Coal stove in basement!

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Bak4219
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Baseburners & Antiques: Baseboard

Post by Bak4219 » Wed. Jul. 07, 2021 1:48 am

All, looking for some advice or if it would be logical to add a coal stove in my basement. My house is a ranch with baseboard heat. I currently have a wood burning stove in the basement and was looking into replacing it with a coal burning stove. My issues is getting the heat to the main level as there is no duct work in the basement. My basement door is also on one side of the house as my bedrooms are on the other. I do have a new born baby which his room will be across from my room which is on the other end of the house from the basement door. Being new to this as I recently just bought the house and looking for a good way to heat the house without using baseboard heat as I feel like they are not efficient. My thoughts on this is to run a blower and put duct work in each bedroom but I would have to run some duct through the garage as my sons room is right above the garage and would be afraid to loose some heat. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 
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warminmn
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Post by warminmn » Wed. Jul. 07, 2021 8:50 am

I cant answer your question but those that can will want to see a good drawing of your buildings layout with size of rooms, chimney location, etc.

 
coalder
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Post by coalder » Wed. Jul. 07, 2021 10:36 am

Being that you have baseboard heat, I would highly suggest some sort of boiler. Might be a little pricey initially, however, it would pay dividends in the long run.
Jim


 
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anthony7812
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Post by anthony7812 » Wed. Jul. 07, 2021 11:04 am

I was in the same boat as you maybe 8 years ago. A stove will work but not as nice as a boiler. Sure warm floor but your heat will never be evenly dispersed through a ranch home as mine was uneven. Never got cold but the difference was 6-7 ton in a hand fed to 4 ton with a boiler. The 4 ton is nice even 72 upstairs while basement is still around 68. The 6-7 ton usage with a hand fed kept my ranch’s fully open basement at 90 with upstairs around 70-74. It’ll take more to do what you want it to do . Closing doors made a negative impact on bedroom heat. However, it was what I could afford at the time for a stove. Didn’t have any baseboard either. I bit the bullet and did a full install. Used boiler from a member on here and put in baseboards. Saved a couple dollars.

 
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EarthWindandFire
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Post by EarthWindandFire » Wed. Jul. 07, 2021 12:59 pm

In my opinion, hydronic baseboard heat is incredibly efficient. Adding ductwork would provide little to no gain.

 
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oliver power
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Post by oliver power » Wed. Jul. 07, 2021 10:36 pm

I agree, duct work would be little to no gain. I assume your baseboard heat is electric. If hot water, no doubt a boiler is the way to go.

The first thing you need to figure out is the flow of air in the house.... What do you have for a wood stove? What kind of coal stove are you looking at? Pictures...?


 
Hoytman
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Post by Hoytman » Thu. Jul. 08, 2021 1:11 pm

Basement needs insulation or you’re wasting heat.

 
charlesosborne2002
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Post by charlesosborne2002 » Sat. Jul. 10, 2021 6:41 pm

Bak4219 wrote:
Wed. Jul. 07, 2021 1:48 am
All, looking for some advice or if it would be logical to add a coal stove in my basement. My house is a ranch with baseboard heat. I currently have a wood burning stove in the basement and was looking into replacing it with a coal burning stove. My issues is getting the heat to the main level as there is no duct work in the basement. My basement door is also on one side of the house as my bedrooms are on the other. I do have a new born baby which his room will be across from my room which is on the other end of the house from the basement door. Being new to this as I recently just bought the house and looking for a good way to heat the house without using baseboard heat as I feel like they are not efficient. My thoughts on this is to run a blower and put duct work in each bedroom but I would have to run some duct through the garage as my sons room is right above the garage and would be afraid to loose some heat. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
What strikes me first is whether the wood stove does what you want. If not, just changing to coal would not in itself change much--burning wood can put out plenty of heat, and so can coal. But getting as much heat as you want, where you want it, is another issue. Coal is typically a lot less work, but if wood is free that should be considered. Can you try it before making drastic changes? Radiators with a coal boiler would certainly work well, but they cost many times more than just a simple wood or coal stove. Many people here heat their homes with a coal stove in the basement; mine is in in the living-dining-kitchen area and reaches back to the bedroom, but the house is only 950 sq ft altogether with open air circulation (passageways 8 ft wide and a couple of transoms to the back). A long ranch house might heat best with two stoves, and one might be in the basement (maybe the wood stove you have, to start). The second might be a coal cookstove, if the kitchen/dining area is a main congregating area, and opens to the living room--many models crank out plenty of heat during the day. (A smaller modern stove could be used in summer, or as needed.) One problem with a string of bedrooms is heating them with the doors closed. You can try things first--for instance, if the basement stove heats the floors you might not need so much power to the baseboard heat, which just goes where you want it. In fall and spring, the basement stove might be enough. Some coal furnaces are made for ductwork, so putting one in the basement and running the forced air ductwork down there might work--they work the same way gas forced air furnaces do--it could even be in the garage if there is room.

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