Wood furnace in basement

[Mbeall]

Hello All,

I just opined but have been reading posts on here for a few hours. Almost everything I have read has been add ons to existing homes. Im currently building a home. approx 1900 sq ft rancher on a walk out basement. I went ahead and had the thimble poured into the basement wall for my flue. My question is, aside from running my duct work over to where I will be installing my stove, are there any other additional things you would put in place ? framing starts next week so I can still take small changes. My main concern is that I will be keeping my basement door closed. So I was thinking of making some kinda of return from the main floor to the basement, more of a vent than anything to allow airflow between floors so im not over pressurizing my main floor and creating a negative in the basement. any tips ? even tips of general building that you wish you had done in your home are appreciated. thanks

 

[sloeffle]

I'd insulate the house so well that it wouldn't need a wood furnace to heat it. I'd get a heat pump with propane or CNG backup and call it a day.

Pretty Good House

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If you do go down the wood furance route, I'd either get a Kuuma, Heat Commander or Caddy Advanced. When I was building my house addition I had the HVAC guy tie the wood furnace into the existing duct work. I'm not sure if code would allow a vent between the floors. That would be an easy way for a fire to go from the basement to the first floor.

 

[Mbeall]

I'd insulate the house so well that it wouldn't need a wood furnace to heat it. I'd get a heat pump with propane or CNG backup and call it a day.

Pretty Good House

The Pretty Good House approach to home building and renovating details a pathway to building better than code minimum which describes the worst house you can legally build. The info is vetted by leading experts in the field of fine homebuilding, high performance and green building and the profession

www.prettygoodhouse.org

GreenBuildingAdvisor

Green Building Advisor is the one-stop source for builders, remodelers, architects & homeowners looking for expert advice on green products, strategies & proven construction details.

www.greenbuildingadvisor.com

If you do go down the wood furance route, I'd either get a Kuuma, Heat Commander or Caddy Advanced. When I was building my house addition I had the HVAC guy tie the wood furnace into the existing duct work. I'm not sure if code would allow a vent between the floors. That would be an easy way for a fire to go from the basement to the first floor.

Thanks for the reply. The home will have a heat pump, CNG isn't an option here and Propane is sometimes a little pricey. I can't justify not installing wood furnace due to the amount of property im building on that's still wooded. I have heard of floor vents that have a fuseable link stay auto closing feature. Ive just never seen one installed or know anyone who has used them to get an idea of how many I would need to make a difference if I went that route.

 

[brenndatomu]

A stove on each floor...run the one in the basement as needed to keep pipes warm...2 stoves is probably cheaper than 1 furnace (installed) especially if the stove in the basement is a cheaper model...

 

[sloeffle]

Thanks for the reply. The home will have a heat pump, CNG isn't an option here and Propane is sometimes a little pricey. I can't justify not installing wood furnace due to the amount of property im building on that's still wooded. I have heard of floor vents that have a fuseable link stay auto closing feature. Ive just never seen one installed or know anyone who has used them to get an idea of how many I would need to make a difference if I went that route.

If you build the house tight enough, you'd probably need to only fill the propane tank once every 5 - 10 years. Propane would only be used when it is too inefficient to run the heat pump. This is a typical setup in my area and called "dual fuel".

Why not just tie the wood furnace return into the same duct work as the heat pump, or are you using mini-splits ? Cutting holes in the flooring and worrying about fuseable links seems like you are over complicating the setup if you are not using mini-splits.

 

[blades]

even if useing existing duct work( or that to be installed) by code for a solid fuel unit you will need fusable link activated dampers as a fire pecaution in the duct work.

 

[Tonty]

Essentially it boils down to personal preference. Do you like to sit in front of a fire and enjoy the flames? Put in some stoves. Do you want a smallish package, even heat, maybe sometimes too much heat, but it’s free, so hey? Put in a wood furnace. Do you have extra space, want to heat with wood and want to be able to control the heat more? Put in a wood gasification boiler with water storage.
Like was mentioned, you could forgo the wood heat, but most likely it’s a lifestyle choice that you prefer. I know I wouldn’t set my thermostat as high as I do if I wasn’t heating with wood. It can be 10*F outside, and I’ll have it 75* in the house, 65* in my garage, and never run out of hot water even though there seven people in this household.
I enjoy cutting wood, so I’d probably do it even if I didn’t heat with it. I don’t use much. With my two sons helping, we can cut a year’s supply in a day or two.
But it is a good idea to make your house as tight as feasible, no matter which heating choice. I don’t think you will regret that.

 

[sloeffle]

even if useing existing duct work( or that to be installed) by code for a solid fuel unit you will need fusable link activated dampers as a fire pecaution in the duct work.

I have never heard of this, and a internet search comes up blank for residental dampers that have fusible links. The book that I received from PSG when I bought my furnace has no mention of this either. If this is required on a solid fuel furnace then I'd think it would be required with CNG, or oil furnace also. A heat exchanger on those types of furnaces can crack ( Lennox Pulse furnace comes to mind ) and allow flames into the duct work. CNG being the worst of the three because the fuel source is unlimited until it is shut off.

Can you provide a link to the residental building code for this ?

 

[brenndatomu]

I have never heard of this

X2
The are floor registers that have built in fusible links...if someone wants to do a through-the-floor vent to move air/heat around...I found a site that had some really fancy ornate register covers too...like you'd want in a real old victorian house or something like that (they had plainer stuff too....hafta see if I can find that site again...think I may have actually linked it here somewhere before...)

 

[sloeffle]

X2
The are floor registers that have built in fusible links...if someone wants to do a through-the-floor vent to move air/heat around...I found a site that had some really fancy ornate register covers too...like you'd want in a real old victorian house or something like that (they had plainer stuff too....hafta see if I can find that site again...think I may have actually linked it here somewhere before...)

Your internet search foo must be better than mine. I also didn't spend much time looking either. If you can find the link I'd be interested to see them. Replacing all of the dampers in your house with those is probably not a cheap endeavour either.

 

[brenndatomu]

Here is one site...I'm sure there are plenty more...sounds like the fire damper part that goes in the wall or floor is a separate part from the actual register cover...

AtlantaSupply

Atlanta Supply is now JEDCO Supply

www.atlantasupply.com

AtlantaSupply

Atlanta Supply is now JEDCO Supply

www.atlantasupply.com

 

[Tonty]

Here is one site...I'm sure there are plenty more...sounds like the fire damper part that goes in the wall or floor is a separate part from the actual register cover...

AtlantaSupply

Atlanta Supply is now JEDCO Supply

www.atlantasupply.com

AtlantaSupply

Atlanta Supply is now JEDCO Supply

www.atlantasupply.com

I was just looking at that site, also. Looks like you’d have to put a bit of ducting in and put a fire damper in that. Or maybe use the fire damper as your duct, depending on your situation.

 

[hedge wood]

Hello All,

I just opined but have been reading posts on here for a few hours. Almost everything I have read has been add ons to existing homes. Im currently building a home. approx 1900 sq ft rancher on a walk out basement. I went ahead and had the thimble poured into the basement wall for my flue. My question is, aside from running my duct work over to where I will be installing my stove, are there any other additional things you would put in place ? framing starts next week so I can still take small changes. My main concern is that I will be keeping my basement door closed. So I was thinking of making some kinda of return from the main floor to the basement, more of a vent than anything to allow airflow between floors so im not over pressurizing my main floor and creating a negative in the basement. any tips ? even tips of general building that you wish you had done in your home are appreciated. thanks

I would build the house so well insulated you don't need wood. If you are set on heating with wood I would talk with my insurance agent to see what type of wood heating they are good with and what the policy to have wood in the house will cost. In my area its getting tough to find a company that will insure a house with wood burning in the house. I have installed several propane ninety plus furnaces in houses the wood stoves had came out because of insurance company's. This free wood isn't always free.