I have a 1500sqft ranch with a walkout basement total 3000sqft. I want to put the stove in the basement to heat the house. Looking to spend around $2500. I have unlimited wood and want to burn 24/7. What's the best stove to heat with?
Want new woodstove for HEAT not looks
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an ashly or wonderwood? I think it's a matter of preference. How about a wood burning furnace? They don't "have" to be tied in to ductwork and cost less than the 2500.
Are you trying to cut out all other sources of heat in the home or just supplement? That's a lot of area to heat. My philosophy has always been if you heat the basement and heat rises then you should be good to go if you can keep the basement at the temp you want it. Growing up we ran a wondercoal in the basement of a ranch and it was always plenty warm enough in the rest of the house, we had a dutch door at the top of the basement stairs so the little ones wouldn't fall down the staires.
Are you trying to cut out all other sources of heat in the home or just supplement? That's a lot of area to heat. My philosophy has always been if you heat the basement and heat rises then you should be good to go if you can keep the basement at the temp you want it. Growing up we ran a wondercoal in the basement of a ranch and it was always plenty warm enough in the rest of the house, we had a dutch door at the top of the basement stairs so the little ones wouldn't fall down the staires.
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You live in MA. How about a Tempwood? I've heated with one since 1977. Last one cost me $50! Slickest stove ever made. Just about all my friends heat with one.
When we bought this house, it had a Hotblast 1400 (TSC) in the basement. It did a good job of heating the house. It is a wood furnace with a duct connection that you can route upstairs. I highly recommend running the duct to upstairs, it's much, much better than heating the basement and hoping that some of the heat gets upstairs.
We went to a newer EPA stove (PE Summit) upstairs and we love it and it uses less wood but the Hotblast did do a good job of heating the house.
Ken
We went to a newer EPA stove (PE Summit) upstairs and we love it and it uses less wood but the Hotblast did do a good job of heating the house.
Ken
shelbythedog
ArboristSite Operative
+1 on seriously considering a wood furnace that uses duct work to distribute the heat to your upper floor.
But, if you are gonna go the route of wood stove, add Quadra-fire to your list to check out. Very happy with mine, and it would fit within your budget.
But, if you are gonna go the route of wood stove, add Quadra-fire to your list to check out. Very happy with mine, and it would fit within your budget.
howard270
Addicted to ArboristSite
I installed a fireplace insert, and my final 2 choices have freestanding stove counterparts. Lennox Country 310 and the Osburn 2400. I believe both are rated to heat your square footage and EPA qualified. They can each handle about 20 inch logs and weigh about 550 pounds.
I went with the Osburn as it was about $700 cheaper than the Lennox. But I believe the Lennox is built just a tad heavier and has denser firebrick with it. I am heating about 2700 square feet with my Osburn 2400 and am not using the blower, just radiant heat so it should be able to heat your area.
P.S. I only paid just over $1,500 locally for mine including a stainless steel chimney liner, but they can be found online for around $1,900. Did the install myself.
Good luck.
I went with the Osburn as it was about $700 cheaper than the Lennox. But I believe the Lennox is built just a tad heavier and has denser firebrick with it. I am heating about 2700 square feet with my Osburn 2400 and am not using the blower, just radiant heat so it should be able to heat your area.
P.S. I only paid just over $1,500 locally for mine including a stainless steel chimney liner, but they can be found online for around $1,900. Did the install myself.
Good luck.
I have hydro air with the boiler in the basement and the heat exchange in the attic. That's why I thought I had to get a woodstove with grates in the floor. Is the woodstove the best option or a wood furnace with new ductwork?
If you are putting it in the basement and want the heat upstairs, I definitely recommend a wood furnace. Depending on the layout of your house and how you want the heat distributed, you may not need much new ductwork. For our house, only a single duct/register into the dining room did a good job. Our house is fairly open and the dining room is in the center of the house. We normally keep the bedroom door partially closed to reduce the heat in there.
Without the duct to the upstairs, we were having 85-90 degree temps in the basement to get minimum heat upstairs even though there was an open stairwell just 10' from the stove.
As for grates in the floor above a woodstove, I think that might be a code violation. Besides you won't get as much heat through that as you would a short piece of ductwork to a register connected to a wood furnace with a blower. We actually had enough draft in that duct that the blower rarely came on.
Ken
4seasons
ArboristSite Guru
I grew up in a house built very close to the way you are describing. 1600 sqft house with a full basement underneath. It was first heated with a fireplace in the living room. It ate lots of wood and kept the living room hot, the kitchen/ dinning room warm, the bathroom cool, and the bedrooms cold. After one winter like that dad got a Wonderwood and put it in the basement. He put in floor registers but no duct to let the heat upstairs. With no way to push the hot air upstairs Dad keep the stove red hot all winter long and we never got warm upstairs. After only a few winters like that he put in a full wood furnace system with ducts and we finally were warm. If you want to heat a whole house you need a furnace. Now that said my current house is a single level 1200 sqft brick rancher. I have a Wondercoal that you can read about here: http://www.arboristsite.com/firewood-heating-wood-burning-equipment/193129.htm I can heat the livingroom (where the stove is) to 75 degrees the kitchen to 70, the bathroom to 65, and the bedrooms to 60 with no fans or blowers. It is nice to know that it doesn't matter how long the power is off I can stay warm. But I also have more insulation than most and the place is small. If you want your whole house the same temperature or want to have the fire in the basement (i.e. not the wood stove mess, ash, wood chips in you living room) then a furnace it the way to go. If you already have the ducts installed for your other heat source you can probably tie into that system and save a lot of cost on installing but you have to know what you are doing. You may find it hard to hold to your budget and get a system that you will be happy with.
