Hearthstone H1 - Uninsulated basement vs insulated basement = WOW!!

[Motor7]

Last winter was the first one in the new log house. The best I could do heating the main floor from the basement was about 65 degrees because I had 10' x 66' of uninsulated 12" block basement wall. I put high density 2" foam(R12) board on the outside of the walls earlier this month. Here it is going up:


We fired up the H1 (aka the Beast) for the first time yesterday since this big cold front was inbound. The house was cold at 63 degrees since I was trying to hold out until 1 Nov to fire the wood. First thing I noticed is that within 4 hrs the main floor came up to 66 degrees, something I have never seen happen from a cold start. Usually the temp would only crawl up over a 12 hr period.

When I went to bed last night it was 37 outside, & 71.9 inside. I never broke 70 last winter....I was smiling ear to ear. This morning(7ish) it was 26 outside, and ....whaaaat?.....yessssss........71.2 inside! The Beast was at 380 with a giant bed of red hot coals so I opened up the aux air & threw some kindling on top to burn down those coals.

Holeey crap, even the wife said....I think you have got it figured out!

 

[Motor7]

Sorry having Sat internet trouble....pic's:

the foam

going up

 

[Rich L]

I love to hear Hearthstone one stories.I just got a restored one about a month ago but haven't started it yet.Now your making me want to get going.My Mansfield is going on the first floor and really that's all I need for this weather.I was going to start the "One" when the real cold comes but I might as well do the break in fires.You know folks just don't realize how great this stove heats.I think most homes need a stove like this so their heating woes will be over.

 

[930dreamer]

Glad to hear you increased your insulating blanket and the house temps are rising.

 

[begreen]

Yep exposed basement walls are going to lose a whole lot of heat, especially when they are not underground. It wouldn't surprise me if you were losing 40% of the H1's output through the walls. Are you going to take the insulation all the way up to the rim joist?

 

[new england tommy]

You know Motor7, I may be your shadow. I have been contemplating insulating the basement for a year now. I was a little bummed with my wood consumption last year. With my One in the basement, I kept it stoked hot all season just to keep the temp in the house right. Even the manual says not to put it in the basement. I have read and know enough that the cement walls absorb a lot of the heat, but didn't think that the some foam board would help that much.

I was thinking about insulating the inside as it would be pretty simple in most areas. Now I think I am going to do it. Thanks for the push.

BTW: I have smaller splits this year and have been getting some huge heat out of 2 or 3 splits on some coals. The afterburners have been pretty impressive with small amounts of wood, I have seen the fire box almost 100% full of flames on 2 little splits.

 

[Motor7]

begreen, yes up to the first log it's all done...I'll post some pictures tomorrow. I completed all the foam board & used Liquid nails like you would drywall mud...to fill in all the seams and attach/feather in the rounded plastic corner molding. Initially I was going to stucco, but after pricing the lath($600) I decided to use Drylock basement paint with a heavy texture roller, then paint with a colored elastomeric paint. I think it's going to look pretty good and mimic stucco for 1/4 the price.

Tommy, exposed 12" block has a R value of a little over a 1...that's right ONE....the same as a 3/4 sheet of plywood, so yes insulate those walls! I am already seeing that my wood consumption is going to go down. I burned around 8 cords last year, hoping to knock 2 cords off that this season.

 

[begreen]

Sounds good. I won't be surprised if you can knock off 3 cords.

 

[Motor7]

Here are the pic's. I still have more glue/mud work to do & today it's shooting up to the 60's so I can get most of it done. Then that just leaves paint.

 

[Motor7]

Insulation is all up, mudded and painted:

Re-painted the stove this AM & this is the curing fire:

This flat black is temporary, next spring I am going to try Thermalux Hunter Green on it:
http://www.net4sale.com/Shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idProduct=80

 

[begreen]

Looking good!

 

[Motor7]

This was the old color which I was never happy with. It was supposed to be light brown, but it turned out to be rust brown. And the finish did not hold up well at all, chalked up and would come off on your hands:

 

[fbelec]

hi motor
what year is your stove? i have a shiny dark brown H2. i ask because your stove has what looks like 12 stones on top and nice handles for the damper and the doors. mine has this t handle thing that slides into a receptacle and then turn which is not so nice looking or good for arthritic hands and three stones on top. nice looking setup.

frank

 

[WASPKFD]

looks awesome did you tile the stove or did it come like that sorry if that's a dumb question...

