Wood Stove Placement

[awac957]

Good morning to all. First time poster and a newbie to the the wood stove world.
I would like to add a wood stove to my home for 1) supplemental/emergency heat and 2) cooking with power out. It's 1500 SF, single story, sitting atop a basement. I've got a propane insert on the first floor on one end of the house with it's chimney in an outside chase. My dilemma is whether to try and utilize this chase by redoing the chimney for a wood burner, place a stove/new chimney in a different part of that room or making a basement installation. I am open to any ideas/thoughts you guys would have. Thank you.

 

[begreen]

Welcome. Does the propane insert work without power? If it does, why change it, too small?

Basement installs can work, but it helps to have many things working in their favor. This list would include:
An easy way for heat to convect upstairs, basement walls insulated, outside access for bringing in wood, not a negative pressure zone, a reasonable way to vent the stove either through the house or through an outside wall.

 

[Highbeam]

You have propane, does the oven in your kitchen use propane? Cooking on a woodstove can be a fun hobby but kitchen appliances are better.

Propane central heat? A small generator can run it along with lights and refrigeration.

Wood heat is great but do it for the sake of wood heat and saving money on propane instead of apocalypse preparation.

 

[awac957]

Welcome. Does the propane insert work without power? If it does, why change it, too small?

Basement installs can work, but it helps to have many things working in their favor. This list would include:
An easy way for heat to convect upstairs, basement walls insulated, outside access for bringing in wood, not a negative pressure zone, a reasonable way to vent the stove either through the house or through an outside wall.

Frankly, the propane insert has been nothing more than a "looker" to me. Heats up close but not the room. I don't know but seems to me more heat goes up the chimney than out in the room. Maybe retrofitting a blower would help solve that. While we've not had a problem with propane availabiity in the past I can see where this could become an issue. I'm curious on how I would know if I've got a negative pressure zone. What is that? You mention a reasonable way to vent the stove. This would be on an outside wall, in the basement but the sheer length of it may not be reasonable.

 

[awac957]

You have propane, does the oven in your kitchen use propane? Cooking on a woodstove can be a fun hobby but kitchen appliances are better.

Propane central heat? A small generator can run it along with lights and refrigeration.

Wood heat is great but do it for the sake of wood heat and saving money on propane instead of apocalypse preparation.

No, I don't have any propane appliances other than the furnace and insert. I've run the furnace a time or two with a generator and it worked just fine. Cooking was no issue either. You may be right. I probably have more of an apocalyptic mindset nowadays but still wouldn't mind saving on propane. I sit on 20acres of timber that I take out downed timber from every spring and I keep asking myself why I'm not using it.

 

[begreen]

Describe the house.
How many stories? What style, (ie: ranch, split-level, colonial, etc.)
Sq ftg of the house not including basement.
Sq. ftg of the room where the fireplace is.
How open is the floorplan? How open is the fireplace room to the rest of the house?
Is there another room where a wood stove might fit in that covers most of the house?
Does the basement have an outside access?

And finally, is there a budget?

 

[awac957]

This is a ranch style with a full basement that is walkout on one end. Living space is 1500sf. The current fireplace is in the living room which is about 250sf (see attached photo) and is mostly open to the dining and kitchen. No budget at this time. This house has a gable roof on the bed and living room ends of the floor plan.

 

[Shrewboy]

1.) Do you have issues with the house being too cold?

2.) if it were my house, I would personally favor putting the wood stove in a strategic location where the heat it produces will be most likely to be felt by people in the home. Living room would be my first choice, thats where my wood stove is
if you put it on one extreme end of the house, the other end will be colder, unless you have air circulation or you run the stove 24/7 to get the entire house warm.

3.) In you put it in the basement, you will need to insulate the walls and floor or most of the heat will go through into the surrounding earth. Also, you will need to run the stove very hot in order to get the house to a normal temperature.

(the earth is a giant heat sink, subway tunnels are hot because the earth surrounding them has held all the heat over time from the trains using their brakes all day. it took over 100 years for the clay around the tunnels to get heated up enough to make the tunnels hot in NYC https://www.goodnet.org/articles/turning-subway-tunnels-into-geothermal-heatrecovery-systems )

Just my 2 cents / personal opinions / stuff ive read on this forum, I am generally an idiot

 

[moresnow]

Where in Missouri?

 

[begreen]

This is a ranch style with a full basement that is walkout on one end. Living space is 1500sf. The current fireplace is in the living room which is about 250sf (see attached photo) and is mostly open to the dining and kitchen. No budget at this time. This house has a gable roof on the bed and living room ends of the floor plan.

The good news is, there are lots of options. The not so good news is that ranch homes are hard to heat evenly from a fireplace at one end. The narrow hallway creates a dead-end pocket and restricts the flow of heat to the bedrooms. A wood stove in the current FP location would heat the LR, DR, and Kitchen adequately or maybe about 750 sq ft. If you want to changeover to a complete wood-burning system, the options are adding a woodstove at another location, or replacing the propane fireplace with a wood-burning fireplace, or removing the propane fireplace and putting a freestanding wood stove in the chase (if it is wide enough to meet clearance requirements).

Or... if the basement is insulated, a large wood stove could be put in down there, working out a heat convection method for it to heat upstairs, or put in an efficient wood furnace in the basement. Is the access to the stairwell on the hallway side or the kitchen side?

 

[EbS-P]

Locations for me would either be where the propane fireplace is or the exterior corner of the living room. Probably the corner.

Evan.

 

[SpaceBus]

Do you have ductwork for the propane furnace? Perhaps a wood burning forced air furnace is an option.

