Woodstove in basement...

[Rydaddy]

I've researched the pros and cons of having a wood stove in your basement, and have decided that I would like to add one. Problem is finding an adequate location for the 6" chimney. Has anyone here added one and there basement, and/or also how and where did you do it. I am struggling with ideas of where to add a chimney and am hoping that someone here will be able to tell me what they did to solve the problem.

Thanks!

 

[bassman]

my cousin did this.
he got a backhoe guy to dig a hole along side his house he then cut into his basement a hole for a chimney and then he made a huge box/room that then was covered over and a trap door installed on top.
he put in a metal door that opens into his basement .
now when he needs wood he opens the door and there it is 12 cords of wood nice and dry with the help of a vent and a old furnace fan.
total job cost was just under 3 grand but way cheaper than cutting into his upstairs and out and he has no wood pile that you can see outside of his home.

 

[tawilson]

I've researched the pros and cons of having a wood stove in your basement, and have decided that I would like to add one. Problem is finding an adequate location for the 6" chimney. Has anyone here added one and there basement, and/or also how and where did you do it. I am struggling with ideas of where to add a chimney and am hoping that someone here will be able to tell me what they did to solve the problem.

Thanks!

I've tried hard to figure out a way to get a chimney from my basement without it sticking out like a sore thumb. I measured up my 1st and 2nd floors and put them in Autocad so I could overlay them and still couldn't find a way. The house was designed with an outside chimney and that's that. Can you draw the floors on some transparent paper so you can do the same?

 

[MRCONRAN]

Can you route the chimney through a closet? One floor or two?

 

[PA Plumber]

All fuel

We have an "add on" chimney for our wood stove. Here when we bought the house, but here's what they did.

6" all fuel 15' horizontal. Hole through foundation of house to outside. 6" all fuel tee (for cleanout). 24' vertical riser to all fuel cap. Vertical all fuel anchored to outside of house as appropriate and then they used wood framing and siding to box in chimney.

Actually it looks very nice. Also, actually, it is not maintenance free and needs attention 2 to 3 times per heating season. I bought my own poly brush and clean the chimney myself.

Performance: We have a 32% (from woodstove booklett) unit. It really eats the wood but will keep our basement and first floor of the house (2400 sq.) at least 72 degrees F when the outside temp is in the mid 20's and above. The 2nd floor is definitely chilly. Very nice sleeping though.

 

[Burban]

I moved into a house with a woodstove in the basement, the previous owner had ran the chimney through the basement wall, then up through the attached garage and thru the roof. Very nice way to do it.

The furnace room is close and I have a removable window to get wood to the basement without carrying every piece thru the whole house.

 

[goof008]

I put mine thru the poured wall (my wall is about 10 inches above grade) and up the side of the house. Because of where i wanted to put it, and having a nice deck on the only other wall that was on option, I had to use 2 30-degree elbows to get around the soffet/gutter. I Used black pipe from the stove to the wall, then an 18" piece of Metalbestos thru the wall to a T, then about 24' up over the second story eves.
If you can, I would put it on a gable end so you can just go straight up. Also, put the stove in a place where you can get the most out of the heat...meaning put it under a room you use alot, or in my case, there are 2-stories above it, so I get the most from the heat.
Lastly, if you can get a way to feed the wood into the basement from the outside you will like the stove alot more. I have to carry mine thru the kitchen and down the stairs!

Good luck

 

[Rydaddy]

Input

Thanks for all the input guys! It is a cape-cod style house with a 2nd floor that I basically don't use. Just one big room for the most part. I have considered finding a closet and going up through but running into issues from one floor to the next. The biggest problem I see with running it through a hole in the foundation and then up and outside is that the flu will then be outside for much of the "run" and not create as much draft. But this is also the easiest way and may be what i have to do.

Thanks again for the replies!

