Basement Heating Options

Not sure where to put this because it involves multiple types of heat, so mods please move if necessary.

Greetings!

I am in the process of planning to finish part of our basement it will be about 600 sf, 48 x 13, fully underground. Looking for it to be a family room/ teen hangout. There is currently no heat down there. We had oil heat but I removed the tank/furnace and rely on the mini splits up stairs + wood heat. Because we had the oil heat, I do have access to a flue. I am back and forth about a few options:

1) We have a smaller 8k BTU mini split in a room that we put a wall in the middle. We almost never use it so I was thinking about relocating it to the basement, cost would probably be around $1500 labor + materials as the run length will be much longer than it is currently. Pros: It would work on a thermostat, low operating costs. Cons Mini split is older but hardly ever used.

2) Use the existing flue for a wood stove. The only small wood stove I am familiar with is the Woodstock Survival hybrid which is not cheap at $2k plus a SS liner I am probably looking at $4k with install. Pros: I have enough wood. Cons: More expensive, not sure I want to maintain two stoves, might limit the usage. Does anyone know of a good quality cheaper stove that would work? Since we are there not as long during the day, I am thinking a non-CAT stove might be a better choice? Quick hot heat for a few hours then let it be cold when not using. Since it is a basement, it will retain it better anyways.

3) Use the existing flue for a pellet stove. Probably $1k for the stove and $1k for the liner. It might be a mental thing but I would be more comfortable to DIY a pellet liner than a wood stove. Pros: Cheaper than the wood stove, has a thermostat. Cons: dealing with pellets + wood, pellet stove have more moving pars/maintenance. Does anyone have any pellet stove suggestions for 600 sf?

I am not interested in introducing propane to house, no natural gas exists, and I think electric baseboard though quick an easy install would cost me a fortune in cost to run them.

Any comments, suggestions would be much appreciated!

Thanks

-Chris

 

If you did change your mind about propane, you may want to look at a Jotul. I have one in the basement in our family room and it does a nice job of heating the basement and even has heat flowing up the stairs. The flue runs through the basement wall.

 

Drolet makes a 1.5 (or so) small woodstove that might be a nice fit. iirc, they have 4 models based on the same firebox. I was looking at the deco nano a while back. Supposedly just 5 hour burn time but that may be a rather conservative estimate.

I would have kept the oil heat, but that's me.

 

X2, Drolet makes some great budget friendly stoves...this is basically their company store...free shipping too.
MFP - The Online Stove and Fireplace Store

 

Thanks for the recommendation, I will check it out!

I would have kept the oil too, I like oil much more than LP. But we had a two tank setup from probably the mid 1990s that was very pitted and rusty. The previous owners cut in a perimeter drain around the basement into a sump pump which would have made my back yard a superfund site if the tanks leaked, I was especially worried during the fill since the first tank takes on a lot pressure. The oil furnace was forced hot air and working fine but it was about the same age and a new oil tank didn't seem worth the investment.

 

My parents had the same jotul in their cottage up north. It was pretty slick. Use the remote to turn it on and the blower works well.

 

I think I'd get a third mini split.

The one you have that is not used much is kind of serving as a back up already.

 

I'm not a fan of the cheaper pellet stoves like you find at HD or hardware stores. They tend to not have ash pans (so you have to clean out the firebox more often), small hoppers, and not be as reliable as better stoves. But for occasional use, a cheaper pellet stove would probably be fine. A "good" stove for constant use would cost more than a wood stove.

Since that is a finished area, you only need a small pellet stove to keep it warm. Anything around 23k btu capability should be fine. But at the same time it is easier to throttle back a bigger stove than get more heat out of a smaller stove than it is capable of, and the stove will do so automatically. So, I wouldn't be afraid to go up to either a 38k or 48k btu pellet stove.

Do you have inside storage that you are willing to give up to keep pellets in? Do you have a place close by to get pellets from that are reasonably priced?

