gas stove for heating?

[fish2live]

i was leaning towards a corn burner till i did the math and just isn't cost effective with over 4 dollar a bushell corn. so my question is what is a good brand of gas stove? what are the features that one should look for as far as quality? my neighbor is a heating cooling guy but says they do not do many and the only brand he has installed was heat-n-glo which are pretty spendy. is there other brands i should look at also?

thanks

steve

[Ryan Berger]

what are you going to be heating,, garage, house???

[fish2live]

i want to heat my basement with it i have a split level and the basement is at least 7 degrees cooler than the upstairs.

[fishinchicks]

We heat our basement with a Dovre gas stove. It is on a thermostat, which is a great feature. We also have a blower on it to circulate the heat. Works really well. We looked around at different dealers with different brands, but this one was the best value for the product. I think ours is getting close to eight years old, but it looks really good yet.

[Scott K]

The best thing you can do is put a door at the bottom of the lower level to keep the heat from rising.

[heavyduty]

A couple things the stove must have thermostat on for a consistant temp I put a programable on so it only heats in the evening seeing how most stoves aren't as efficent has a furnuce. A blower on the unit which will reguire 120 volts to it seperate from the t-stat, is a must also to take full advantage of the heat source ceiling fans or a little fan to help circulate the air. Also a door is a good idea to keep heat in the basement,I don't have a door but I put a shower rod with a nice curtain on to help hold the heat in the basement. In the summer no curtain and I use a free 20" box fan to blow the cold air to the upstairs.

[fish2live]

ok i under stand about keeping the heat in the basement but, is one as good as the next there is a big difference in price from some brands to the others. if you were putting one in and only going to use it when you are downstairs do you get a vented (70%-80% efficient) or a nonvented (99% efficient)?

[MNice]

Non vented room heaters are not only illegal in any occupancy in MN, they are a very bad idea in any tightly insulated house. By all means, for a supplemental heat in the basement, go with a direct vent. Here's a copy of the text from the code.

IFGC Section 620 621.2 is deleted and replaced with the following:

620.1 621.2 Prohibited use. Unvented room heaters and unvented decorative appliances shall not be

installed in any dwelling or occupancy.

[pisces]

Since you say it is about 7 degrees cooler downstairs, that is not a lot.So, if you have upstairs at 68, then it is about 61 down(see, I paid attention in math class). This about the same as my house, and you also say you only want extra heat when you are using the down level, same as me, which is less than everyday for us. I use an electric fireplace, you've seen them at the home stores, look like a wood framed fireplace, fake flames, etc. but they do actually heat quite well, and look great. It won't heat up the room instantly, I usually turn mine on about an hour before I'll be down there.I heat about 450 sq.ft., as I too hang a curtain across the laundry room so as to heat less space. Again, one key is to keep all the heat from migrating up the staircase. Anyway, think about this option, it is good looking (people think mine is a gas fireplace) and instantly easy to install, all you need is an outlet (regular120Volt), and you can drive yourself to the store and have heat within the hour!

[Ryan Berger]

Do you run your furnace fan on ON or AUTO?

[fish2live]

the furnace fan is on auto, i also have a air exchanger if this makes any differnce.

[Ryan Berger]

 Originally Posted By: fish2live

the furnace fan is on auto, i also have a air exchanger if this makes any difference.

run your fan on ON and let me know if you notice a difference by the weekend,, shouldn't take that long but I assume you work during the week and might not have time

[fish2live]

i will give it a shot tomorrow no work laid off for a little while anyway. are you thinking by running it on on it will circulate more air?

[Ryan Berger]

I always leave my furnace fan on, and recommend my customers do to. It does a couple of things. First it keeps the air moving in your house bringing the warm air from upstairs down in the winter and cold up from the basement in the summer. Second it circulates more air through your filter giving more "air cleaning" time compared to just filtering when there is a call for heat or cooling. If you have a newer furnace with a DC motor it will cost little to no money to keep your fan on at all times. If not don't worry you will probably not even notice a difference in cost with an older furnace.

[Chad Halvorson]

Feel free to correct me if I am wrong here... Im not 100% on this, its been a few years since I converted amps/watts to an equation.

You fan motor pulls 3 amps. You multiply amps x volts to get watts, which is how they charge (Kwh).

3amps x 120 volts=360 watts

360 watts x 24 hours=8,640 watts

8,640 watts/1000(kwh)=8.64 kwh

kwh x .10 cents = .86 cents per day, which is substantial.

(Im using .10 cents because most places are near that price I think)

[mnhunter2]

As I sit hear watching my corn stove burn up 4.00 corn I question how you did the math and found that you can't afford it, I will burn around 125bu in a mild winter mabye 150-160 in a cold yr so this year I will spend around 600.00 for fuel to heat the house, this is our 3rd yr with a corn burner and its a great way to heat a home.

[fish2live]

here is why i don't think corn is cost effective for me. have to purchase corn burner 1400-2500. burn ruffly 1 bushel a day 4.00x30= 120 a month plus what you paid for your furnace. my gas bill is only 70.00 a month so gas is a better deal until corn gets back to the 1.50-2.00 range then you can save. plus all the extra work getting corn cleaning the corn cleaning the stove, storing corn. just not cost effective with corn prices being 4.20 a bushel

[kunk]

On the subject of a door between upstairs and downstairs. I couldn't quite get everyone with the program, so I put a spring hinge on mine to close the door for those who wouldn't. No more frustration.