Wood insert vs. stove in basement

[sgcsalsero]

I had a Hampton 300HI woodburning insert installed in May and have been enjoying it (pro install with stainless liner). One thing I don't have any clue on is performance (other than gas bills, which have been around $100 a month, mild in NE Ohio thus far). A relative told me he keeps his whole house at 70 without effort because he has a woodburning stove in the middle of his basement. His stove is a basic cast iron (no glass), about 2.5cu.ft. box, exhausts thru furnace chimney. He hasn't had a gas bill in over a year and spends $15 a mth on water htr (we are both in NE Ohio).

My thermostat has moved a max of 4-5 degrees, say from 62 to 67 with the insert (thermostat is 10 ft away in dining rm.) raging away with fan on high and door temp. at 400 degrees. Any colder than 30 degrees it can't 'keep up' with the thermostat at 64 and the furnace kicks on maybe twice an hour. House built in 20s, most windows are original, most with storms.

Any thoughts on how to gauge performance or comparisons to a basement install appreciated, really enjoy this site, Steve C.

 

[Rhone]

I'm not sure about that. Basement installs are horrible unless that's where you spend your time. A stove in the basement to heat the floor above is as useful as a window AC installed in the attic to cool the floors below. There will absolutely be a temperature difference, and for efficiency you're heating twice the area so you're burning more fuel. The first year with my stove in the basement I was burning wood like it was going out of style, I could barely keep the house warm and the second the fire went out, I could watch the temperature come down. The heat was going somewhere, wasn't going to the floors above. I figured only place it can be going is to the foundation and lost to the earth from there. So I insulated the foundation, and that certainly was the problem because I now was able to keep the main floor warm, and the temp didn't drop like a rock. But I still had to keep the basement roasting to get the main floor comfortable. That's when I gutted the house and we put in 2 ducts to the upper floors, 3 to the main floor, put in fans, and a big hood over the stove to collect and move the heat to the main floor. Hardly made any difference, the heat still stuck around the stove in the basement and I still had to keep it around 85F, the main floor was around 72-75F and the upper floor usually around 60F (todays stoves are better at that, having more convection heat and less radiant compared to yesteryears stoves).

So, doesn't make sense to me. Unless they did some amazing insulation work in the basement and main floor I don't see it happening (do they have a central air system?) A stove is a space heater, and if you're getting 4-5 degrees I think is pretty darn good. I think your relative is more like 8-10F difference between his basement and his main floor because the house is old, newer houses can tighten the range a bit better. The only way I see it happening is if they're taking advantage of passive solar and it's warming their main floor 8-10 degrees and combined with the stove in the basement it's letting the 2 floors be around the same temp.

 

[sgcsalsero]

Thanks, this is very useful to know, yeah cousins can toot their own horns quite a bit, oh well it gave me an excuse to go out and split a 1/2 cord yesterday

 

[elkimmeg]

I think your relative is BS-in' you.

Relatives are like that....yeah, they are.

Unless they own a PE summit

 

[babalu87]

Agreed, there is no way a stove in the basement will heat a home as efficiently as one in the living space.
Think of how cold your basement is during winter, aint much insulation in cement.

............. His stove is a basic cast iron (no glass), about 2.5cu.ft. box, exhausts thru furnace chimney..................

 

[heydan]

I too know someone who has a stove in his basement. He uses huge amounts of wood and keeps his basement roasting. He can dry laundry down there. But we know where most of the heat is going -- the ground around his house doesn't freeze in the winter!

 

[Martin Strand III]

I have a Harman TLC 2000 wood/coal stove in my unfinished basement. Alone and once cranked up with a glut of burning coal in it (a true heating brute), it does heat the house but

1. From a cold start, it takes several hours to heat up the cold exposed concrete floors and block walls enough to feel much heat on the main level or loft above
2. I have an open stairwell right behind the stove to the main level, I don't use fans (not even furnace "fan only" but have tried 'em) and I haven't cut any holes in the main floor
3. I don't run exhaust fans anywhere in the house when I burn the basement stove to minimize negative pressure there
4. I've had no problem with backdrafting because of 3., I start it up with a small but "hot" fire, I don't burn in the basement unless outside temperature is in the 30's or below, it has over 30 feet of chimney vertical with almost no offset and it's located near the middle of the floor plan (not on outside wall)
5. My Newfies, who overnight down there, hate it (too warm).

