Wood talk

[tinman1]

Ok I'm new to this site! Reading some of these posts , I don't quite understand some it ,so please explain to me.
Q1-why is it that some people give direction of which way the wood is put in a stove or insert ? Ex: EW,NS , it matters ?
Q2 : I see pictures posted of a lot of stoves installed in cellars that are not finished ? Are they cutting holes in the floor & adding floor grilles ? There's more but will start with this.
Ty

 

[prezes13]

Some stoves are very shallow. The fire box is shallow which means you can load it N/S only with a very short pieces. North South is a hotter burn because of a better air flow between pieces there for shorter burns. East West is more popular with inserts which have a shallower fire boxes also East West means longer burns because of a restricted air flow between splits. East West style is also more prone to logs falling on the glass. My preferred is N/S but because I have a flushed insert I would have to cut my wood int 12" most of the time I load it E/W where I can fit 24" long pieces.

 

[peakbagger]

Plenty of opinions on stoves in unfinished basements.. Ideally you put the stove where the heat is needed, but for many including myself, the basement is easier and the dirt and ash is kept out of the main floors. The trade off is most basements are insulated and a portion of the heat gets sucking in by the walls. Some houses need holes in floors and fans to move the air upstairs some don't. Ideally if you do cut holes in the floors, they should be equipped with fire dampers but its hard to justify if you leave the door to the basement open all the time. The house also takes longer to heat up once the stove is fired off.

 

[Laurent Cyr]

I agree with peakbagger. If the stove is in the basement, the basement needs to be insulated. Otherwise, the bare walls suck in most of the heat before the heat starts travelling up to the main floor. My stove is in the basement. When I bought the house in 2006, it already had a old stove in the basement. The stove was cracked, so I replaced it with a more modern stove. The hole for the chimney wasl aready cut in the basement wall. If I had to redo it, I would have installed a smaller stove on the main floor. My basement has since been re-insulated and re-finished. With a fan and a hole cut in the main floor, I am able to get the heat to rise in the house.
As for your question on placement of wood NS vs EW, my firebox is wider, so placement of the wood is easier done EW. I also have a side door which makes this easier than opening the front doors for a NS placement.

 

[firefighterjake]

Ok I'm new to this site! Welcome to the site. Reading some of these posts , I don't quite understand some it ,so please explain to me.
Q1-why is it that some people give direction of which way the wood is put in a stove or insert ? Ex: EW,NS , it matters ? When I first saw folks giving direction I was picturing them with a compass laying out the wood according to which way north was . . . as mentioned . . . for some stoves (think larger boxes vs. rectangular) folks have found that putting the wood in the fire box front to back (aka north and south) may work better on some burns vs. going side to side (aka east to west). In my own case, I have a more rectangular shaped firebox/woodstove so it's just about always east-west.
Q2 : I see pictures posted of a lot of stoves installed in cellars that are not finished ? Are they cutting holes in the floor & adding floor grilles ? There's more but will start with this.As mentioned . . . some folks install stoves in unfinished basements . . . but the price you pay is a lot of the heat is sucked up and loss to the cement and surrounding ground vs. when the basement is insulated. Folks can move the heat upstairs via open stairway doors . . . and some folks use vents in the floor . . . sometimes these vents may be kept open with fusible links.
Ty

 

[tinman1]

Thanks everyone for answering my questions.