Anyone else keep a small fire going even though it's 55- 60* out.

[tfdchief]

This is a weired winter. Last night we had a thunderstorm, High today was 59, low tonight is projected at 16. It is 24 right now and dropping. Really strange weather for January and central IL. I usually have the natural gas furnace shut off, so I go by the inside temp. not the outside temp. If it falls below 70 inside, the fire is going. Of course with this up and down stuff, I have to let it go out a lot. In my 63 years I don't ever remember a January like this. It is usually in the teens on average, and single digits or below 0 often in January, normally.

 

[jharkin]

If its in the 50s and the sun is out, solar gain is enough to keep the house at 70. No fire, no gas boiler, nothing. The old timers knew what they were doing when the sited houses for good southern exposure...

 

[ScotO]

Yeah same here Chief.......right now the wind is absolutely HOWLING outside and it is hovering around 54 degrees....supposed to be a high of only 29 tomorrow??? then a couple of 'normal' January days and back up to the low 50s...ugh....I miss the snow and cold.......not looking too good for the snowmobile this winter......

 

[tfdchief]

Yeah same here Chief.......right now the wind is absolutely HOWLING outside and it is hovering around 54 degrees....supposed to be a high of only 29 tomorrow??? then a couple of 'normal' January days and back up to the low 50s...ugh....I miss the snow and cold.......not looking too good for the snowmobile this winter......

Get ready Scotty, our weather is coming your way!

 

[SolarAndWood]

Mid 30s, 35 mph sustained, 50+ gusts...stove is running.

 

[PNWBurner]

We pretty much burn from October to April (or even until May-June some years). I can't imagine shutting down in January. Right now we're getting an unusual cold snap down into the mid-teens but it 80 in here! Of course it will be 45 next week and we'll still be burning. :coolsmile:

 

[firefighterjake]

Holy crap . . . we don't see those temps until the Spring . . . right now if we see temps in the 40s we're thinking it's a heat wave . . . but if I did see those temps I probably would do the same thing as I do when it heats up here and gets into the 40s . . . do the shoulder season fires . . . burn one fire if I needed the heat and let the fire die down. I have plenty of Super Cedars and kindling . . . and can always start a fire later when more heat is needed.

 

[PA Fire Bug]

When the living room temperature drops below 70, I'm usually ready to start a fire. The exception is in the spring and fall when the house will warm up during the day and temperatures won't drop low enough to cool the house much at night. I often burn wood scraps from our school shop or small pieces of wood to get a small, hot fire. Once the stove it hot, it stays hot for hours.