66 Degrees is My Threshhold, What is Yours?

KatWill said:

time to light up.

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that would require letting the fire go out.

My house is set at 67...but some days when I gett home and its cold out..in the low 40's...I fire up the wood stove !

I'm right behind ya at 65 degrees. But my wife would argue with me on that....70 would be more like her number, she loves the heat. But the dog takes the cake. Since I had the stove installed, he has gotten really used to it. Now when its a bit chilly, he just stands in front of it and stares at it, hoping it will just come on on its own. He started sleeping so close to it, he nearly burned himself a few times. I had to by a firescreen to put in front on the stove so he would burn himself. The screen doesnt look that pretty in front of the stove,,,but it helps out the dog.

When I got home my indoor temp was 71 °F . Its now 42 °F and rainy outside, 78 °F on my first floor, 70 °F 2nd floor :coolsmirk: I have no real indicating temp of when to light up, if its cold out, and night time temp is forecast to drop below 40, im firing up the stove.

Our is 65 also. Its been nice enough here that we light a fire in the morning get the house warmed up then it will
stay about 70 all day.

Joey said:

I'm right behind ya at 65 degrees. But my wife would argue with me on that....70 would be more like her number, she loves the heat. But the dog takes the cake. Since I had the stove installed, he has gotten really used to it. Now when its a bit chilly, he just stands in front of it and stares at it, hoping it will just come on on its own. He started sleeping so close to it, he nearly burned himself a few times. I had to by a firescreen to put in front on the stove so he would burn himself. The screen doesnt look that pretty in front of the stove,,,but it helps out the dog.

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my great dane does the same thing!
she looks at the stove when it is not running, and sniffs it, licks it, wondering why it is not putting out heat.
she came to get me as if she wanted to play, only to lead me to the stove, as if saying "make it work!"

i need to consult with my vet about allowing her to get too warm in front of that thing.
she loves every second of it, but at times it worries me with how warm she gets

WHAT????? I'm not trying to bake potatoes in my place. If it's 65 inside I have to open the windows :-S I'm on a maximum conservation campaign this year. Wouldn't think about walking around without a sweater or two on. Besides, there's no cold shock going outside, and I save on the heater in the van, and I don't have to empty the ashes in the stoves or haul wood or pellets or ..... well, you get the idea, I'm cold lazy... %-P

par0thead151 said:

Joey said:

I'm right behind ya at 65 degrees. But my wife would argue with me on that....70 would be more like her number, she loves the heat. But the dog takes the cake. Since I had the stove installed, he has gotten really used to it. Now when its a bit chilly, he just stands in front of it and stares at it, hoping it will just come on on its own. He started sleeping so close to it, he nearly burned himself a few times. I had to by a firescreen to put in front on the stove so he would burn himself. The screen doesnt look that pretty in front of the stove,,,but it helps out the dog.

Click to expand...

my great dane does the same thing!
she looks at the stove when it is not running, and sniffs it, licks it, wondering why it is not putting out heat.
she came to get me as if she wanted to play, only to lead me to the stove, as if saying "make it work!"

i need to consult with my vet about allowing her to get too warm in front of that thing.
she loves every second of it, but at times it worries me with how warm she gets

Click to expand...

...and to third it, my lab mix... Lies in front of the raised hearth when it's running, but don't you dare let it die out!
She'll take the blankets quicker than the wife! and that dang cold nose under the arm pits 'ill get ya right up!
She's better than a thermostat or an alarm clock - "I'm chilly, toss another in the heatmaker, and I'll give your
blankets back..."

Our furnace thermostat is always set at 70. The stove keeps it well above that. In sub zero weather, it's 75 inside. Right now with temps of 42 outside, it's 80 downstairs and 83 upstairs. The wife is comfortable now, while I'm in my boxers drinking iced tea. Still trying to learn to burn in the shoulder seasons.

