How to install a wood burning stove in the basement

A basement is not a good location for effective space heating. Unfinished basements are particularly bad locations because too much of the heat is absorbed by the walls and lost to the outside. Also, wood stoves operating in basements may over-fire or smolder without anyone noticing. Furthermore, how do I circulate the heat from my pellet stove in the basement? A pellet stove installed in your basement does not circulate heat around your house as efficiently as a furnace with an electric fan and dedicated ducts.

Cutting a few vents in the floor can certainly help. But you're still relying on natural convection for heat distribution. Adding a wood stove is an energy-efficient way to bring a cozy feeling to your house. Unlike fireplaces, wood stoves can heat a whole room or possibly even your whole house , depending on its layout. And their prefabricated chimney pipes let you install them practically anywhere—even in front of an existing hearth.

The ideal location for a wood stove is close to the center of the area to be heated. This gives the best heat distribution. Avoid locating it near an exterior wall as this increases the heat loss to the outside, and decreases the heat gained from the stove. For best results, vent wood stoves through an interior wall. Chimneys or stovepipes for wood -burning stoves or fireplaces work on the principle that the hotter the pipe or chimney, the more draft delivered to the fire.

When placed through a window , it is meant to exhaust the fumes out of the house. These pipes are often present on wood stoves and an improper installation can be a fire hazard. In order to run the stovepipe out of a window , the proper materials and a plan is needed. Wood burning stoves cannot heat a room: A wood burning stove cannot only heat a room, but a whole house too. By using back boiler installation in conjunction with central heating or even ducted hot air, you could heat your entire house.

A wood burning stove heats the air space around it through radiation of the stove's heat -conducting material, which, of course, is heated from the burning wood fire inside it. If it is a manufactured flue it must be installed according to the manufacturer's instructions. There are two main things that can impact the cost of a stove : the type whether it's a multi-fuel or log burner , and wattage. But log burners , also known as wood burning stoves , tend to be more expensive.

If you heat your home with wood , you can save big-time. In fact, typical wood stove users spend only half as much on winter heating as homeowners who heat with propane, fuel oil, or electric baseboards. But traditional wood stoves aren't perfectly efficient. The Home Depot offers natural gas or liquid propane direct vent fireplaces.

We also carry wood stoves , wood fireplaces that can be installed indoors or outside in your backyard. This also applies to the gas fireplaces. Luckily for those living in modern homes, you do not need a chimney to install a wood burning stove.

However, it may require more work to fit one than in an existing chimney. This is because you will need to fit a twin wall flue system through the roof or wall of your building. Wood stoves need a heat-resistant pad underneath to protect the house from excessive heat and flames. The pad should extend at least 18 inches past all sides of the stove , but check your model to learn whether it requires a larger pad. Stoves need a supply of air for combustion, and to evacuate the flue gases otherwise they will not work.

If your stove smokes or does not burn very keenly, but this improves when you open a window then this is a sign that you need to install some ventilation. Wood Stoves. Decide on a location for your stove. You don't want to have to make the decision of where to put your stove as you are wheeling the lb iron behemoth around on a dolly. Designate a site in your house for your stove well in advance of when you plan to buy it. Since stoves are space heaters, generally, you'll want the stove on the first floor of your house where you spend most of your time so that it can warm you effectively throughout the day.

To further maximize the efficiency of your wood stove, try to pick a spot in a room with especially good insulation so that the heat from the stove is not lost through the walls or windows. Keep in mind that every wood stove requires a chimney. Take this into account when choosing a spot for your stove. If you plan for your chimney to extend straight up through the roof, for instance, you may not want to pick a spot for your stove that's directly under one of your second floor's main support beams.

Observe your stove's clearance rating when picking a suitable spot. Wood stoves can get very, very hot during use. Radiating heat from the stove can pose a hazard to nearby walls and furniture, so wood stoves generally have a specified clearance - a minimum safe distance between the stove and nearby floors and walls. Your stove clearance can depend on where you live, whether your residence's floors and walls are combustible, and the type and size of wood stove you have.

If in doubt about your stove's clearance rating, contact your stove's manufacturer. If not you may still be able to install it. Check if your locality allows non-listed solid-fuel appliances this is what wood stoves are officially called.

If yes then check next with your insurance company. If all is good you can install your unlisted stove according to NFPA This will specify all clearances. Choose a certified wood stove. As you shop for wood stoves, be sure to check that any stove you're considering buying is properly certified as meeting criteria for safety and environmental friendliness. The EPA regularly publishes exhaustive lists of certified wood stoves, but certified stoves should also be labeled with both a temporary paper label and a permanent metal label.

Pick a stove that's the right size for your needs. Generally, the larger a wood stove is, the hotter it can become when it's full of burning wood. Thus, small rooms can become uncomfortably warm from the heat provided by an especially large wood stove. The average medium-sized house requires only about 5, to 25, BTU - in other words, the maximum output of a small stove or less - even during winter.

Burning your wood stove at its maximum capacity for long periods of time can damage the stove, so you may want to opt for a stove that's slightly larger than what you'll typically need so that you can use it at sub-maximum capacity most of the time.

