Need Assistance From " I'm on Fire"

gents:
I followed "i'm on fire"'s saga of buying a DS-1600 coal stove. I wonder if I should be doing the same. I am in the process of buying a cinderblock ranch home of approximately 1000-1100 square feet with a full unfinished basement. Thermal scan indicated that the walls have little, if any insulation. Windows are single pane glass with some storms consisting of another pane of glass. Window frames are metal. Fireplace location is similar to "i'm on fire" location of fireplace. ceiling heights are around approximately 8' tall. My home will be in NJ, morris county, so I am a little south of "I'm on fire" 's location.

Was going to buy a Chubby Sr. stove, but considering that fact that the windows are old and the walls are highly uninsulated, would the DS-1600 be a better choice or is 125Kbtus overkill for this house? Gas furnace is at least 10 years old. House uses hot-water radiators to heat the home.

Thanks
morpheus

The DS is not overkill...
I run a DS Basement #4...
Heating basement and 1 st floor...
Just shy of 1000 sq ft each level...
On the coldest days of the winter I am using most of the btus the stove has...
Bonus is the large amount of coal it holds...
This makes 12 hour shakedowns very easy...
Spring and fall it goes 24 hours between shakes...

If you are going to try and heat the entire house with the stove, then a circulating style stove would be a better choice even if it was the same BTU capacity.

i thought the DS-1600 was a circulating stove? saw pictures of it and it has 6 tubes/home emerging from the top of the stove.

BTW...how would I heat the basement with this stove if I vent it through the fireplace in the living room. I assume the answer is "keep the interior basement door open".

Morpheus

I should have been more clear...I was encouraging you to get the DS stove. As for the basement, I expect it will be chilly with no heat down there.

The stove will not get much if any heat to the basement.

If you could get the amount of gas used by the previous owner and how warm they kept it, it would give you a good idea of what you would need.

it is an estate sale. Sellers have no information on this. They have not been easy to deal with in the least.

If not much heat will get into the basement, then how do I prevent the pipes from freezing? sorry for the stupid question, however, this is the first time I have ever purchased a home. I am a life long renter.

Morpheus

If the foundation is deep meaning mostly below ground, then the basement will probably not get below 40. Put a thermometer down there. What you have to watch for is any place that a cold air draft plays on a pipe. Frequently at the top of the foundation where it meets the sill which is also where the heating pipes usually are. If you feel any drafts you can spray in some foam or stuff some insulation or even caulk from outside where the sill meets the foundation.

wow...good advice. I have much to learn. Thank u.

Ok...next question. assuming I buy the stove in the spring, I assume the stove will be cheaper than right now.

morpheus wrote:Ok...next question. assuming I buy the stove in the spring, I assume the stove will be cheaper than right now.

Maybe yes, maybe no, but if you can wait until spring why not check out craigslist every day and possibly get a good buy on a Harman or Hitzer or Gibralter or even DS.

poke a hole in the wall of thebasement and put a stove in the basement? stainless chimney....

then a nice little stove in the fireplace...

you know this is the coal heating addict in me talking! but it works for me

morpheus wrote: House uses hot-water radiators to heat the home.

Maybe you have ruled this idea out from the get-go...but why not add a stoker coal boiler?

There are some boilers that will direct vent...in case the lack of a chimney was the concern. Or you could power vent the gas boiler and use it's chimney for a coal boiler.

McGiever wrote:

morpheus wrote: House uses hot-water radiators to heat the home.

Maybe you have ruled this idea out from the get-go...but why not add a stoker coal boiler?

There are some boilers that will direct vent...in case the lack of a chimney was the concern. Or you could power vent the gas boiler and use it's chimney for a coal boiler.

I agree from the sounds of the house ranch, single pane windows, cinder block it has to be fairly old. The hot water radiators, more than likely there is a boiler in the basement, so there would be another chimney. If that is the case why not put in a coal boiler and then enjoy even heat and a warm basement.

Eric

I'd imagine that the stoker boiler is a price consideration more than anything? I do think that the DS circulator types will serve you well, but (and maybe I'm out of line here) that model does seem like a bit of overkill for 1000sqft? IOF can tell you better than I and so can CapeCoaler. They (DS Machine) have several smaller stoves like the 1000, 1400, etc.. that would probably work well. The assumption here is that once you aquire the home, you will tighten it up some. Insulation, windows, etc.. are money well spent that would then allow you to use a stove properly sized for the home. Just my opinion......everyone has one .

PS: on the pipes in the basement. As Franco stated, they should be ok if it's a regulation deep basement. In my old house, where the pipes come into the cellar from the well, I have a heat tape wrapped onto them as far as the expansion tank. I plug that in around November just for the heck of it and unplug it in the spring.

McGiever wrote:

morpheus wrote: House uses hot-water radiators to heat the home.

Maybe you have ruled this idea out from the get-go...but why not add a stoker coal boiler?

There are some boilers that will direct vent...in case the lack of a chimney was the concern. Or you could power vent the gas boiler and use it's chimney for a coal boiler.

I love it. Usually I am the guy that storms in and says "forget the stove, install a stoker boiler"...but I've tried to take it down a notch or two, and someone else suggests the boiler for me. Now that the cat is out of the bag, lets hear some more about the hot water radiation system currently installed in the house. A stoker boiler installed in the basement will keep the basement warm, product lots of domestic hot water, and heat your ENTIRE house evenly.

But before we break out the pipe wrenches, consider the current price of natural gas (your said gas, I assume you meant NG not LP) in your area. Some people have found that NG is competitive with coal, depending on your local pricing for each fuel. If that is the case for you, a coal stove installed in the basement would give you warm floors for short money...and the gas boiler can do the the rest.