Aye,
Marty

 

[laynes69]

Is it a wood furnace? Or tied into the ductwork. My father has a wood stove in his basement and he just has 1 door to the upstairs and he heats his whole home with it. His bedrooms are on the end and are cooler like he wants them, but the living room stays at 72 to 73 all winter long. It does take him some time to heat up, but once its going good the home stays warm. I do know it can be a difficult task, but he has an open floor plan, and his basement is fully finished.

 

[Martin Strand III]

Wood/coal.

Aye,
Marty

 

[BrotherBart]

I think your relative is BS-in' you.

Relatives are like that....yeah, they are.

Heck, the BS that relatives try to pass-off on you could be a thread topic all in itself.

Does anyone ever get the impression that the reason they do so, is because they can't find a non-relative to play the role of having just gotten off the turnip truck??

Man is the dumbest animal on the planet. All other species toss the young out on their own as soon as they are capable of taking care of themselves and never see them again. We invent the telephone so we can be inextricably tied to our relatives for life.

 

[wg_bent]

I think your relative is BS-in' you.

Relatives are like that....yeah, they are.

Heck, the BS that relatives try to pass-off on you could be a thread topic all in itself.

Does anyone ever get the impression that the reason they do so, is because they can't find a non-relative to play the role of having just gotten off the turnip truck??

Man is the dumbest animal on the planet. All other species toss the young out on their own as soon as they are capable of taking care of themselves and never see them again. We invent the telephone so we can be inextricably tied to our relatives for life.

Ain't that the truth!!

 

[Todd]

Here's my take on this. It all depends on floor plan, the more open the better, location of the stove, and amount of insulation in basement. I've attempted to heat 3 different homes with wood stoves in the basement with some success.

First home was a split level with an old Montgomery Ward barrel type stove. It heated 2 floors, but the 3rd was ice cold where the bedrooms were. This old stove had to run hot and fast to keep the temps where we wanted. I went through too much wood to make it worth the effort.

2nd house was a ranch style with the stove in the basement on far wall. I tried everything to get heat upstairs and did to some degree after insulating the walls, but not enough for colder days, so I ended up getting another stove upstairs and was finally warm all over.

3rd and current home is smallish, open floor plan, stove near stairwell, floor vent and fan above stove. This setup has worked rather well and I can keep the temps within 5-7 degrees from upstairs/downstairs. Of course your going to have hot and cold spots, but my upstairs livingroom only dips below 70 early in the morning. I bet I can get temps even closer if it wasn't for the heat sucking/cold air spewing fireplace I have upstairs. Someday I will have an insert of some sort for that fireplace, just can't decide yet on gas, pellet, or wood.

It seems to work for some, and not for others.

 

[Martin Strand III]

[/quote] "Man is the dumbest animal on the planet." [/quote]

I agree only, if we, as human beings, destroy ourselves, and the rest of the planet Earth, by global warming or thermonuclear means.

Then, what will have been the point of it all?

Then, the whales and porpoises will have been the most inteligent mammals on good old planet Earth and they don't burn wood.

Aye,
Marty

 

[suematteva]

Our stove is in basement. 2/3 of which is finished,...other 1/3 is where mrs. parks her car...whole basement is insulated....open floor plan..we do not use any fans...open stairwell...1 12 x 14 register...master bedroom is on opposite end of house, over garage. We prefer it cooler there anyway..we have no problems with draft or negative pressure...

 

[sgcsalsero]

After reading the posts the floor plan of my house might benefit from a basement stove (smallish area, stove could sit right under a large grate that opens to living room), could stack a bunch of wood and not worry about the mrs. hollerin' about the mess, etc.. . however installer of wood insert said no way on sharing chimney with gas furnace and hot water heater, in fact said it was pretty dangerous . . so thinking I'll can the idea . . for now