeling floors. You likely won't really know for sure though until you try it & see how it goes.

Is one level or the other better for wood handling & storage? If there is a place for it downstairs & easy access from outdoors, that might influence.

 

[Bullyboy]

Both up and down is easy enough access for wood. I would be to scared to install in the basement thou. I think I would rather live with a chilly basement sometimes then a chilly main floor. As I said, my wife and I spend most of our time on main floor and we both are looking forward to watching the fire. Another problem with a wood stove down there is that the chimney would completely run outside where as I think we could direct vent a pellet stove. Just not sure I need both yet.

 

[begreen]

If the basement heat is more temporary then put an on demand heater there. The cheapest to install would be electric space heating, but a wood pellet or a vented gas heater could also work.

 

[Bullyboy]

I'm thinking I'm gonna have to take everyone's advise and just wait till winter comes back and see how well it's working. If need be I'm leaning towards a small pellet stove. Not sure if it's a good idea or not to be running wood and pellets but I guess time will tell.

 

[mcdougy]

Imo a propane or gas direct vent fireplace or freestanding Gas stove would be the answer for your size basement. Put it on a thermostat, and it will be supplemental to your BK. You know you are going to get "some" Heat moving in both directions. I would be afraid that with 2 burning devices it would be hard to control heat output. Something on a t-stat only works when needed. Again due to the size of the basement a gas firplace will take it from cold to toasty warm by the tv in 10 minutes max. Cool floor is prolly never going to go away. Easiest sorta fix for that would be the insulated subfloor panels.