Prob need furnace vs stove. Burn wood also. Which furnace?

Going to keep tweaking the basement stove but I don't think it's going to cut the mustard, even with surface temp 400-500, basement only gets up to around 75 (with blower going into basement; corners are way colder) or less(when blower going into ducts), 1st floor ranges from 73 (no duct connections made, in kitchen where stairwell is) to 63 (with duct connection, in living room), 2nd floor around 58. And with lows only in the mid 20s.

(The 2nd floor being that much cooler is partly due to no return air connections upstairs. Working on adding floor grates +/- ducting on 2nd floor, to let the cold air fall down so warm air can go up the stairs. Right now, even with the oil furnace, there's a definite 'line' where cold starts and warm stops, going up the stairs.)

This house has in the basement a big Riteway furnace but it is scrap, firebox rotten, grates warped, not fixable. I don't know how they got it in the basement, maybe when the wall was open when building the chimney.

Any suggestions on how to get more heat out of the stove are welcome but I think it's running too close to the limit already. I suspect the answer to being warm is a proper furnace. I was really hoping not to have to go that route due to expense and poor basement access, but if that is what it takes to be warm, so be it. Will be burning at least some wood. Construction season is about done, and funds are probably too tight, to add a basement hatchway this fall, but that could happen next year.

Looking at the Clayton 1600, Hitzer 82fa, Harman. And whatever may pop up on the used market. The Yukon dual-fuel won't fit down the stairs, there was one for sale awhile back for a super price but per manufact. the smallest it can get without a blue-tip wrench is about 31". 2" wider than header to sill distance in the stairwell about 29".

If can't find a good deal or true project cost too high, will just keep the stove going this winter as supplement, and go all-out next year. Anything to burn less oil eh.

Oh yes, I know that very well. Unfortunately that location has been vetoed by the better half. We have 3 kids under 4 yr old, and the stove would be six, maybe eight, feet away from the base of the stairs if it were moved upstairs. Worried about falling down stairs or horsing around and sizzling someone.

I voted for a fence round the stove and a first-floor location but that also was not well accepted. Believe me, I would rather it be upstairs, wouldn't have had the 'fun' of putting it down the cellar and of course it would heat better.

At the base of the steps between the first and 2nd floor I put a cold air vent with a fan blowing directly into the basement. This takes the cold air coming down the steps and puts it directly in the basement, and allows the hot air to rise better and faster to the second floor. Your stove isn't meant for the application you need the 82 fa, would be best, I have a 82 UL that i built my own metal cabinet around and ducted to my first floor with a fan, and it works great.

That Hitzer 82FA is a heat making machine. The Clayton unit isn't even in the same ball park in my opinion, the Hitzer's firebox and grate design is much better suited for anthracite.

Does the house have an oil furnace already?