Stove in Basement?

[valentine92]

I've read many threads on this subject but would still like some opinions.

We live in a ranch home with a basement. The first floor is 1300 square feet and the basement is 1300 square feet as well, the basement is inground. Approximately 400 square feet of the basement is finished with a drop down ceiling. The house was built in the early 60's

We are looking at pellet stoves and were thinking of putting it in the unfinished part of the basement. We have no insulation in the ceiling and have wood floors above on the floors. We will cut registers for the heat to rise if that would help the situation.

The unfinished part of the basement is cement block wall and is completely drylocked. The basement never goes below 59 degrees without heat on in the home.


Do you think if we get a pellet stove installed in the unfinished part of the basement that the heat will rise? We really have nowhere to put it on the first floor so that is why we are looking at the basement. We would be happy with the first floor reaching the mid 60's in temperature. 70 degrees would really be ideal.

We are looking at the Harman p68 stove do you think that stove is big enough for our needs? What temperature do you think the basement will be with the stove running?

Are there any other stoves we should be looking at?



I know I am asking a lot of quesiton, but we really do appreciate any help we are trying to make the right decision.

 

[BubbRubb]

My P68 is in the basement and while I burn more fuel to get the heat upstairs, it does a nice job of keeping it at 70 degrees. That stove is enough for your square footage needs and temperature goals.

 

[webbie]

I guess my question is why are you buying a pellet stove as opposed to a Pellet Furnace?
(broken link removed to http://www.americanenergysystems.com/magnum6500.cfm)

is one example.

When it comes to actually saving money on heat, the key is efficiency....and that means not wasting a drop of heat to areas that you are not living in. You will burn more pellets to heat less area with a freestander downstairs....in fact, the difference is so great that in most cases it would pay you to burn oil in your central heat instead.

 

[valentine92]

We are just trying to save some money since oil is up to $4.59 a gallon here. I was hoping that by using the pellet stove that I would save money, possibly only using 3 tons a year in compared to 800 gallons of oil.

Is this possible ?

 

[webbie]

We are just trying to save some money since oil is up to $4.59 a gallon here. I was hoping that by using the pellet stove that I would save money, possibly only using 3 tons a year in compared to 800 gallons of oil.

Is this possible ?

No, that is not possible - not nearly possible.

Each ton of pellets contains approx 160 million BTU, which is the same as about 120 gallons of oil. So three tons would take care of less than 1/2 your heating.

If you want to save money, there are two pellet options:

1. Install the stove into the actual heated space - this will give the money-saving advantage of space heating in addition to any fuel savings.
2. Install a pellet central heating system into the unfinished basement and duct the heat upstairs.

The savings, in the end, will depend on the price of the various fuels over the years....AND, even more important the efficiency you get from the various appliances. Efficiency is like MPG.........

 

[valentine92]

Thank you soo much for all the useful information.

We do have a fireplace on the main floor of the house in the living room. However it is a small fireplace.

The deminsions are as follows:

25 inches wide at the front of the fireplace
18 inches wide at the back o f the fireplace
20 inches deep
23 1/2 incles height

Originally we wanted to get a pellet insert but had no luck finding a dealer that made on small enough to fit our fireplace and we really dont have the room in front of the fireplace to put a stove.

Does anyone know of a pellet stove that would fit those deminsions?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[begreen]

If the pellet stove is installed in the living space as opposed to the basement, it may save some money over the oil system, especially if this is a ducted, forced air heating system and the ductwork is uninsulated. An uninsulated basement can suck a lot btus into the surrounding block and earth. By putting the stove in the first floor living space all of the heat from the stove convected and radiated by the stove will go into the living space.

Note that it will still be good to occasionally run the furnace during cold snaps to avoid pipe freezing. Insulating the basement and the duct runs will also reduce losses there.

 

[webbie]

Remember that no savings is attained by installing a pellet stove into a fireplace as opposed to putting it elsewhere....due to the generally lower venting costs. So the only real reason to put it into the FP is if that is the best place anyway.

You need a height measurement also.

I am not real familiar with exact sizes these days, so perhaps another member will add some suggestions on small inserts.

 

[pete324rocket]

just my 2 cents worth,but it comes from experience.My pellet stove is in the basement. The basement is a poured concrete wall.I was insulating early this spring all 4 walls. Got a goverment grant-very generous. The method is 1 inch bubble styrofoam glued to the wall,a 2 by 4 stud wall 2 inches from the wall and 6 inch batts in the cavities.No thermal connection from the studs to the wall.As I was putting up the cheap bubble styrofoam,on the walls,I noticed a huge difference.It is probably not fire safe -insurance wise but if you had limited funds or little time,even gluing that stuff to the walls can be a great help.Just my 2 cents.