 

[Rydaddy]

Cover

my cousin did this.
he got a backhoe guy to dig a hole along side his house he then cut into his basement a hole for a chimney and then he made a huge box/room that then was covered over and a trap door installed on top.
he put in a metal door that opens into his basement .
now when he needs wood he opens the door and there it is 12 cords of wood nice and dry with the help of a vent and a old furnace fan.
total job cost was just under 3 grand but way cheaper than cutting into his upstairs and out and he has no wood pile that you can see outside of his home.

Bassmna, what was the "roof" of this new box made of? Concrete, or a framed-shingled roof?

 

[TimberPig]

Thanks for all the input guys! It is a cape-cod style house with a 2nd floor that I basically don't use. Just one big room for the most part. I have considered finding a closet and going up through but running into issues from one floor to the next. The biggest problem I see with running it through a hole in the foundation and then up and outside is that the flu will then be outside for much of the "run" and not create as much draft. But this is also the easiest way and may be what i have to do.

Thanks again for the replies!

If you enclose the outside chimney within a framed/insulated and sided chase, like was already mentioned, you won't have any issues with inadequate draft. Done properly, it is also neat and clean, and you will hardly know it is there.

 

[goof008]

I get a great draft....once I get one established. I can't let the fire/coals die or it's a pain to get the draft going again, but once the fire is going it draws no problem. When mine did go out for the weekend, I had to put a fan in front of it and have it blow warm air from the basement up it for about an hour to try to heat up the inner liner. I used the insulated, double walled pipe. They say that building a "chimney" around it or boxing it in doesn't help much, as the pipe is insulated already.

 

[treebucker]

My brother has a brick chimney enclosed in the center of the house where it stays warm. It draws well enough when the stove doors are closed. But when you open the door to put in more wood you have to be careful not to open both doors at the same time. I read an article about this problem with basement woodstoves. It seems the house also behaves like a chimney - drawing cold air in the basment and loosing warm air through the roof. (Probably more pronounced in an old house like his.) When you open the stove door in the basement the "house-chimney" will draw harded than the stove chimney resulting in a down-draft coming back through the stove to make up for the loss of air in the house. The solution is to temporarily open a window a little in the basement while you load the stove.

If you decide to go up the outside you might consider triple-wall pipe to increase the insulating value.

 

[bassman]

Bassmna, what was the "roof" of this new box made of? Concrete, or a framed-shingled roof?

steel I beam then concreat covered with some kind of black tar that is used for sealing poured basements .
then dirt with grass .
I remember building the top form with plywood and lots of rebar saying it isnt going to hold and him 2 weeks later parking my truck on it.

 

[Butch(OH)]

Years ago I ran an air tight add-on wood furnace in the basement. I have 3-4 blocks exposed above grade outside and added a thimble through the blocks above grade. Some have no problems but I know of lots of people that have their troubles with chimneys made of pipe when a lot of it is exposed to ambient temps no matter if triple wall, double or a simple well casing so be forewarned if you go that route that Air tight stoves and exposed steel chimneys don't mix well. The EPA type stove might work better. My pipe chimney would quit drawing on certain weather and low fire. Later my Sis and bro in law put a stove in the basement and decided to build a masonry chimney up through the middle of their house. I was very surprised at how easy it was to do (given that they spent some time deciding just where to put it) and the mason was glad to have some winter work that was out of the elements. Just adding this so you will at least consider going up through the house even if in proper steel prefabricated stuff because a masonary chimney that is inside of the house and exits at or near the peak is best always when it comes to perfect draw.

 

[wdchuck]

OUr masonry chimney is through the middle of our old farmhouse, when we remodel it's coming down and a new one is going up, stainless or masonry, the current one is a GREAT radiator, since it's 90% exposed on all three floors. For aesthetics it's been plastered smooth and painted the same as the wall color, most people don't even notice it on the main floor, but at the top of the stairwell it makes a nice architectual statement, and yep, our add-on wood furnace is in the basement.

 

[JohnH]

I put one in my basement and I love it. As for the chimney I drilled through the foundation and went up the side of the house.

 

[Rydaddy]

Sweet

Thanks for all the help guys!