Your thoughts about heating my finished basement....

[geek]

I finished about 85% of my basement (maybe 90%), and only left the oil hot water furnace area alone, this area also has some water treatment equipment.
Anyways, the finished area might be about 650~700 sf. I have a 2-story colonial and the basement is under ground. My current pellet stove is on the 1st floor.

I insulated the basement really well using foam boards (the pink panther one) against the concrete wall and then also use R13 insulation batts between the 2x4 studs.

I did not run a 3rd zone to heat the space using the water based-boards, maybe a mistake....I don't want to do it now that the space is finished.
Without heat the basement temp. this winter was about 55~57 degrees in average.

I was thinking about a smaller pellet stove, like the Englander 25-PDVC, however looking at the wood stove the prices are very cheap but I've never owned a wood stove and hear there's more work.

We don't use the basement much (perhaps due to the fact that there's no heat other than an electric room heater we used in Dec when we had people come over for Holidays).

I'd like to hear your opinions, I can get a cheap wood stove but am worry about "haunting" free wood since I haven't done it before and don't have machinery. On the other hand I could buy cords pre-cut but is that a cheap option?

 

[dac122]

All little confused: are you thinking about a wood or pellet stove?

 

[crausch]

The fact that you are looking at a smaller pellet stove indicates to me that you don't think you need much heat. I would recommend the pellet stove since you can control your heat output. With a wood stove your room will probably get too hot. You need to consider what resources you will have for cord wood compared to pellet sources.

 

[geek]

All little confused: are you thinking about a wood or pellet stove?

that's the point, I'm not sure which option will offer me the best solution..

 

[tinkabranc]

IMO if it is only going be used periodically I would probably go with another small
pellet stove over a wood stove in the basement. Why? You already know
what you would be getting into, easier install, and you are already buying fuel
for the first stove anyway, so you probably would not need additional storage
space for fuel.

 

[Wet1]

That's a decision you'll have to decide for yourself.

I can tell you it can take a little bit of an investment to get into the wood game if you want to harvest it yourself in any productive way. You really need a full size truck (preferably a 3/4 or 1 ton) and or a beefy trailer to haul wood, a splitter (or be willing to swing a maul, which is tough work), saws (generally you need a small and a large chainsaw), and someplace to get the wood from. If you're only going to use a little wood here and there, you wont need all this, but you'll likely give up on it or decide you want these items to make life a lot easier for yourself. If you're going to buy cord wood, it can range from $150 to $300 a cord in our area. Dont forget the chimney requirements for the stove and the need for someplace to stack your wood.

I obviously don't have to tell you anything about burning pellets. If you decide to go with a pellet stove, I have a 25-PDVC kicking around that's being unused and hasn't seen much action. It would easily heat your finished basement. Let me know if you're interested, I'm sure we could work something out.

BTW, we don't use our finished basement when it's unheated (although the cat sleeps down there), but it gets used a lot when it's toasty warm... especially by the cat!

 

[geek]

makes all sense.....thx

 

[MCPO]

Sounds like a twin to my house and situation except I do have a hot water BB zone heat installed in my basement. However I like the heat and looks of a stove and I have a small pellet stove in the finished basement (700-800 sq ft) and rarely burn it above #2. On occasion for a short period maybe #3 . It`s on # 1 when the outdoor temps are 35-40* or more.
My point is a small stove will work just fine. Too large a stove might be too much unles you could move the excess heat up stairs easily.

 

[geek]

That's a decision you'll have to decide for yourself.

I can tell you it can take a little bit of an investment to get into the wood game if you want to harvest it yourself in any productive way. You really need a full size truck (preferably a 3/4 or 1 ton) and or a beefy trailer to haul wood, a splitter (or be willing to swing a maul, which is tough work), saws (generally you need a small and a large chainsaw), and someplace to get the wood from. If you're only going to use a little wood here and there, you wont need all this, but you'll likely give up on it or decide you want these items to make life a lot easier for yourself. If you're going to buy cord wood, it can range from $150 to $300 a cord in our area. Dont forget the chimney requirements for the stove and the need for someplace to stack your wood.

I obviously don't have to tell you anything about burning pellets. If you decide to go with a pellet stove, I have a 25-PDVC kicking around that's being unused and hasn't seen much action. It would easily heat your finished basement. Let me know if you're interested, I'm sure we could work something out.

BTW, we don't use our finished basement when it's unheated (although the cat sleeps down there), but it gets used a lot when it's toasty warm... especially by the cat!

Hear ya...

You got a pm......got pictures of the unused 25-pdvc ?