Stove in basement delima and questions?

[beerman6]

:msp_sneaky:

 

[hearnoevil]

Mines in the basement, although my basement is finished.

With teh floor warm the house is warm. I also have a air purifying fan that runs pushing the air towards the stair way,

 

[MotorSeven]

:msp_sneaky:

Do I get any points for a the cool antique 7' mantle surround that came with it????

And, no I have not finished the install...it's just pushed in the corner for now.

 

[Encore]

Prior to the OWB our stove was our only source of wood heat. We considered before installing whether to put it in the basement or the living room, for the reasons stated.

I put it in our living room at the far end of the house (we have a pretty much wide open ranch house) with the front door at the opposite end of the house.

This was the best decision we made. It heated our house very well, even at temps below zero. The concern about dragging debris in the house was not really a big deal. So long as your careful its not a problem. I built a wood box that has casters on the bottom that we can roll from one end of the house to the next. Ash removal can be messy if you get in a hurry but again, just take your time and put it slowly into the bucket and the ashes aren't a problem.

Ours was an airtight stove so we didn't get any smell in the house at all.

Like the OP our basement is cement block so heating downstairs would be really a big waste of time.

My wife was a little opposed to heating with the stove upstairs but she ended up really enjoying the fire upstairs. Spend the money on a good stove. Any of the newer ones will keep the odor to a minimum. as well as eating a lot less wood.

 

[allstihl]

Every house is different and your right, basement heating is not always the best way to go, but it does work in many houses. The jury is still out on mine, once I get the staircase in & the two exposed walls insulated I will be able to give it a thumbs up or down. The reason I went with a basement stove is for several reasons. The size of the stove(100,000 btu an hr), I built the basement 10' tall so I can drive my tractor right in there with a pallet of firewood on the forks. I have garage door and a walk out door so access to the stove is a breeze.

Upstairs I cheated and put in a propane fireplace insert................:shut-mouth:

thats just wrong

 

[stihly dan]

Do both. Nice fire view stove upstairs. Spend the winter insulating down stairs. Best of both worlds.

 

[pdhowell]

I used to have Baby Bear Fishers in two houses, in the basement ( easy wood management and to keep the mess out of the house). I found that concrete or stone basements can absorb a tremendous amount of that heat, and little got upstairs. The solution in both houses was to built a simple sheet metal shroud around the stove, and tie it into the hot air ducts. That really worked surprisingly well. Maybe useful.

 

[Whitespider]

Keeping the basement at 80[sup]o[/sup] isn't enough when it gets cold out.

Here in Iowa and years ago, I heated two different drafty old farm houses with stoves in the basement (one had a dirt floor and limestone walls). Both were homemade stoves, one made from a barrel, the other not much better, just six pieces of plate steel welded together and some holes cut in it for door, draft and flue.

I could keep the floor above quite comfortable, even when the mercury dropped below zero... but it did tend to get a bit chilly in the second floor bedrooms at times. Actually it was one of the more comfortable ways to wood-heat in my opinion because the floors were warm enough to go barefoot all winter... but it required a lot of wood... a whole lot of wood; I'd pop one of the basement windows out and throw it in by the wagon load. I know at times the basement was well over 100[sup]o[/sup]... and the stove so hot you couldn't get within 10 feet of it. I hung a box fan (on a thermostat) from a floor joist above the stove to eliminate the "hot spot" and keep the entire basement, and floor above it evenly heated. When I'd go down to load the stove I'd be sweating before got to the bottom of the steps.

 

[daleeper]

Do both. Nice fire view stove upstairs. Spend the winter insulating down stairs. Best of both worlds.

I agree, put the soapstone upstairs, leave fisher downstairs. I really don't think there will be that much difference in mess between the two, but hey, she gave approval, that's all I would need. Then start insulating the basement as time and funds allow. That basement will always be uncomfortable until you do.

 

[MotorSeven]

Prior to the OWB our stove was our only source of wood heat. We considered before installing whether to put it in the basement or the living room, for the reasons stated.

I put it in our living room at the far end of the house (we have a pretty much wide open ranch house) with the front door at the opposite end of the house.

This was the best decision we made. It heated our house very well, even at temps below zero. The concern about dragging debris in the house was not really a big deal. So long as your careful its not a problem. I built a wood box that has casters on the bottom that we can roll from one end of the house to the next. Ash removal can be messy if you get in a hurry but again, just take your time and put it slowly into the bucket and the ashes aren't a problem.

Ours was an airtight stove so we didn't get any smell in the house at all.

Like the OP our basement is cement block so heating downstairs would be really a big waste of time.

My wife was a little opposed to heating with the stove upstairs but she ended up really enjoying the fire upstairs. Spend the money on a good stove. Any of the newer ones will keep the odor to a minimum. as well as eating a lot less wood.

I tried that in TX with my first house. Hearthstone Heritage in the "great room" of a 1600 sq ft log house. The great room stayed toasty warm and we even cracked a window open many times. but, the bedrooms stayed icy cold and I had to put baseboad heaters in them. I think that experience is why I opted for the basement route this time. Some houses just have a better layout and or airflow then others.