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.
