I too throw it directly into my basement. I have a smaller “well room” it lands in, then carried to wood furnace room. Chestnut oak makes an absolute mess but it is what it is.
We had an old coal chute and that was darned convenient, even though we didnt do a whole Winter's supply. The frames on the old single pane windows started to disintegrate/leak bad and we replaced the basement windows and frames with pressure treated wood and plastic sliders with screens. That was the end of that chute method. Now I use the tractor or the wheelbarrow and just have a supply on the patio outside the back door.
The window that I go through is a high dollar “Bristol”. Take the screen off slide it open and stuff the chute in.
All these wood chute posts remind me of the paper science professor in college. He had an annual wood splitting and stacking party at his home and then they'd have dinner for everyone. He had a steel slide into the basement from a window and you can imagine how much progress 30 college kids can do in a few hours.
Yup... big fan too of using gravity whenever possible SD Steve A few pics of my "down the stairs" set-up. First thing I had to do was remove the stairs... Set up to fill and roll two 32"x 48" x 60" bins into basement from Bilco area. Air flow holes at bottom of bins helped with loose splits. No stacking has worked well inside. Gizmo loved riding in the back, loading wood. Miss the ole girl.
Now THAT is cool!!! I have worked at a couple different houses in Aberdeen SD, that still have those old coal chutes. Most of them are boarded over and insulated. Nice little piece of history!
I only have 1 door straight down to my basement. I will make a video and post it on YouTube. Then put the link here...
Let me be clear. The house was built in 2009 and the homeowner had that door installed since he also had a wood furnace installed. Since I didn't burn that much wood due to the mild winter last season, I didn't have to use the door this year as the wood room still had close to 4 cord in it. I just improved it by installing a better wood furnace. I add insulation on the inside of the metal coal door to help with any heat loss through it.
I've been thinking about getting one of those Kuuma wood furnaces like you and brenndatomu have. I could easily use one of my windows to load wood into the basement that this thread is about. Then I could use the insert upstairs for an additional heat unit or just a way to enjoy the fire.
That's my setup... furnace in basement, stove in LR fireplace...works out nicely, furnace does most of the work, but can still have fire TV when it's wanted. If you have a forced air furnace (or ac) now, and a place to connect the chimney, it shouldn't be too bad to install.
Stacks are on one side of the house. One of the basement well windows has been fashioned into a 'door'. A 6' chute made from a 1x10 with 3" side rails is what my wood rides into the basement. Hinged at opening for wood. Lowered and raised with 3/16 nylon rope and a simple pulley attached to joist. Lands five feet from where it is stacked for the burner. Do have to sweep up after. Do end up with a jam every so often that has to be cleared from below, but has worked excellently for many years now.
Yes, have forced air furnace and AC. The chimney would be the most difficult, but could send it out the side of the concrete block then up? What size exhaust pipe does it use?
Yes, that's what I did at my sisters house, out through the wall with class A double wall chimney pipe...specifically Supervent from Menards...and it's 6". Couldn't get above ground for the cleanout/tee, so I dug down and installed a "window well" there...a bit of a PITA to open/close the tee, but doable...it works. Not much to clean in a Kuuma chimney burning dry wood anyways.
