how to heat the house "a little"

We use the *gasp* thermostat on the wall and let the electric forced air furnace run for a few minutes to take the chill off. Firing up the woodstove is more trouble than it's worth if all we need is a few degrees for a little while. Burning the stove in earnest is looming soon enough. We've just had a couple of days that felt like burning weather, but this weekend's gonna warm back up to near 80. Typical for this time of year. I'm ready to start burning, but I'm not anxious to do so. Rick

I woke up this morning and the house was 69. The boys were chilled and it was about the mid 40's out. I am burning the dreaded cottonwood just for this weather. Having the furnace is nice because it warms the whole house quickly. So one small quick fire later the house was 73 the fire went out no smoke and we were warm. Its going to be a good winter with the new liner, I can already tell.

I would think just building a small fire would do the trick.

The question makes me think this is where a cat stove would work great.

Good luck,
Bill

BrotherBart said:

With one of these.

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I have a few and they work great. They seem to be pretty efficient also...

Yeah, it's easy to just turn on the furnace but I won't. When I see 50's for highs it's a signal for me to start burning. I don't like to see the house dip below 70 so a good pile of kindling with 3 small to medium splits will take that house temp back up over 70 and usually hold it there til the following evening.

I usually split my small stuff smaller and have a fire just bigger then what I'd consider a kindling fire. I'm going to be tempted tonight to start a fire but I think the furnace will do the trick. 70 in the house right now with lows in the upper 40's tonight. My wife works from home and sent me an e-mail mid day complaining about being cold, I told her she knows what to do and knock the chill off if she wanted. She said she'd be able to hold out and let me be the first to light a fire this season. :lol:

Joe Matthews said:

BrotherBart said:

With one of these.

Click to expand...

I have a few and they work great. They seem to be pretty efficient also...

Click to expand...

Yes, all types of electric resistance heaters are extremely efficient. Kilo-watts of electricity in = kilo-watts of heat out for the most part. Problem is the price they charge for those kilo-watts. :ahhh:

I have electric baseboards to take off the chill. And sweaters, lots of sweaters. I wouldn't dream of starting up the stove until it's time to go full time. Five months is long enough. As far as the wife goes, well, Lady BK says I'm all the fire she needs until November. %-P

Nate Finch said:

I have a wood stove, and I've read here about the importance of getting your stove up to a proper temperature to ensure a clean burn. How do I do that without baking us out of the house on a day when it's not really that cold?

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When I do a quick and dirty burn on those days, I just accept the fact that the stove isn't going to perform as cleanly and efficiently as possible. But it works better than the old fireplace. I love a small fire on a fall day.

Yeah, easy, you fire up the stove and open all your windows. Works like a charm.

I found that I wasted a lot of wood in my insert last year on days like that. I am letting the furnace do it's thing in those circumstances this year.

I use the Norwegian sweater technique.

My folks would always say they dont use the wood stove unless its in the 30's... but I suppose it really depends on your house size and how low the stove can go...

Like "today," for example..........it's 50ºF outside.......but in the house it's 70ºF. I'd light the fire, but it's not really necessary. It's gonna be IN the 70's today, and the fire will not be needed by late morning.

Mostly, the fire gets lit when the wife decides she's cold enough to want one. And let me tell ya fellas, it could be pretty late in the burning season, if she's having HOT flashes!

-Soupy1957

The house today was 67 when I woke up, after all night with a 1/2 dozen windows open and the heat off. I really want to start a fire, but longer I wait the sweeter the burn come April.

Anyone here heat with wood ?
Thermostat OFF, furnace/heat pump/electric coils OFF ?
Whew, 69 F in the room, and it's cold !!?! . No wonder Europeans make fun of us.
Hand(s) please ? Those who really really realy use wood--wood stoves, wood furnaces, OWB---to heat their place. Not "up from" 65 F. Hand(s) ?

Comments accepted. :bug:

Nate Finch said:

I have 9 zones of heat, so I can just heat the rooms that I need.

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With the radiant system already in place, it sounds like a small wood boiler in the basement is in order. Even controllable heat and dhw as well.

When the daytime highs are only going to be around 60 and the temp is going to drop off at night you can fire up the Quad. If you go easy with the size and quantity of your splits, you won't blow yourself out of the house too bad. Worst case you crack open a window or a slider to 'regulate' the temp. I'd keep the oil burner off as long as you can - especially if you have a big, free supply of wood. Also realize that the stove will heat up mostly the room it is in and secondarily the rest of the house. Myself, I like having the stove running in the evening to heat up the main living room where we eat dinner, watch tv, and work on the laptops. The bedrooms stay cooler, which we actually really prefer - good sleeping weather.

This year I have an excess supply of dry wood. Even with a very efficient natural gas furnace, I don't plan to light it up until I need to keep the pipes from freezing.

Nice town btw ;-)

fjord said:

Anyone here heat with wood ?
Thermostat OFF, furnace/heat pump/electric coils OFF ?
Whew, 69 F in the room, and it's cold !!?! . No wonder Europeans make fun of us.
Hand(s) please ? Those who really really realy use wood--wood stoves, wood furnaces, OWB---to heat their place. Not "up from" 65 F. Hand(s) ?

Comments accepted. :bug:

Click to expand...

Europeans make fun of us? You ruined my day.

It's going to take a a lot more cool weather before I'm over this past hot summer. My stove is going to stay cold awhile longer.
The idea of needing a sweater sounds good.

"Anyone here heat with wood ?
Thermostat OFF, furnace/heat pump/electric coils OFF ? "

HUH?! That's what MOST of us do!

-Soupy1957