 

[awac957]

The good news is, there are lots of options. The not so good news is that ranch homes are hard to heat evenly from a fireplace at one end. The narrow hallway creates a dead-end pocket and restricts the flow of heat to the bedrooms. A wood stove in the current FP location would heat the LR, DR, and Kitchen adequately or maybe about 750 sq ft. If you want to changeover to a complete wood-burning system, the options are adding a woodstove at another location, or replacing the propane fireplace with a wood-burning fireplace, or removing the propane fireplace and putting a freestanding wood stove in the chase (if it is wide enough to meet clearance requirements).

Or... if the basement is insulated, a large wood stove could be put in down there, working out a heat convection method for it to heat upstairs, or put in an efficient wood furnace in the basement. Is the access to the stairwell on the hallway side or the kitchen side?

Thanks for the ideas. The stairwell is accessed via the hallway. Yeah, that hallway poses a problem and you got me thinking too about the fact the thermostat for the heat pump is midway down that hallway. I know I mentioned using a wood stove for supplemental heat but I wonder if it would be more supplemental being downstairs. The basement is basically divided into an open "living space" that is insulated below the bedrooms while the remainder is closed off and an unfinished space.

 

[awac957]

Locations for me would either be where the propane fireplace is or the exterior corner of the living room. Probably the corner.

Evan.

Thank you

 

[awac957]

1.) Do you have issues with the house being too cold?

2.) if it were my house, I would personally favor putting the wood stove in a strategic location where the heat it produces will be most likely to be felt by people in the home. Living room would be my first choice, thats where my wood stove is
if you put it on one extreme end of the house, the other end will be colder, unless you have air circulation or you run the stove 24/7 to get the entire house warm.

3.) In you put it in the basement, you will need to insulate the walls and floor or most of the heat will go through into the surrounding earth. Also, you will need to run the stove very hot in order to get the house to a normal temperature.

(the earth is a giant heat sink, subway tunnels are hot because the earth surrounding them has held all the heat over time from the trains using their brakes all day. it took over 100 years for the clay around the tunnels to get heated up enough to make the tunnels hot in NYC https://www.goodnet.org/articles/turning-subway-tunnels-into-geothermal-heatrecovery-systems )

Just my 2 cents / personal opinions / stuff ive read on this forum, I am generally an idiot

Thank you,\. Yeah I figure the floor plan is limiting. While I do have a living space in the basement that is insulated, I hadn't thought about the floor being so, which it isn't.

 

[awac957]

Do you have ductwork for the propane furnace? Perhaps a wood burning forced air furnace is an option.

Thank you. Yes, I do have ducting for the furnace. I really hadn't considered a wood burning furnace

 

[awac957]

Where in Missouri?

NW

 

[begreen]

Well, you have a few options to ponder now. Let us know what appeals to you .

 

[SpaceBus]

Thank you. Yes, I do have ducting for the furnace. I really hadn't considered a wood burning furnace

There are only two options, but both are fantastic and extremely clean burning and efficient.

 

[begreen]

There are only two options, but both are fantastic and extremely clean burning and efficient.

It's good to consider the furnace option if it works for your setup. The ducting must be done correctly when tying into an existing system for it to work well. This includes adding backdraft dampers. Actually there are several options, Shelter, Kuuma, Tundra, Royall? EnergyKing, etc., but not all are EPA and two do come out on top. The Kuuma is the gold star standard. Visit the Boiler Room forum here for more research on them:

The Boiler Room - Wood Boilers and Furnaces

This Forum is for the topic of Central Heating - specifically with wood, coal, pellets, corn and other solid fuels. We can also discuss multi-fuel systems, which burn oil and gas along with solid fuels. If you are looking to heat your entire house evenly from one location outside the living...

www.hearth.com

 

[awac957]

Well, you have a few options to ponder now. Let us know what appeals to you .

Sorry for the delay in getting back but yep, the options have been the problem. Seems I'm the only one keen on a freestanding wood stove. My better half thinks otherwise due to the real estate that it would take up. So, in a spirit of cooperaton (concession?lol) I'm looking into a wood burning insert such as the Ventis HE250. As mentioned previously I would be removing a propane insert that exists there now. So I figured I need to find out what I have as far as room inside the chase and, if nothing else, get rid of the gas stove. I exposed the chase and stove/vent and attached some pics. The vent looks to be about 12" and looking at the old stove specs it appears to be an 8" flue surrounded with a double wall at 12" (??). My dilemma.....disconnect the vent pipe and remove the stove without the chimney coming down. Not even sure about how this pipe goes together. Any ideas would be appreciated. Pics include the elbow coming off the top of stove. There's about 22' of pipe above the stove.

Thank you

 

[71montess]

Sorry for the delay in getting back but yep, the options have been the problem. Seems I'm the only one keen on a freestanding wood stove. My better half thinks otherwise due to the real estate that it would take up. So, in a spirit of cooperaton (concession?lol) I'm looking into a wood burning insert such as the Ventis HE250. As mentioned previously I would be removing a propane insert that exists there now. So I figured I need to find out what I have as far as room inside the chase and, if nothing else, get rid of the gas stove. I exposed the chase and stove/vent and attached some pics. The vent looks to be about 12" and looking at the old stove specs it appears to be an 8" flue surrounded with a double wall at 12" (??). My dilemma.....disconnect the vent pipe and remove the stove without the chimney coming down. Not even sure about how this pipe goes together. Any ideas would be appreciated. Pics include the elbow coming off the top of stove. There's about 22' of pipe above the stove.

Thank you

View attachment 281687 View attachment 281688 View attachment 281689

The gas fireplace uses a much different flue. You will need a new flue which is rated for wood burning.

 

[awac957]

The gas fireplace uses a much different flue. You will need a new flue which is rated for wood burning.

Can a flue liner be installed to utilize the existing flue?