My setback thermostat drops to 68 overnight but when I get up in the morning, the furnace has already come up to 71. The wood stove takes it up to 74 or more.

Main floor (pellet) the low is about 64. Below that the wife wants the stove on.
In the basement (wood) where I live in my man room it is currently 61 and have no thought of lighting the stove. I think when it gets down to about 56 or so I'll start looking for the matches.

When it below 70 in the house the wood stove gets fired up, well as long as its September or later that is. So much easier when its good and cold day and night, then its just a matter of filling her up a couple times a day. I can never seem to get it just right when I burn only 1 fire a day. It always either too hot or too cold. In the winter we try to maintain 73 during they day and have it 68-70 when we get up in the morning. Does make it tough to leave a 73 degree house and go out hunting or trapping at -20 though. Ehh, who wants to shoot a deer anyway.

Mike

when wife is away (rarely) I set the thermostat at 60 and put on a sweater and thick socks. I like it cooler and I'm cheap. If I could heat the whole house with wood it would be a different story.

Now, the room that has the wood stove isn't heated otherwise ( closed off the one teensy duct this year) when that part of the house gets into the 50's I fire up the stove. It hasn't been too cold yet, though, so we'll see what happens when the temps drop below freezing. we don't really LIVE in that part of the house, but the heat does rise up into the rest of the house

The difference in the warmth of the wood heat is amazing. My gas furnace thermostat is set on 70 when I'm not burning. When I run my wood furnace, 66-68 is very comfortable. 70 and above and I'm opening windows.

PJF1313 said:

par0thead151 said:

Joey said:

I'm right behind ya at 65 degrees. But my wife would argue with me on that....70 would be more like her number, she loves the heat. But the dog takes the cake. Since I had the stove installed, he has gotten really used to it. Now when its a bit chilly, he just stands in front of it and stares at it, hoping it will just come on on its own. He started sleeping so close to it, he nearly burned himself a few times. I had to by a firescreen to put in front on the stove so he would burn himself. The screen doesnt look that pretty in front of the stove,,,but it helps out the dog.

Click to expand...

my great dane does the same thing!
she looks at the stove when it is not running, and sniffs it, licks it, wondering why it is not putting out heat.
she came to get me as if she wanted to play, only to lead me to the stove, as if saying "make it work!"

i need to consult with my vet about allowing her to get too warm in front of that thing.
she loves every second of it, but at times it worries me with how warm she gets

Click to expand...

...and to third it, my lab mix... Lies in front of the raised hearth when it's running, but don't you dare let it die out!
She'll take the blankets quicker than the wife! and that dang cold nose under the arm pits 'ill get ya right up!
She's better than a thermostat or an alarm clock - "I'm chilly, toss another in the heatmaker, and I'll give your
blankets back..."

Click to expand...

My cat will sit and stare at the stove and then come over and sit and stare at me. I get t he hint. My real tell-tale is when my better half puts on something that looks like she is about to go outside, but isn't. I know at that point that and am behind and need to get the stove ripping (happy wife, happy life concept).

I keep our thermostat at 58*. Fire keeps front of house warm which is where we spend most of our time during the day. Bedrooms stay cool which I prefer at night.

Build a fire in the morning and let the furnace run for about an hour to get the temp. up to 64* - insert takes care of the next 10* and keeps it there the rest of the day.

Fire keeps front of house at about 75* during the day. Don't keep it going through the night. Last load is usually around 7 PM unless it is really, really cold out.

KatWill said:

Hey All,

I just got home from work and even though it is 43 outside the house is at 66 degrees. I must have gotten spoiled by having a wood stove and a pellet stove in this house. That is just too cold for my bones. First thing I did was to light the Pellet stove shortly after I lit the Wood Stove. Just wondering if 'yall have an indoor temperature that tells you that its time to light up.

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Yes.

I light off the stove when I'm cold, or, if I think I'm going to be cold.

