Stove in a basement. Is BK suitable for me?

[Dmitry]

I have FPX large hybrid insert on a main floor and happy with it so far. There is a huge fireplace in finished basement that begging for wood stove to be put in there.. We are planning to use basement occasionally for karaoke night or to have some drinks at the basement bar. Since I've read a lot of great reviews about BK I was thinking to put The Princess in there one day. On other hand, since we not using it full time no long heat output required. , I started to think about regular stove. I found 1 year old Osburne 2400 on a craiglist for $1100.( costs $2200 new) May be this is a way to go.
What do you, guys , think?

 

[mol1jb]

The biggest difference between stove vs insert is use of fan. A flush insert will rely heavily on use of the fan to heat. Free standing stove will not.

 

[Dmitry]

The biggest difference between stove vs insert is use of fan. A flush insert will rely heavily on use of the fan to heat. Free standing stove will not.

Yeah, I know that. My question is : Do I really want to invest in BK in my situation or just go with used Osburn 2400 .

 

[JA600L]

The benefit of a blaze king is its very low burn capability. When it is burning this low there are no flames. So you're looking at a black box. If your entertaining guests a fire might be more desirable. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Dmitry]

The benefit of a blaze king is its very low burn capability. When it is burning this low there are no flames. So you're looking at a black box. If your entertaining guests a fire might be more desirable. Just my 2 cents.

Very good "2 cents". I was thinking about it as well

 

[kennyp2339]

The other added benefit is the longer burn times, you can do once a day load cycles and then not run the upstairs insert as hard when it gets really cold out.
Just and FYI, those BK stoves like insulated liners, there flue gas temps are so low that if you go un-insulated you will get build up fast. Just be aware when pricing things out.

 

[Heftiger]

Also, if you install the princess you will have stove envy when upstairs. [emoji12]

 

[Isaiah53]

I went with a BK Ashford 30 in my finished walk-out basement, mainly because I was concerned about overheating the place. It works real well for that purpose. If you are only intending to use it occasionally for a few hours at a time, I would probably lean to a simple stove that can fire up quickly and go out in a few hours. The idea of using it as supplemental heat for the upstairs sounds enticing, but running two units is more work, uses more wood, and it does not sound like you really want to maintain the basement at high temperatures 24/7 .

 

[Pug]

I have a freestanding Osburn 2400 in my basement. I paid about $2,200 for it this last February brand new. It is a nice stove and I did lots of comparing and looking before purchasing it. It has the new dual burn technology. Does the used one you are looking at have it? If not check out the burn rates and EPA rating compared to a new one. It puts out the heat and has a beautiful burn view.

 

[Highbeam]

I have FPX large hybrid insert on a main floor and happy with it so far. There is a huge fireplace in finished basement that begging for wood stove to be put in there.. We are planning to use basement occasionally for karaoke night or to have some drinks at the basement bar. Since I've read a lot of great reviews about BK I was thinking to put The Princess in there one day. On other hand, since we not using it full time no long heat output required. , I started to think about regular stove. I found 1 year old Osburne 2400 on a craiglist for $1100.( costs $2200 new) May be this is a way to go.
What do you, guys , think?

What are you trying to accomplish? The BK is a perfect basement heater due to being an excellent provider of heat. If you aren't looking for optimal heat production and are most concerned with a pretty fire, then any cheaper stove will work. Heck, have you considered a gas stove?

 

[jetsam]

The Princess insert is semiflush, so the fan is helpful but not required. (I had my fan on low last night- wind chills of 20F- but it's been off all day, and the living room is 75F).

You can have a fire show in a BK any time you want just by twisting a knob. If it's a black box, that's because you chose to burn it on low. (Which is a super nice option, by the way- how often do you want to carry wood down to the basement?)

If you will really only burn it once in a while and mostly for the light show, put glass doors on the existing fireplace and call it a day.

 

[Dmitry]

I have a freestanding Osburn 2400 in my basement. I paid about $2,200 for it this last February brand new. It is a nice stove and I did lots of comparing and looking before purchasing it. It has the new dual burn technology. Does the used one you are looking at have it? If not check out the burn rates and EPA rating compared to a new one. It puts out the heat and has a beautiful burn view.

Can you feel the heat from it upstairs? I have a ranch with entrance to the basement in a middle of the floor. Wondering if I will need to run the stove upstairs when running this one.

 

[Highbeam]

I've housesat houses just like yours that heated from the basement. Worked fine. Better when the basement ceiling was unfinished. I actually housesat the home before and after the basement was finished with sheetrock and the difference was noticeable. Most of the heating was still done from the basement, the upstairs was slower to react after the sheetrock.

 

[Dmitry]

The half of the ceiling is unfinished , so it might work well.

 

[JA600L]

My basement ceiling is open joists in the stove room and drop ceiling in the room beside it. The staircase is in the middle. I insulated all the basement walls and rim joists. My setup works very well.

 

[Dmitry]

My basement ceiling is open joists in the stove room and drop ceiling in the room beside it. The staircase is in the middle. I insulated all the basement walls and rim joists. My setup works very well.

I can see you got two stoves, whish one is in a basement? How would you compare heating from basement to heating from main floor. I know that wood stove is a space heater by design. But still..

