hard decision.To install or Not.

[begreen]

what is your backup? i mean if its a forced air, doesn't it suck the smoke out of the stove when they work together?

That should not happen. The forced air system is moving the air in the house envelope. It should not be creating a negative pressure.

 

[Alexey]

Looks like it will work. Not ideal, but a return register will help as long as the basement stairway remains open to upstairs. I would consider placing a decent sized floor register with a fusible-link damper in the living room, on the outside wall over the playroom area in the basement. It should be a decent size, like 8" x 24" or similar area depending on how the floor joists run. With the basement door open to supply the heat, cool air will return from the living room thru the new register. I'd go for a decent sized burner, probably a 3 cu ft stove.

what is exactly fusible-link damper ?

 

[begreen]

It's a heat sensitive link that triggers a spring-loaded damper to close when melted. Atlanta Supply has these dampers and matching floor registers. Look under Fire Dampers. Looks like a 10 x 16 is available.
http://www.atlantasupply.com/swscripts/NLNETUPD.OBJ?SESSION_NO=49M44FABR1AD99DW2AD4RDA4R&NL_ORDER_NO=00006325.003&STOCK_NO=12AH16X10%20%20%20%20%20%20&REQUEST_ID=CSTKDET

 

[Thislilfishy]

Well... when i moved 3 years ago to this house which is my first, i didn't even know about wood stoves, wood inserts, everything was new for me when i started to be interested in saving some bucks on heating cost. Last year i payed total 2300$ on electricity -that's including heating and everything.In the winter the bills are high: from Nov the 7th to Jan the 10th i got 651$ . and from Jan the 11th to March the 13th i got 723$.
I think its a lot. maybe i;m wrong...don't know. and i cannot understand how much i will save after installing the stove or insert.
Here in Montreal area - 1 Canadian cord is 80 $ delivered.i think its 1/3 of a real cord. i have already 6-7 Canadian cords seasoned well which i got from here and there by cutting some maples and elms.
lets say the insert installation will cost me 4000$. And i will cut 1/3 of a bill which is approx, 460 $ per season, that will pay off after 9 years. doesn't worth it. i need to cut at least 2/3 thus it paying off after 4. more profitable.Taking in mind that not always i have free wood it;s gonna cost me more than what i think. unfortunately im far from been rich otherwise i wouldn't come here thinking how to save here and there on that expensive electricity.

Hah, we're in Ontario, up on blue mountain actually. Sounds like a face cord, never heard of a Canadian cord. Around here a bush cord is $3-500 'seasoned', and a face cord can be $80-180. Unfortunately the cheap stuff is typically crap. My neighbour got 2 bush cord for $600, ended up being mill ends mostly (mostly bark with some wood stuck to it) and she ended up a full face cord short!

You're not saving a lot of money, but what it will do is eliminate those peak bills mid winter. Our Jan bill was $600, Feb $800, March $880 roughly. Hydro was pushing $300/mnth on top of that. Doesn't help that we pay 13% tax on everything now...including heat and hydro! :0

Ian

 

[jrems]

what is your backup? i mean if its a forced air, doesn't it suck the smoke out of the stove then they work together?

I have oil baseboard heat. No forced hot air. I would think the house would warm a lot quicker if I had forced hot air to circulate the heat.