Putting the Stove in the Basement? Will It Work.

fyi - there is NO radiant heat given off from an 8" thick concrete poured wall, or from a concrete floor, it just sucks it in and dissipates it into the outside soil. the bedroom floor is the warmest because thats where the oil furnace sits, but we keep the house at 72 in the winter, it burns about 160 gallons a month during the coldest months.

tom69z wrote:fyi - there is NO radiant heat given off from an 8" thick concrete poured wall, or from a concrete floor, it just sucks it in and dissipates it into the outside soil. the bedroom floor is the warmest because thats where the oil furnace sits, but we keep the house at 72 in the winter, it burns about 160 gallons a month during the coldest months.

Actually there is radiant heat given off. I read some of dan houlahans books, and he talked about the radiant heat systems in concrete slabs in levitt town. Uninsulated slabs mind you. he said in the middle of winter the power could go out and the house would stay warm for days with the heat coming off the slab. I will also say I can feel the heat from our block walls for a couple of days after the stove goes out.

Eric

yes the stove in a basement without insulation will loose heat to the walls and the surrounding soil...
and that heat will eventually be lost...
but it does act as a heat sink and moderates the temp swings...
due to the massive ammount of heat contained in the volume of soil...
even if it is only raised by 10 degrees...
now if you run some foam insulation out 3 or 4 feet from the foundation 3 feet below grade...
your heat sink will be mor effective...

well, my stove was running at 500-550 degrees and the concrete wall 3ft behind it felt the same temp as the wall on the other end of the house. Now, had those walls been dryloked I think more heat would of radiated to the upstairs, but the concrete just soaked it in.