I used solid foam with canned foam at the edges in my ridge joists for combo wind seal. Also hopeful the mice don't use the solid foam like they do fiberglass. Also dry soil is a better insulator than wet soil - if you can get roof runoff far far away that often helps, especially with basement dampness and mold/mildew.
Sounds similar to my old (1899) two story with full basement. Basement earth stove that I run fairly hard 24/7 as long as we are home. I do use a cold air return above the stove and run my forced air furnace fan all the time also. I’d love to put a stove on our main floor, in fact just recently picked up a Woodstock fireview for cheap, and am trying to talk the boss into it. She doesn’t want to spend the $& and also is worried about the mess and feeding a second stove. Our home stays at 67f with the stove running unless it gets below 10f outside. Similar basement where most walls have 1” foam on them and rim joist is fully insulated.
Yeah that's what I did too...similar insulation value, far superior for air sealing though...and rim joists can be a huge leak! I've seen them where you could see light through!
Just a point or two for clarification. First, if you do have 10' of horizontal and cannot reduce that run to 24" or less, please do not buy one of our wood stoves. The lower stack temperatures due to higher efficiencies will be a nightmare. Second, go with the black double wall stove pipe and use a adjustable section to the stove for easier cleaning (as noted previously). Third, our product burn times are not only because they have catalysts, but because of the thermostat. The thermostat, regardless of burn rate at which it is operated, still provides very even heat output from the load, prevent over firing (damaging the combustor). If you have the desire and resources, consider really insulating the basement. Next, read up on NFPA211, clearances reduction section specifically. Plenty of great input here from everybody and hats off to you for exploring all this before making a purchase. BKVP