My thermostat is set at 58*, im trying to burn as little oil as possible this year. Its usually about 61*-58* when I wake up, without an overnight fire. The oil heater hasnt kicked on yet. I light a fire, drink some coffee, and read this forum while the place heats up. It usually tops off around 80* and ill let it go till the temp drops back to the mid-60s then add more wood. I did learn this year, it being my first year burning, that my 1950's brick house's insulation leaves more to be desired. I dont think theres much I can do with the exterior walls but more insulation on the attic floor would probably help a lot. Im thinking about insulating between the floor joist in the basement as well.

House thermostats are set at 55* and have not yet called for heat this season. A good comfort range for me is 64* to 68* so my use of the wood stove is dependent on the time of day, weather forcast, and whether or not I will be home. I almost always wear a hooded sweatshirt inside during the winter months. That seems to give me an extended comfort range. There are times when I will change to a heavier sweat shirt rather than start the stove for a short burn. Up until about two weeks ago I would start the wood stove whenever the house temp dropped below 65*. Using that criteria I soon discovered the house would quickly become too hot and I was burning too much wood. I am still learning how to use the stove most efficiently and seem to be close to that goal.

Best wishes and Happy Thanksgiving.

John_M

KatWill said:

littlesmokey said:

WHAT????? I'm not trying to bake potatoes in my place. If it's 65 inside I have to open the windows :-S I'm on a maximum conservation campaign this year. Wouldn't think about walking around without a sweater or two on. Besides, there's no cold shock going outside........

Click to expand...

I was born and raised in the Caribbean Islands so I'm less resistant to cold. The wife is the same.

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Was b & r'd in Australia. Whatever the temp was outside it wasn't far behind inside. Still remember going out to the kitchen in morning & temp 40. One advantage was whatever you wore outside you wore inside. Here's to wool sweaters! None of this hitting the "wall of heat" when you came inside :lol:

House was built in early twenties with green wood I think, so interior & exterior cladding shrank leaving healthy fresh air gaps. Floorboards went to wall but then nothing under wall cavity. So when the wind blew, on an inside wall you could feel the breeze coming through the spaces between the wallboards. First time I looked under the house I discovered the posts it was sitting on were tree trunks - bark removed, some with a "y". Not buried in ground - no freeze thaw problem there.

Living in east central ohio for last twenty years I think I've become a softy. I think it's cold in the house if temp drops to 64.

When I tell the Aussies it's 0 degrees here they say "oh well" - zero for them is Celsius - language problems with my own family !

65 is about my breaking point as well. Unless the forecast calls for a cold one, then I'll usually fire it up regardless of the inside temp. I agree that 70 degrees from the stove definately feels different than 70 from the thermostat, but thats always a good thing. I try to dress warm in the house too, but if the stove gets blazing, before you know it Im in my skivies.

BucksCoBernie said:

My thermostat is set at 58*, im trying to burn as little oil as possible this year. Its usually about 61*-58* when I wake up, without an overnight fire. The oil heater hasnt kicked on yet. I light a fire, drink some coffee, and read this forum while the place heats up. It usually tops off around 80* and ill let it go till the temp drops back to the mid-60s then add more wood. I did learn this year, it being my first year burning, that my 1950's brick house's insulation leaves more to be desired. I dont think theres much I can do with the exterior walls but more insulation on the attic floor would probably help a lot. Im thinking about insulating between the floor joist in the basement as well.

Click to expand...

My house is 100+ yrs. old with brick/terra cotta block/plaster walls.
I blew in insulation between 2nd floor ceiling and attic floor(5 1/2" space). For the upstairs walls I glued 2x4's on their sides to the walls. Then I bought 4x8 r-3 styrofoam sheets (fairly cheap at $10 a sheet) and drywalled over them. The difference is unbelieveable. My upstairs used to be at least 10* colder than downstairs (no cold air returns), now it's usually 5* warmer.