 

[Motor7]

fbelec, it's a 1986. I think yours is a Hearthstone II....look at this old thread on an excellent re-build of a II:

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/hearthstone-ii-rebuild-need-help.7038/

Wasp, not dumb, Hearthstone and Woodstock are two American companies that build stoves with thich soapstone "tiles" on cast iron frames. They have been around since the early 70's, both are still in business & doing well. Soapstone has excellent thermal retention properties, radiates a softer heat than iron and takes hours to cool down once hot. On the other hand they do take several hours to come up to temperature, so not a good choice for occasional use where you want heat right now such as in a cabin. Mine will run 24/7 once we get into winter proper.

 

[mellow]

Kind of off topic but you must be on a very high ridge, I don't see many parabolic antennas (your internet) pointing down!

 

[Motor7]

Kind of off topic but you must be on a very high ridge, I don't see many parabolic antennas (your internet) pointing down!

Good eye. My Sat dish is 120' down and 150 yards across a big creek and a pasture. No way to run a Cat cable up here(can you say ROCKS), so I had to get two parabolic's & two radios to send the signal up to the new house from the old house(shop w/apartment). So far it had worked well over the past year once I worked out the bugs. We have no cable/optic/phone & crappy cell service here(there is a Wilson gain cell booster antenna on the roof too), so Satellite internet is the only game in town..

 

[mellow]

I have done a few P2P installs, you might want to check out Ubiquiti (ubnt.com), you might be able to get away with two of their Nanostation M5's if you are that close and have line of site. I have been able to get rid of all my parabolics for cleaner looking installs. Not to mention it kicks butt in the speed department. The power over Ethernet makes it a breeze to install.

 

[Motor7]

I looked at the Nano's, but heavy tree cover might have snuffed the signal. As it is I only have a 20x30' hole in the branches to shoot the narrow beam(8 degree if I remember right) through.

 

[Rich L]

Motor7 the foundation looks great and your stove now looks like mine.

 

[Rich L]

hi motor
what year is your stove? i have a shiny dark brown H2. i ask because your stove has what looks like 12 stones on top and nice handles for the damper and the doors. mine has this t handle thing that slides into a receptacle and then turn which is not so nice looking or good for arthritic hands and three stones on top. nice looking setup.

frank

fbelec do you burn coal in your H2?It will burn both coal and wood.Mine worked very well with coal before it burnt out after many years of use.

 

[fbelec]

no i haven't tried. i don't have the coal grate. i have the little knuckle under the side door for the shaker grate but that's it. i am interested in how it burns with coal. burn times and how it does in general. few years back i was talking to hearthstone's wood tech guy jim casavant and when i asked him about burning coal he said (don't burn coal in it) when i asked him why he didn't give me a answer. just said it was bad and left it at that. seeing that i could only get 4 hour burns out of it (give or take a hour ) depending on the wood i had a interest in coal for the long burn.

i like the black that you have on the stove now. it gives it a very neat look. can't wait to see the hunter green that you have planned

 

[mellow]

I only have a 20x30' hole in the branches to shoot the narrow beam(8 degree if I remember right) through.

Check out the Nanobeam M's, they have a a pretty tight beam. Switching to the M's was a world of difference if you are moving data between the two sites, if it is internet only then I would just stick with what you have.

Btw, did you have to extend out your hose bib?

 

[WASPKFD]

nice work

 

[Motor7]

Coal........just a guess........ that because coal produces much more temp if allowed too much air, so it is easy for operator error to occur an overfire a stove. Hearthstone does not recommend temps over 700 & on mine the manual says cruising surface temp should be in the mid 4's. My stove like to run in the low 5's.

Yep, I bought 12" anti freeze hose bibs so I had plenty of adjustment through the block & insulation.

Thanks y'all, it been a long road and I am still tidying up the small stuff...I'm 98% done.