 

[JA600L]

I can see you got two stoves, whish one is in a basement? How would you compare heating from basement to heating from main floor. I know that wood stove is a space heater by design. But still..

My Ideal Steel Hybrid is in the basement. The Quadra fire is upstairs. The Ideal Steel carries all of the heat load fall to spring. The Quad is there for added comfort on the frigid windy nights when my 2x4 walls can't keep the cold out.

The Quad is sitting in a room that it is way too big for so I don't use it often. I like heating from the basement better. It has a nice convective loop up the staircase. I do have some negative pressure issues in the basement. I had to add 3ft to my 25ft chimney to avoid smoke spillage with the door open.

The upstairs stove is on a 15ft masonry chimney and drafts fine. The difference between a negative and neutral pressure plane can be pretty big.

 

[Crosscut]

My Ideal Steel Hybrid is in the basement. The Quadra fire is upstairs. The Ideal Steel carries all of the heat load fall to spring. The Quad is there for added comfort on the frigid windy nights when my 2x4 walls can't keep the cold out.

The Quad is sitting in a room that it is way too big for so I don't use it often. I like heating from the basement better. It has a nice convective loop up the staircase. I do have some negative pressure issues in the basement. I had to add 3ft to my 25ft chimney to avoid smoke spillage with the door open.

The upstairs stove is on a 15ft masonry chimney and drafts fine. The difference between a negative and neutral pressure plane can be pretty big.

I have a basement install with a 25' chimney too. My current smoke dragon draws like a beast with no smoke spillage. Just wondering if the Ideal Steel would pose any draft issues. I really have to keep the Fisher choked down due to excessive draft.....even in shoulder season.

 

[JA600L]

I have a basement install with a 25' chimney too. My current smoke dragon draws like a beast with no smoke spillage. Just wondering if the Ideal Steel would pose any draft issues. I really have to keep the Fisher choked down due to excessive draft.....even in shoulder season.

It's definitely the chimney/negative pressure. It sometimes back drafts when the stove isn't used. I think some of the smoke spillage was from the strong convective loop of the house pulling the heat up the staircase. Other stoves that were on that flue had the same issues. Adding 3 ft made a huge difference. As long as I use good practice I don't have the issue anymore.

 

[blueguy]

I heat from the basement with a Sirocco 30 just fine. As long as your walls are insulated, it will work.

 

[Crosscut]

I heat from the basement with a Sirocco 30 just fine. As long as your walls are insulated, it will work.

I do, too. Just wondering if there is a difference in draft requirements for Ideal Steel vs. my Fisher. My stack temp on warm days is probably as low as a cat stove.....thus all the creosote that I have. Looking forward to the hybrid burn and a much cleaner chimney.

 

[Woody Stover]

Can you feel the heat from it upstairs? Wondering if I will need to run the stove upstairs when running this one.

If the stove is located near the stairs, and you leave the door open, you should get a good convective loop of heat to the upstairs in addition to heat radiated through the floor. It may work pretty well in mild weather.

 

[Crosscut]

If the stove is located near the stairs, and you leave the door open, you should get a good convective loop of heat to the upstairs in addition to heat radiated through the floor. It may work pretty well in mild weather.

I have a pretty good setup and am very lucky. I can heat from the basement down to about 15F without supplemental heat. My house was built in the 50s, so windows and doors would make a night and day difference. I'm looking for cleaner/longer burns with my Ideal Steel. Mainly to cut down on creosote and chimney maintenance. Also planning on a SS liner inside my existing clay liner, so the draft should improve some from that.

 

[woodhog73]

This is a great thread. Your situation sounds similiar to mine. I run a quadrafire 3100 insert upstairs it does an adequate job of heating the upstairs. Not great but ok enough.

I've got a partially finished basement with a walk out. No fireplace but a hearth area where you can put a wood stove. And a connection into the 2nd flue from this area

I thought about the same things your thinking about. However I'm never downstairs so I need something with very long burn times in the basement. I'm thinking a cat stove ?

Also there's a forced hot air heating duct that runs right above where the wood stove would go. Do you think if I cut an opening in the air duct and put a register there, the heat from the basement stove will naturally fill my furnace air ducts enough to make it's way to the upstairs and out the registers ?

 

[Crosscut]

This is a great thread. Your situation sounds similiar to mine. I run a quadrafire 3100 insert upstairs it does an adequate job of heating the upstairs. Not great but ok enough.

I've got a partially finished basement with a walk out. No fireplace but a hearth area where you can put a wood stove.

I thought about the same things your thinking about. However I'm never downstairs so I need something with very long burn times in the basement. I'm thinking a cat stove ?

Also there's a forced hot air heating duct that runs right above where the wood stove would go. Do you think if I cut an opening in the air duct and put a register there, the heat from the basement stove will naturally fill my furnace air ducts ?

Lots of opinions on this regarding efficiencies and code issues. I have found that the faster you move air, the more it cools so a good convective loop would probably be a bit more efficient than a forced air system.....if you get good flow. How you get that loop is up to you, your building inspector and your insurance (if you decide to involve them), but, yes it is possible. Don't ask me how I know BTW, ducting is pretty much intended for use on forced air systems. If one tried to introduce convective heat into the system, I wouldn't expect it to travel very far along the duct work without massive cooling.....unless you're running a nuclear reactor in the basement.