what would you do?

[yknotcarpentry]

HI all,
I just found this site tonight and have read through a bunch of threads, great stuff!
some info on my set up......
I purchased my first pellet stove two winters ago replacing a wood stove. I bought a refurbished englander 25pdvc (1500sq') from HD for about $750. I love it to no extent, the stove is located at the end of a 12' wide by 18' addition of the main house, a typical new englander, for a total of about 2000 sq'. When we had the wood stove in this same spot we would run through about 4 tanks of oil and 3 cords of wood burning the wood stove all evening into the morning even with fans blowing through the door way into the main house (the room would reach about 110 degrees) but very poorly heated the main house. Last season was our first full season with the pellet stove and our oil consumption went down to 2 tanks with burning 4 tons of pellets. The room in which the P stove is located never really went above 80 but for some reason it heated the rest of the house better! which was great probably due to the blower and fan in the door way.
Here's my delema, if you can call it one, lol, last winter a friend of mine switched to a geothermal heat system and gave me, yes gave me his breckwell big E pellet stove which I put in my shop ( originally heated by a lp modine hot dawg heater, which I still have) I am thinking of possibly moving the PS to my basement?? Venting may be a bit of a treat due to a lot of window/door restrictions but I think I can do it. I'd love to basically not burn any oil at all if possible and my reasoning for a basement placement is because even last year with the furnace burning (especially the upstairs zone) it reached 40 degrees. I fear frozen pipes and really high electric hot water bills which I noticed last year (and yes I insulated the water heater!) I would probably drain the hot water heat system on the 1 st floor, as it will be getting heat from the addition stove and radiant from the basement stove.(because we have had problems with frozen pipes under the additon room, I still have to turn on the down stairs heat every now and again to circulate hot water through the pipes even being wrapped and heat taped) I'd leave the 2nd floor hooked up just in case its needed.
Has anyone had success in heating a second floor in this manner? I am a Carpenter so I can build chases with insulated ducting to the second floor with fans in them. or am I dreaming that I can rid myself of the oil dependancy? I did think of placing it on the opposite end of the house 1st floor and installing an electric heater in the basement but I am lery as last winter I tried heating my finish (paint) room (200 sq') with an electric wall mounted 1500w heater instead off heating the entire 1600 sq' shop constantly with lp. The electric bill was insane!

I know that was very long winded for asking how well pellet stoves work from basement installations. Next I will want to clarify some venting options so watch out!

 

[imacman]

Ynot, welcome to the forum. Lots of knowledgeable people on here willing to give their opinions. We even have a Senior Tech from Englander who's a regular on here too.

In short, please remember one thing about pellet stoves....they are mainly room heaters, and are not meant to try to heat whole houses from the basement. If you want to heat upstairs, leave the pstove there. Maybe move the Big E to the basement?

As far as trying to cut down on the electric H2O bill, have you given any thought to putting a timer on it? I did this in my 1st home, and it really cut down the bill....it works just like a programmable t-stat.

And the problem with possible frozen pipes.... I installed a "ThermGuard" on the upstairs t-stat last winter to eliminate the possibility of frozen pipe in attic, and it worked perfectly: www.bearmountaindesign.com The guy who makes/sells them will give you a discount if you put in the discount code he made just for Hearth.com members: enter code 101657512 in the vouncher/discount code. The hit the recalculate button. Free shipping too.

Ends up being about $62.

hope this info helps.

 

[yknotcarpentry]

Hi Mac,

Thanks for the Thermguard link, I am definatley getting one of those, the thermostat for downstairs is located 2 rooms away from the pellet stove room in the dining room and I would say that room never reached below 70 degrees. Most times I have to turn it up over 75 in order for it to kick on and circulate hot water. Even our upstairs maintains about 60. I understand the timer on the hot water heater but my question is this; with the pellet stove running the house gets so well heated that the furnace barely kicks on especially during the day when we turn down the upstairs heat. (ie down stairs heated by pellet stove all day which radiates some heat upstairs.) The basement gets wicked cold hence freezing pipes and water heater working in overdrive trying to keep the water warm. If you put the water heater on a timer say to come on at 4am before we get up to shower then again at 4 pm for washing dishes etc.... won't the water in the tank get so cold that it will take longer to heat up at those times? I guess what im asking is it more cost effective to keep the water warm rather than constantly heating cold water? last year we had many sub zero days and I could see my breath in the basement so it gets cold, that why I was considering putting the other Pellet stove down there, thoughts of not not being dependant on oil, using a cleaner burning fuel and most likey a more efficient unit then my old boiler. I was just hoping to heat my whole house at the same time!

 

[imacman]

.......The basement gets wicked cold hence freezing pipes and water heater working in overdrive trying to keep the water warm. If you put the water heater on a timer say to come on at 4am before we get up to shower then again at 4 pm for washing dishes etc.... won't the water in the tank get so cold that it will take longer to heat up at those times? I guess what im asking is it more cost effective to keep the water warm rather than constantly heating cold water? last year we had many sub zero days and I could see my breath in the basement so it gets cold, that why I was considering putting the other Pellet stove down there,............I was just hoping to heat my whole house at the same time!

IMO, I would put the pellet stove downstairs to keep that area warm, put the timer on the H2O heater (you said it's been insulated, so with the pellet stove in the basement, I don't think it will get that cold using the timer), and install the ThermGuard in any zone that could freeze.

You'll keep the basement warm, eliminate frozen pipes, and save $$ on the H2O electricity. And double check with the plumbing/electrical supply where you buy the timer....it might qualify for an energy rebate on your income taxes.