The US Stove Hotblast is sold by Tractor Supply. There may be better ones out there, but it's a decent wood furnace.
Ken
lampmfg
ArboristSite.com Sponsor
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Swamp Yankee
Addicted to ArboristSite
Jotul 118 CB
I have the same set up you're thinking about, stove in an unfinished cellar, heating basement and upstairs. No floor grates but the floors radiate the heat very nicely. I'm easily heating 2000 sq ft.
F118 takes 24 inch wood which gives it a long productive heat burn time. I can hold a fire 12 hours and get useful heat output for 8 hours.
One great thing thing about a stove in the basement, other than keeping the dirt and dust down there, is once you get all that concrete nice and warm it acts as a huge heat sink helping to maintain the house temp even if the stove goes out.
Jotul F 118 CB Black Bear Woodstove
Take Care
I have the same set up you're thinking about, stove in an unfinished cellar, heating basement and upstairs. No floor grates but the floors radiate the heat very nicely. I'm easily heating 2000 sq ft.
F118 takes 24 inch wood which gives it a long productive heat burn time. I can hold a fire 12 hours and get useful heat output for 8 hours.
One great thing thing about a stove in the basement, other than keeping the dirt and dust down there, is once you get all that concrete nice and warm it acts as a huge heat sink helping to maintain the house temp even if the stove goes out.
Jotul F 118 CB Black Bear Woodstove
Take Care
Fred Wright
Addicted to ArboristSite
When I lived in VA the house had a full, finished basement. We got a used Riteway coal/wood burner and set it in the basement. That old Riteway wasn't much to look at but it did the job. It kept the floors warm, too.
As the folks mentioned, getting heat upstairs was a challenge. I wanted to put a grate in the hall floor, above the stove but the missus nixed that idea. So we left the basement door open and used a fan at the bottom of the steps to move heat up.
Agreed, a forced-air wood furnace is probably your best bet.
As the folks mentioned, getting heat upstairs was a challenge. I wanted to put a grate in the hall floor, above the stove but the missus nixed that idea. So we left the basement door open and used a fan at the bottom of the steps to move heat up.
Agreed, a forced-air wood furnace is probably your best bet.
CrappieKeith
Addicted to ArboristSite
Stoves for the most part are not home heaters...in the sense that all of the rooms get heated to around the same temp...unless the home is really open without many walls and the home is in a more moderate climate where the call for heat is not too high.
Furnaces on the other hand are meant to hook to duct work and heat the entire home.
A furnace will cost more..so will the install,but the return on your investment typically is greater.
As in any product you will have numerous choices. Some of the things I'd point out...when comparing go to the btu's. Your home should heat up well with a smaller furnace..say around 70-90 thousand btu's...depending on how well it is insulated of coarse.
In a good furnace you will find it had the ability to burn smoke either in a gassier or cat after-burn.It should have a good amount of heat ex-changer surface area and loaded with thermal mass...ie...firebrick.
1 of the things I'll point out is that manuals should be referred to.
Look to see what draft speeds are as in most are .04-.06 inches of water column. Notice that with faster draft speeds you will have a cleaner burn and a hotter burn which is somewhat waist-full .
Hotter flue gas temps will be the result...which is not always a good thing.
I'd also look to warranties. Shorter warranty periods like 5 years are common with lesser grade appliances.
Here's a place you could start your search.
There is a sale running on them now.
BIG JACK ADD-ON WOOD FURNACE
Probably true for the better furnaces, but our upstairs wood stove cost significantly more than the wood furnace in the basement is currently selling for.
Basic installation is going to cost the same for a chimney. Yes, ductwork can be expensive, or it could be simple and inexpensive depending on your house and needs.
Ken
I heat my house with a Vigilant in the basement. 1600 sq ft without the basement, found that a fan at the top of the stairs is more effective moving the air around than one trying to push the warm air up I have a small 6 inch round table model at the top of the basement stairs pushing the cold air . Works well I can get the main floor into the 70's with it in the teens outside. The two bedrooms on the second floor are in the 60's which is perfect for me. I bought the stove used
Ranch house with a stove in the basement here.... All you need is a LARGE vent through the floor directly above the stove, and smaller vents in all of the rooms. Keep the door to the basement CLOSED, if it is open it will disturb the convection and not force air to circulate through the upstairs rooms. The large vents will allow the heat to escape to the upstairs... and the small vents in all the other rooms will act as a "cold air return". No fans...no ducts... and the whole house is at a live-able temp.
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