You may be doing better to go with a small woodstove since you already use wood. The only consideration would be that a small wood stove may use shorter lengths.

 

The older I get the more I like our mini splits.

 

That stove has a thermostat powered by the pilot light on the stove. Blower does work well.

 

Right there is a big consideration. I made the assumption the basement would be finished. If it isn't finished, or at least the walls insulated and the concrete floor covered, you will need a larger pellet stove and it will eat thru pellets. I have P61a in the 650 sq/ft basement for a reason - when it was put down there it was cinder blocks and concrete floor, It was also supposed to heat upstairs (which it would have if I had better air convection).

After several years, I used rigid foam board to insulate the cinder blocks, and put in a raised floor system, and now the P61a is overkill. I do have one wall that abuts the under house garage (unconditioned), so it is insulated with regular R13 batts. I could easily do with a P43 to keep the basement at 68*. But, there are also times that I have to heat the garage (FHW pipes run thru it), so the P61a is fabulous for taking care of that a few weeks a year.

 

Thanks for the responses so far , the Drolet was exactly the type of good quality/affordable price recommendation I was looking for.

Is there an equivalent for pellet stoves?

 

Soil has a typical/average R value of 1.56. This is not a lot, but it certainly not a negative number. Your bare naked basement walls are NOT going to "suck all the heat" out of your wood stove. This is a myth just like the burning pine myth.
This R value of 1.56 is per foot. How many feet of soil do you have around your basement ? Soil as an insulator is looking pretty good.
The R value of the soil is why more northern structures require base footings to be buried at 4 feet and as you go south this depth requirement becomes much less. Winter's cold penetration being thwarted by R value. It's a rather simple computation to calculate what your basement wall's footing needs to be based on your Wintertime low temps are once you know what the R value of soil is.
Any basement wall that is not insulated by the soil ( often referred to as "above ground" ) is f*cked. The above ground concrete wall is going to be just about the same temp as the outside air. This is usually 18 to 24 inches for a ranch home but gets crazy when you have a raised ranch.

There are (at least) two ways to raise the R value of the soil up against your basement wall(s) without adding man made insulation.
1. Don't pack the soil to former density when backfilling around the foundation. This is almost always done anyway. It takes as much as 50 years for the soil to settle on its own. It's nice to have this extra air in the the soil as it can raise the R value to above 2. Unfortunately this loose soil also acts a conduit for water. Unfortunately water soaked soil can have an R value of below 1. Water (liquids) transfer heat rather well. One of Apple's new phones is taking dvantage of the thermodynamics of a liquid to dissipate heat. Some computers have as well. And ICE engines. etc..
Packing the soil back around a foundation is rarely done due to the green concrete and expense. So many places require footing drains and a sump pump at a collection point. Especially if your basement is built anywhere near a water table level.
Also slope the soil away from a foundation to move rain and melt water away. 2
2. Recharge all your roof collected rain wtaer at least 50-75 feet away from the foundation rather than terminating at the end of a downspout. This will halp immensely not only to help stop this water from seeping into your basement but will help to raise the R value of the soil up against the basement wall. Your nice warm wood stove will also raise the temp of the soil just outside the wall, possibly decreasing the water content increasing the R value slightly. Every little bit helps.

For reference: the R value of a single pane window is around 1. The R value of a double pane window is about 3.

Now, if your basement is old and not air sealed that's another problem. But the same is true of any upstairs rooms.

 

Ok a couple of questions; is basement poured or block?
others may not understand but knowing your county I am guessing your frost line is 5-6 feet
Poured 6” concrete wall is .48 so it matters how high dirt goes up and if rim joist is insulated correctly

the good news is basement should stay close to 50 degrees

13 x 48 with any space heater will have hot and cold spots mine is about 20x40 with walk out door on one end

 

small pellet stove, let it run all the time on low get everything in the room up to temp. Keep it there, will also warm area above it which will cut down on upstairs heat running. I now run a small natural gas in the basement and it keeps up stairs warm too.