Where to place my woodstove? (with pictures)

[Razo]

Hi everyone,

I'm new here and pretty much clueless. I just purchased my first home (1276sq ft) in October and it has electric heat and an open brick fireplace. To save on electricity, I have scrambled to get some wood and have been using the fireplace while home to cut down on the electric heat.

So all summer I want to cut and split and wood and install a wood stove so I am better prepared for next winter. I am going to be installing a All Nighter stove that was purchased by my father back in the 70's. I have to measure the firebox but I am pretty sure it is the Mid Mo'.

I have decided I want it in the basement. I just don't have a spot I would like it upstairs. With the house being small, space is kind of at a premium. Also, the 2 rooms in the basement I'm considering have solid concrete floors with block walls so I wouldn't have to worry about combustible materials.

Below I have included a drawing I made with the layout of the house and the possible locations I was considering placing the wood stove in. Understand that even though the basement is finished, little to no time is spent down there in the winter. I mostly just go down there to work on the occasional woodworking project in the garage or to re-arrange storage of Christmas decorations/etc. I also enter and exit the house through that level sometimes.

I am figuring I will remove the door that leads down the staircase to the basement in the winter to let the warm air find its way up the stairs. Note from the drawing that the staircase goes down, hits a landing, and turns 90 degrees. I was also planning on cutting numerous vents in the floor to allow the warm air from the basement to rise through the vents to the main level.

I am still planning on occasionally burning the open fireplace in subsequent winters just not as much since so much heat is lost.

Things to rememeber:
Garage is the only room on that level that does not have insulated walls
Kitchen is coldest room on the living level because of this; It is directly over the garage.
Bedroom 2 is currently unoccupied and not a concern for heat


Now, pros and cons I can think of for placement possibility 1:

Pros
- Chimney will be relatively easy to run outside the wall
- This room has the staircase that leads up to the main level so heat source will be closer to the stairs
- Directly under bedroom so would keep bedroom fairly warm
- Closer to get to from main level so going down to check/stoke fire will involve a shorter trip.
- This room stays warmer than the garage so less heat will be wasted if I keep door to garage closed
- Have less qualms about taking up floor space in this room than the garage.

Cons
- exterior chimney
- worried if enough heat will make it into the kitchen if the stairs are the only means of bringing heat up
- If door to garage kept open to reach kitchen vents will too much heat be wasted heating the ice cold garage.
- Chimney will be on exterior wall at the lowest pitch of the roof. Will have to extend pretty high making cleaning more difficult and dangerous.


Now, pros and cons I can think of for placement possibility 2:

Pros
- Directly below the large, cold kitchen
- vents in garage would heat kitchen directly above it
- inside chimney utilizing the closet in the 2nd bedroom on the first level
- chimney would exit right next peak on roof making cleaning easier/safer.
- Wood would be stored right outside garage door, shorter distance to bring wood inside
- garage would be warm for any projects I decide to do down there.

Cons
- Garage walls are not insulated, more heat loss
- Heat would have to travel through numerous door ways to find its way to the stair case
- Stove would be farther away to go check on/stoke
- would take up floor space in my already small garage

So, am I on the right track here? Am I way out in left field on this one? What would you do in my shoes?

I appreciate any advice you guys can give me. Also, I've been told to expect to clean the chimney about once a month throughout the winter, does that sound about right? I have to read up on what I need to clean the chimney because I'm clueless on that as well.

I have attached an older picture of the house as well as the layouts I've drawn.

 

[Razo]

Forgot to mention, the small red squares in my drawings are where I was figuring I would cut vents.

 

[begreen]

With all those doors it's not going to be an easy place to heat convectively. I would put an insert in the fireplace. If the basement is the only choice then consider a wood furnace in the storage area. Wood stoves are not permitted in garages.

 

[Razo]

Honestly the insert would be the most efficient choice since it would bring the heat source up to the main level. I was trying to avoid that just so that I wouldn't have to lug splits through the main living space and make a mess. I also kind of like the allure of keeping the open hearth for holidays and special occasions. Plus, I already have the wood stove since it was given to me for free.

