Wood Heat vs. single-digit temps, are you winning?

Well sat-sun was bad since it was cold and I was working nights and the family is out of town. I load the stoves shortly after 4pm, leave the house by 4:45pm and get home at 6:45am. Crammed full with pretty much just black locust, and I still have to start both stoves from scratch in morning. Propane set to minimum 55º but its off a little, comes on ~58 if its not windy, and the last couple monrings when I walked into the house the propane was running and the temp was 58.

If I ever build a new house I'm going to consider one of those masonary heaters or something like that. Having to relite every morning after work and come home to porpane burning and still only 58º really sucks.

I for one am losing the fight. Jotul 550 on full bore in the living room (about 2000 sq ft house) directly opposite the stairwell for the upstairs (4 steps to bedrooms). The stove cant keep up. If lay low in front of the stove you can feel what you would think was an open door. If it was just the main floor I would be fine but there is just too much cold air compared to hot.

gdk84 said:

I dont really have a problem keeping the house temps at a reasonable level during single digit weather. I worry about my pipes freezing in the basement. My stove is on the first floor. I have forced hot air heat, and with all the ducting in the basement it keeps the basement warmer. So, when its gets cold like this I run my furnace more at night too keep my basement temp up... I'd rather burn 3 dollars worth of oil than have a freeze up.

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Same setup here, except my garage is attached, so you walk in garage, and can go up to kitchen, or down to basement. pipes in garage to slop sink and extra toilet. I heat tape the back wall pipes to toilet, and let furnace run a little , thinking of getting therm guard. Last night I tried leaving the fan on from oil burner, to circulate air from living room, felt colder than not having it on!

Never had a problem. Single level, 1500 sq ft, stove in living room, keeps house fine no matter what the temp or wind outside. Typical winter lows reach into the -30'sF, lowest I remember is 3 nights in a row when the thermometer bottom out at -44F, probably got into the low -50'sF.

Still only dropping to the teens here in PA. Hearthstone Morgan insert burning at 600-700 and keeping the 1500 sq. ft. house comfortable just below 70. Eating up the hardwoods though. I don't feel so bad cause the winter has been so mild I haven't gone through much wood so I have plenty to burn. I cycle the oil monster on once in a while to make sure none of the pipes freeze that run up through the non insulated brick walls. I think I actually count when it runs......1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-$1.00......lol

After 20 + years of heating my 2 story colonial house, I installed a double wall insulated liner after modifying the damper frame and fire brick ledge.
WOW - what a better performance from the old VC Encore. Last night I went upstairs and at 9pm and stove top at 650 degrees and I woke up this morning at 5am and stove temp still at 350 degrees and nice in entire house. I did hear the gas furnace kick on a few times but that was about all. My gas bill last week was 69.00 which includes gas water heater, gas cooking stove, gas furnace and 9.00 a month service contract.

Well its 6am, upstairs bedroom furthest and coldest is 70 it actually got up to 72.. upstairs hallway is 74 downstairs is 78-80 degrees outside temp Is 4 degrees. My lower level is in the 70s with the pellet stove...
I feel cold air getting sucked in from my ceiling through the forced air vents..
Looks like I am gonna have to crack a window to allow make up air ..

I'm determined to only use the little insert to keep the downstairs warm during these couple of -0 days, but it's hasn't been than easy. Emptied the ash this morning to get more wood in - used the bucket instead of the Ash Trap-I forgot what a mess it is (another thread). Fan is on high. Wish I had a larger standalone stove. Reading of folks with stoves in basement as well as main floor is interesting.

I try not to think of my stove as keeping the inside at a constant temperature when it begins to get really cold outside. Rather, I've tried to understand how many degrees ABOVE outside temperature I can keep it, given the heat loss of the cabin. Thus, if I can maintain a 50 degree differential, I'm fine when outside temps are above 20 degrees (which keeps me at 70 inside). Once they go below that, though, it begins to get chilly. When it was 7 degrees a few weeks ago, I needed a sweater at 57 degrees inside, but that only lasted for 24 hours or so.

I am losing

Jan 15 1 degree
Jan 16 0 degree

Slept downstairs feeding the insert

Boiler kicked on just as I clicked on "Wood Heat vs Single digit Temps are you winning?:

LOL
Poetic Justice

I haven't needed to use the insert during this mild winter. Our first drop below zero should happen later this week. The isle royale easily handles our heating needs until negative temps. At that point I either need a fourth burn cycle or the insert.

If your struggling to keep the house warm in single digits remember your house has thermal mass. You have to time this right but in the evening load up a load of small 2-3" splits to burn hot. Let the house get a little warm for a while it will store some of that heat. Then load up for the night. That gives your stove a head start for keeping your house temps up.

Have single digits here and it's been windy and keeping up so far.. The Alaskans on the forum in particular North of 60 must have some serious insulation to stay warm at -50 is all I can say! Seems that blown in foam is the best way to go to eliminate drafts and get high R-values in less space.. There is no way I could keep this house warm at -50 no matter what stove I had in this house!

Ray

Winning but had to switch to the good stuff as the lessers don't get it done with low teen highs and wind. Still have a lot to do to tighten up the house. Single stove in the center of the living space, no furnace.

velvetfoot said:

I'm determined to only use the little insert to keep the downstairs warm during these couple of -0 days, but it's hasn't been than easy. Emptied the ash this morning to get more wood in - used the bucket instead of the Ash Trap-I forgot what a mess it is (another thread). Fan is on high. Wish I had a larger standalone stove. Reading of folks with stoves in basement as well as main floor is interesting.