Part 2. Before starting, notify your local officials. Like many building projects, installing a wood stove may require permission from your local government to ensure that you comply with safety regulations. However, rules will vary from town to town, so, before you buy a stove or start modifying your house, get in touch with the building or planning department of your city or town's government to get a sense of what is and isn't legal. If you need to get a building permit to install your stove, the officials in this department should be able to help you get one.

You may also want to call your local fire marshal, as, in some jurisdictions, installing a wood stove requires an inspection to approve the validity of the installation. Finally, you may also want to contact the issuer of your homeowner's insurance, as installing a wood stove may change your liability.

Lay a non-combustible floor pad in the spot where your stove will be. This pad, made of brick, ceramic tile, concrete or another noncombustible substance, should be flush with your home's existing flooring. Floor pads are essential for safe wood stove operation, as they ensure that any stray sparks or embers that fall from the stove will only come into contact with the pad, not the floor, reducing the risk of fire.

Floor pads are especially crucial in the case of houses with wood or carpet floors directly adjacent to the stove. Certain laws dictate the use of floor pads - in the United States and Canada, the floor pad must stretch at least 18 inches 45 cm in front of the stove door and 8 inches 20 cm from the other sides. Add a heat shield to protect combustible walls. Installing heat shielding on the walls around the site of your stove can further reduce the risk of damage or fire. Heat shields are often made of sheet metal, which is relatively simple to lay over existing walls.

Check your local building codes to find out whether any special permission is needed to mount the shield as well as any other related clearance requirements. Note that the installation of a heat shield can reduce the clearance requirements of your stove. Carefully move the stove into position. If you haven't hired professional movers to help you get your stove into position, you'll need to move it yourself.

Wood stoves are made from metal and can be incredibly heavy, so be sure to take any and all measures necessary to protect yourself as you move the stove. A sturdy dolly or hand truck that's rated above the weight of your stove is a great way to get the stove to its position without hurting yourself. Minor adjustments to the stove's positioning at the site of installation may need to be done by hand, in which case you should enlist the help of a friend or family member so that you don't have to bear the full weight of the stove yourself.

You may also want to try rolling the stove into position on lengths of sturdy PVC pipe. Install a chimney and connect it to your stove, if necessary. A well-functioning chimney is absolutely crucial for getting the most out of your wood stove.

Your chimney should carry smoke and sediment safely outside your house - a poorly-installed chimney may not effectively remove the smoke, leaving your living room a gloomy, smokey mess. Chimneys can be an existing part of the house's construction or can be installed along with the stove, but in either case, the chimney must be well insulated and made of a non-combustible material. New chimneys installed for wood stoves are often made of a special kind of insulated stainless steel piping.

You may need to use a length of stovepipe to connect your wood stove to the chimney. This is fine, but remember that stovepipe is relatively thin and poorly-insulated, so by no means can stovepipe be used as a substitute for an actual insulated chimney. Generally, the taller and straighter a chimney is, the better. The greater distance that smoke must travel horizontally through curved sections of stovepipe, for instance , the less effective the chimney will be at removing smoke from the stove.

Consider hiring certified professionals to install and inspect your stove. Installed properly, wood stoves can be a tremendous boon for your house, but installed improperly, they can be a hassle and even a serious danger. If you encounter any problems while installing your wood stove or you are unsure of how to proceed safely, enlist the help of a professional. Similarly, if, after installation, you have even the slightest doubts about the safety of your stove, schedule an inspection with an expert.

The safety of your home and family is well worth the minor expense of hiring outside help. Yes, but you can obtain a copy of the manual by contacting the manufacturer online. Most stoves will either have a name on them or a metal plate somewhere with its information. They should be able to provide you with a copy of the manual.

Not Helpful 0 Helpful It might be due to heat. Make sure that aside from using high-temperature tolerant tiles, you're also using high-temperature cement to fix them near the stove. Normal cement usually cracks and crumbles due to heat. Not Helpful 6 Helpful Every stove is different, check in your owner's manual or on the tag on the back of your wood stove.

In the US, however, NFPA requires at least 36 inches of clearance from combustible materials to the side or rear of a wood stove, unless something less is specified in the owner's manual or there is an engineered "shield" on the walls.

Not Helpful 8 Helpful Too much air to the stove could do it. Close down the damper or air flow valve to fix this. Not Helpful 7 Helpful There might be too much positive air pressure in the chimney. Before you light the fire, light a piece of rolled-up newspaper, and let it burn directly under the flue in the fireplace. This will warm the air and begin the updraft process. Your chimney might also need some sweeping; you should hire a certified chimney sweep to do an inspection and clean the chimney for you.

Not Helpful 11 Helpful What if a house has a large central area, and all bedrooms and other rooms are separated from the main area by only a door? Do those rooms still get enough heat if their doors are closed, with the house heated only by a wood stove?

The rooms will stay warmer, but not like with a central heating unit. Any room that is shut off from the wood burning stove heat, even by a door, will be colder than if left open. Not Helpful 10 Helpful No less than a couple of inches, no more than a foot - relative to the size of your stove. Not Helpful 7 Helpful 9. A draft does not come down a chimney. Due to Bernouli's principle, a draft goes up the chimney.

Not Helpful 11 Helpful 9.