I wasn't aware you are not allowed to put a wood stove in a garage? What makes a garage different than any other room in your house? If that is true then that just made my decision a whole lot easier.

 

[begreen]

A nice insert is going to have a great fireview but won't be sucking heat out of the house the way an open fire does. If you go back a month you will see lots of postings of insert fires at Christmas. The spirit is still there. But wood consumption is way less, the heat is way more and burning is a lot cleaner.

Free woodstove usually means an old smoke dragon. What make/model is it? If unknown, post a picture and we'll try to ID it.

 

[Razo]

The wood stove was my father's. Its an All Nighter and I believe its the "Mid Mo'" model. They no longer burn it at my parents house so it was offered to me. They just don't like to be bothered with wood heat anymore, that's the only reason they stopped burning it.

 

[begreen]

It's your call. Check with your inspecting authority and insurance company first.

 

[Razo]

Yea you know what I was unaware of the national fire code about solid burning heating sources in the presence of gasoline. Its a shame because I don't use this garage to park a vehicle in so I just consider a work shop. What technically defines a "garage" I wonder? I don't want to install it there if it is going to violate code and make the property un-insurable.

 

[begreen]

I think the car sized opening and driveway up to it clearly defines the space as a garage. Talk with your insurance company. Maybe if the garage door was removed and replaced with a permanent wall? Fire code has to be based on the potential use. The chimney installation becomes infrastructure. What if you sell the house with the stove installed in the garage and the next person wants to park the car in there. The other issue with the garage area is that it is small. The Mo would drive you out of that space because there is no large opening like the stairwell in the other storage space. Note that your insurance company will probably want fusible-link fire dampers if you cut holes between the basement and main floor. This is not a big deal, but it will add cost to the installation.

 

[Razo]

Thanks for all the sound advice, you've been very helpful. I think the best bet is to install it in the storage room. That way, it has the large stair opening for the best possibility of heat getting to the main floor. Plus, if I ever sell and the prospective buyer doesn't want/like it, I can always just remove the exterior chimney and take the wood stove with me. Makes a lot of sense what you said about infrastructure. You're right, the next occupant wouldn't be able to park in there even if they wanted to then. It will have minimal impact on infrastructure in the storage room. Then, if it doesn't produce enough heat, I can purchase an insert down the road.

Now I'm wondering if I should seal the small storage room off from the garage by closing the door and allow all the heat to get upstairs through the stairwell and possible a vent in the main bedroom above. The other option would be to allow it to flow into the garage and then install vents there up to the kitchen. I'm thinking it might be best to just keep the door to the garage closed and let all the heat hit the stairwell and bedroom vent.

 

[begreen]

If anything I would let the heat spill into the large storage area, not the garage. The garage area is where the greatest heat loss will occur.

 

[Razo]

That might not be a bad idea, the large storage area is very well insulated and is always the warmest room down in the basement.

 

[Hogwildz]

Wood split and stacked in the summer, ain't going to be ready by that winter.

 

[Razo]

Ill have to rely on soft maple or buy some seasoned stuff

 

[begreen]

Buy "seasoned" stuff now avoiding oak and it might be dry by next fall.

 

[Razo]

I know that really green wood will smoke and not light right. What happens with "semi dry" wood. Like wood that has cracks in the end grain but only seasoned for 6 months to a year. I'm talking like birch or ash. Not oak.assuming it lights ok what are other negatives? More creosote?

 

[begreen]

Birch and ash are good wood for shorter seasoning time. Semi seasoned wood is slower to get the stove hot, stove temp is lower, coals up badly, create more sote. There have to be at least a hundred posts a season here where people are blaming the new stove and it's the wood.

 

[Razo]

Good to know. I have read up on chimney cleaning

 

[tim1]

There are reason to use a epa stove, less wood,less wood, less wood, oh did I mention using 1/3 less wood! Tim