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The two stoves work really well for me. When it's above 25'F I will only burn the basement stove and just leave the cellar door open a few inches and the single stove supports the whole house. The first floor stove is a large pre-EPA Garrison, and it has a high capacity firebox and put's us into "T-shirt" mode if it's firing at anything above a smoulder during most days in my ~1500sqft well insulated home. We built during the gas crises of 79 when there were 2 hour waits for gasoline at the pumps, so wood heat was in the floor plan. Now I'm looking to dig out a few pesos to buy a fancy new enamel T5 or maybe even a Woodstock soapstone.

Its a draw. Last night 5*, oil didn't kick on, but house was getting to low 60's. The thermo is set for 60*.

north of 60 said:

Its -45 and the pine is heating just fine. :coolsmile:

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i hope thats celcius....or otherwise you win.....thats still cold and when temps get that low, don't they even out.
stoke that puppy

cass

Not even close. 5 degrees F yesterday morning. I keep the first and second floor oil heat zones at 66 day/62 night. After cleaning out the ash yesterday, reloading in the morning and letting the boiler bring the first floor up to 66, the Vista insert kept the first floor at 68 during the day yesterday reloading every 2 to 3 hours. I heard the boiler kick on a few times for the upstairs zone. Built up a huge coal bed despite trying to burn it down between reloads during the day. I raked all the coals forward and let them burn down overnight--didn't even try to do an overnight burn.

0 degrees F this morning. I let the boiler bring the house up to temp again this morning, cleaned the ash out again, loaded it up with Eco bricks and red oak, and away we go again. The little Vista tries its best, but it will never be anything more than supplemental heat. That said, it was at least nice to not have the first floor zone kick on during the day yesterday, and I anticipate the same today.

when it starts getting below 20, i usually have to switch to coal for the rest of the season. No one is around enough during the day to feed my little Resolute II. Coal will keep it rockin for 11-12 hours easily without touching it until i get out of work. I wish i could let a wood fire sit that long while keeping the house up to temp (70 min). I just don't want it to die off and have the furnace kick on. particularly on some days when it's 15 hours or so before i get home and i can still bring the coal back to life.

It was single digits in CT yesterday and today and ~20lbs of anthracite kept it going at ~500 degrees all day. Only have about 1400sqft to heat though so it is not bad

Losing. Hearthstone Heritage is getting the coal buildup issue because I'm heating a large, drafty, sprawling area and I'm also burning some random honey locust, that I only now found out was a year old. Thought it was two. I only have half a wood wagon of it left, though and I'm mixing in some 3 y/o oak. Still getting too many coals, but ce la vie. We're in the middle of a reno/resto of this big ol' farmhouse and we're almost ready to move into the front section, which has new 0.19 u-factor windows, 3" of insulation in the walls and 30" in the attic. It's sealed up much tighter than the old section too. All in all, I've been ok. I've been through half a tank of oil so far this winter.

To compare and contrast, when my grandparents were living in there, in cold winters they'd go through about 300 gallons of oil every two weeks. Of course, they were also keeping the thermostat at 73.

Mixed results. The Fireview is on the main floor. I have been running it hard. A little more air and raking the coals forward after a few hours of burning. I only get about 6 good hours this way. Stove room is fine. Upstairs stayed in the low 70s / high 60s. The furnace is keeping the kitchen and dining room at 65. I even bumped the thermostat up to 69 last night. I told my wife that it is cold! Let's give in and burn some propane tonight. It is very hard to get the stove heat into the far end of the main floor through a 32" doorway. About 1200 of my 1800 are ok. I have to do some sealing and insulation in the far (cold) end of the house this summer.

With an outdoor temp of 9.6F we are barely in the single digits this morning. The stove and I are losing. This house is just not laid out right for a stove in the corner of the lower level to heat the bedrooms on the other end of the upper level. I keep telling the stove that she's doing a great job and it is warm upstairs, but what I don't tell her is its warm upstairs is because the electric heat is helping out.

Flatbedford said:

Mixed results. The Fireview is on the main floor. I have been running it hard. A little more air and raking the coals forward after a few hours of burning. I only get about 6 good hours this way. Stove room is fine. Upstairs stayed in the low 70s / high 60s. The furnace is keeping the kitchen and dining room at 65. I even bumped the thermostat up to 69 last night. I told my wife that it is cold! Let's give in and burn some propane tonight. It is very hard to get the stove heat into the far end of the main floor through a 32" doorway. About 1200 of my 1800 are ok. I have to do some sealing and insulation in the far (cold) end of the house this summer.

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That's a big house to heat with a fireview Steve.. If I remember right Woodstock says that stove is good up to around 1500 sq. ft. I bet the PH would get the job done nicely..

Ray

raybonz said:

That's a big house to heat with a fireview Steve.. If I remember right Woodstock says that stove is good up to around 1500 sq. ft. I bet the PH would get the job done nicely..

Ray

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Yeah yeah. The single digits are tough. 20s and 30s we are fine. I don't know if the PH could do much better. I know it makes more heat longer, but I'm not sure I could get any of that heat into the far end of the main floor. As I said above, insulation and air sealing what I really need now. Or, maybe a second small stove in the dining room.

Flatbedford said:

raybonz said:

That's a big house to heat with a fireview Steve.. If I remember right Woodstock says that stove is good up to around 1500 sq. ft. I bet the PH would get the job done nicely..

Ray

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Yeah yeah. The single digits are tough. 20s and 30s we are fine. I don't know if the PH could do much better. I know it makes more heat longer, but I'm not sure I could get any of that heat into the far end of the main floor. As I said above, insulation and air sealing what I really need now. Or, maybe a second small stove in the dining room.

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That sounds like the best solution to me to prevent cooking yourself out of the stove room..

Ray