Need Advice

I put geothermal in my house last winter. Previously our heat came from baseboard radiators/oil. The oil furnace which is in the basement helped to keep temperatures up down there. Switching to geothermal eliminated that heat source in the basement and we had 3 pipes freeze last winter. I want to put a coal stove in the basement. I would like the stove/setup that will provide the best heat, not only for the basement but for the entire house (if possible).

A little bit about my home. It's a large ranch (over 4k sq feet) with a basement under 1/3 of it, the rest has crawlspace underneath. About 1/3 of the house has cathedral ceilings and the rest is a mix of 8 and 9 foot ceilings. My main priority is heating the basement and I'm sure the heat in the basement will offer residual heating support to the rooms above it. Is there anyway for me to tap into a coal stove to help in other parts of the house that have a crawlspace underneath?

Is there a specific range of BTU or a specific make/model that I should be looking for? Any help and guidance is greatly appreciated! Thank you.

I would agree with Franco. If it wasn't a large ranch style house you might get away with a stove. In your case you need to send heat to the far reaches of the ranch. A stoker boiler is the way to go but it is a much larger investment in time and money. In the end though, it will heat your home with ease.

An other option is a hot air furnace. You could run some ductwork and spread the heat around that way.

I don't think just a stove will do it. If you do go with a stove, get a BIG one.

-Don

Got more than 1 chimney ? Get 2 stoves & spread that bone warming radiant heat around .

CoalIsKing wrote:I put geothermal in my house last winter. Previously our heat came from baseboard radiators/oil. The oil furnace which is in the basement helped to keep temperatures up down there. Switching to geothermal eliminated that heat source in the basement and we had 3 pipes freeze last winter. I want to put a coal stove in the basement. I would like the stove/setup that will provide the best heat, not only for the basement but for the entire house (if possible).

A little bit about my home. It's a large ranch (over 4k sq feet) with a basement under 1/3 of it, the rest has crawlspace underneath. About 1/3 of the house has cathedral ceilings and the rest is a mix of 8 and 9 foot ceilings. My main priority is heating the basement and I'm sure the heat in the basement will offer residual heating support to the rooms above it. Is there anyway for me to tap into a coal stove to help in other parts of the house that have a crawlspace underneath?

Is there a specific range of BTU or a specific make/model that I should be looking for? Any help and guidance is greatly appreciated! Thank you.

Good point about pipes bursting and anyone who changes from one heat source to another should consider the effects on those basement pipes. Hopefully you experience and notice of it prevents others from experiencing the same issue.

I was concerned when I swapped from oil to coal and kept measurements of the temperature in my basement during the first season as the coal stove did little to heat the basement being on a floor above.

You may also wish to consider pipe heaters that may be more cost effective than needing to heat the entire space.

Normally, the routine use of the water in the house (running water does not freeze, under normal conditions, is true) mitigated the need for me to take any steps at all.

Are there any pipes to freeze in the crawl space area?

Then , the pipes that froze, were they built into wall or floor, or were they open?

Thank you all for the quick responses! In regards to a couple of the suggestions, I left out a key piece of information. Our geothermal duct is run above the house, through the attic and the roof trusses, not through the basement/crawlspace - so there would be some difficulty in tying a basement stove/furnace into existing ductwork.

There is an opening from the basement into the crawlspace (was just crawling around in there 2 days ago). The opening itself is about 8 feet from where I would like to put a stove (where our existing oil furnace sits).

There are pipes etc. that run through the crawlspace, however those did not burst. The pipes that burst are located in the basement area, against an outside wall. They were closed in, I since removed the paneling. I hope to move the pipes away from the wall and insulate behind the pipes. They currently run along the inside of an exterior wall. The wall consists of concrete block.

We do have 2 fireplaces. As much as I would like to put a coal burner in one or both of them, I have two small children, one of whom is very active, and I fear having a hot stove in proximity to where he could encounter it.

Thank you all again for your thoughts and expertise.

Hopefully some members who have small children & also have safety "fences" will post some pics of their set up. Even if you were to install a stove in your basement only,you would still likely experience a drastic warmer feeling to the overall temp in your house.

what pipes froze? if they were boiler/radiator pipes you can add anti- freeze to boiler circuit. ps I would call plumber for this.

One may just be surprised how quickly a kid can learn about stoves being hot...it all part of growing up in our great big world.