My wife and I just closed on a new home. In our current home we have a wood stove that we had installed in the middle of last season. So this is our second season to use wood, and we both like it. The current stove is a Dutchwest "Medium." I can't find any place in the manual where it says how big the firebox is.
One thing I know for sure is I don't want another downdraft stove. I'm pretty sure I don't want a cat stove either.
So here are some particulars:
We're in upstate S.C. NOAA says we have 3,000 heating degree days (as opposed to 6,000 for central PA). The coldest it gets is low teens. I ran the A/C in my car yesterday.
The new basement is half finished. I'm going to finish half of what's left. The portion I am finishing has a fireplace in it. I think I want to put a freestanding stove in front of the hearth. I plan on putting ceramic tile on the concrete floor. The house was built in 1972, so it's going to be an uninsulated floor. I think I want a freestanding stove, as opposed to an insert, because it will give more heat to the indoors, right? The masonry fireplace is outside the house on three sides.
The basement is about 1600 SF. So we're going to want to heat 3/4 of that, or 1200 feet. Hopefully it will help keep the upstairs warm as well.
I'm going to be putting a rec room into the area with the FP. Maybe a shuffle board table, some chairs, a pinball table if I can get a good deal. Stuff like that. There are two other rooms in the currently finished portion. They are both open to the part where the stove will be, and they are open to each other. Maybe it's just one room with a divider? Anyway, these two rooms are to be my wife's music studio and a guest room.
We will use the stove on the weekends, and when we have guests in the basement (probably her father for a couple weeks in the winter). If the stove contributes meaningful heat to the upstairs, then we'll probably use it more when it's cold too.
The house has natural gas forced air for the upstairs, and electric baseboard in the finished downstairs. We are going to install a gas insert in the FP upstairs (in the family room).
The house has whatever insulation would have been typical in 1972. The attic appears to have R-11 batts, which will be upgraded. The windows are single hung in aluminum tracks with aluminum storms. We might upgrade some of the storm windows. The portion of the basement that I finish will have R-11 batts in stud walls. The portion that's already finished has something behind paneling. I don't know what it is. The paneling has some give. Maybe it's got Fiberboard on furring strips.
Oh, and I have two years of wood on hand to move to the new house.
Here's a rough floor plan. The red line shows an approximate area that will be finished:
One thing I know for sure is I don't want another downdraft stove. I'm pretty sure I don't want a cat stove either.
So here are some particulars:
We're in upstate S.C. NOAA says we have 3,000 heating degree days (as opposed to 6,000 for central PA). The coldest it gets is low teens. I ran the A/C in my car yesterday.
The new basement is half finished. I'm going to finish half of what's left. The portion I am finishing has a fireplace in it. I think I want to put a freestanding stove in front of the hearth. I plan on putting ceramic tile on the concrete floor. The house was built in 1972, so it's going to be an uninsulated floor. I think I want a freestanding stove, as opposed to an insert, because it will give more heat to the indoors, right? The masonry fireplace is outside the house on three sides.
The basement is about 1600 SF. So we're going to want to heat 3/4 of that, or 1200 feet. Hopefully it will help keep the upstairs warm as well.
I'm going to be putting a rec room into the area with the FP. Maybe a shuffle board table, some chairs, a pinball table if I can get a good deal. Stuff like that. There are two other rooms in the currently finished portion. They are both open to the part where the stove will be, and they are open to each other. Maybe it's just one room with a divider? Anyway, these two rooms are to be my wife's music studio and a guest room.
We will use the stove on the weekends, and when we have guests in the basement (probably her father for a couple weeks in the winter). If the stove contributes meaningful heat to the upstairs, then we'll probably use it more when it's cold too.
The house has natural gas forced air for the upstairs, and electric baseboard in the finished downstairs. We are going to install a gas insert in the FP upstairs (in the family room).
The house has whatever insulation would have been typical in 1972. The attic appears to have R-11 batts, which will be upgraded. The windows are single hung in aluminum tracks with aluminum storms. We might upgrade some of the storm windows. The portion of the basement that I finish will have R-11 batts in stud walls. The portion that's already finished has something behind paneling. I don't know what it is. The paneling has some give. Maybe it's got Fiberboard on furring strips.
Oh, and I have two years of wood on hand to move to the new house.
Here's a rough floor plan. The red line shows an approximate area that will be finished: