Days like today

[BrowningBAR]

More difficult than a cold January day when running three stoves. For me, at least. Upper 40s during the day and mid 20s at night.

-It's not cold enough for 24/7 burning.
-But, cold enough where I might need the third stove at some point to burn out some of the cold in parts of the house.
-When the third stove is going all of a sudden it's too warm.
-I tend to feel like I'm wasting fuel for such a mild day.
-Riding a fine line between keeping the stoves going and having to do a cold start.

Not really complaining, cuz I'm warm, but I almost want to fast forward 30-45 days where I feel justified keeping the stoves going.

Makes me wish more cat stoves ran like Blaze King. I wonder how the Chinook would look in the walk-in...

 

[sebring]

"When the third stove is going all of a sudden it’s too warm"


I hate it when that happens...lol

 

[curber]

You have 3 stoves!! Wow big house or what? Pat

 

[snowleopard]

Makes me wish more cat stoves ran like Blaze King. I wonder how the Chinook would look in the walk-in...

So, help me to understand. You're thinking of adding a fourth stove to the mix?

It's cold enough here to smoke 'em if you've got 'em, and have about 8" of Lux Flakes snow out on the deck. I carried in the week's worth of wood this morning, conducted my first top-down experiment (felt like all that first-blaze heat was going up the chimney, but I guess that's the point) and haven't done anything constructive since. Trying to get a little more ambition going (and how is hanging out on the Hearth helping with that, one might ask? Gotta love a Saturday . . .

 

[quint]

I have the same issues here in northern wa. It doesnt get down in temps like alot of the cold places around the country but it does get chilly. Itll be 33 or so at night and about 47 or so during the day. Still I just put in a stove and was looking at the electric bill (last one) and you can see the day I got the stove up and running. Without the heat pump and its associated furnace going by kwh usage is almost half of what it was for previous days in the month.

 

[rakuz66]

Hey Inferno, I live about 12 miles down the road from you. Been burnin my insert about 1/3 throttle all day and the house is a cozy 70. I hear ya though, it's nice during the day but once that sun goes down it gets chilly. 3 stoves? Wow! You got your work cut out for ya, I can say that!

 

[Hass]

3 stoves? Wow! You got your work cut out for ya, I can say that!

literally.

 

[rottiman]

More difficult than a cold January day when running three stoves. For me, at least. Upper 40s during the day and mid 20s at night.

-It's not cold enough for 24/7 burning.
-But, cold enough where I might need the third stove at some point to burn out some of the cold in parts of the house.
-When the third stove is going all of a sudden it's too warm.
-I tend to feel like I'm wasting fuel for such a mild day.
-Riding a fine line between keeping the stoves going and having to do a cold start.

Not really complaining, cuz I'm warm, but I almost want to fast forward 30-45 days where I feel justified keeping the stoves going.

Makes me wish more cat stoves ran like Blaze King. I wonder how the Chinook would look in the walk-in...

You're kidding ...................Aren't you?

 

[BrowningBAR]

Makes me wish more cat stoves ran like Blaze King. I wonder how the Chinook would look in the walk-in...

So, help me to understand. You're thinking of adding a fourth stove to the mix?

It's cold enough here to smoke 'em if you've got 'em, and have about 8" of Lux Flakes snow out on the deck. I carried in the week's worth of wood this morning, conducted my first top-down experiment (felt like all that first-blaze heat was going up the chimney, but I guess that's the point) and haven't done anything constructive since. Trying to get a little more ambition going (and how is hanging out on the Hearth helping with that, one might ask? Gotta love a Saturday . . .

Um, no. I'm talking about updating the Vigilant to an EPA stove. I have plenty of heat. It is a matter of managing the output in order to not over heat the house and waste fuel.

 

[pen]

You really use all 3 areas of the house w/ consistency? A change of habits or a sweatshirt in one part of the house won't work? If you stick w/ 2 stoves vs one, the temp variation is too great to live with?

If my basement / family room is 75, the kitchen, living room and dining room up stairs is 70 and the adjacent bedrooms are 65. By the time morning comes on cold nights take another 5 degrees off of each of those. I keep the house good and hot when we are using it and where we are using it. The bedrooms just get an extra blanket or two on them for the winter.

Works for us, but perhaps you are more particular about consistent heating or have a strange floor plan?

pen

 

[BrowningBAR]

More difficult than a cold January day when running three stoves. For me, at least. Upper 40s during the day and mid 20s at night.

-It's not cold enough for 24/7 burning.
-But, cold enough where I might need the third stove at some point to burn out some of the cold in parts of the house.
-When the third stove is going all of a sudden it's too warm.
-I tend to feel like I'm wasting fuel for such a mild day.
-Riding a fine line between keeping the stoves going and having to do a cold start.

Not really complaining, cuz I'm warm, but I almost want to fast forward 30-45 days where I feel justified keeping the stoves going.

Makes me wish more cat stoves ran like Blaze King. I wonder how the Chinook would look in the walk-in...

You're kidding ...................Aren't you?

To be clear, the walk-in fireplace that I was referring to currently has the Vigilant in it. I'm going to be upgrading that stove and I was wondering how the Chinook would since having a Blaze King cat stove would come in handy with it's low temp burns and long burn times. I would lessen the feeling that I am wasting wood during the shoulder season.

Again, plenty of BTUs over here. Just trying to figure out the best way to manage them during mild weather.

 

[argus66]

just get more wood for the season and burn.i had my stove going all day just let it godown in the middle of the day. fire back up hot for the evening.

 

[HotCoals]

To me the Bk with the long slow burn times seems to make the house more even in temps.
I truly believe keeping the stove temp even is key..I don't like to really fire a stove hot unless I'm just showing off..lol.
I don't drop but maybe 5 degrees overnight unless it's really cold and windy and I left the thermostat to low.

 

[BrowningBAR]

You really use all 3 areas of the house w/ consistency?

No. For instance, today we had a high in the upper 40s but spent most of the day in the upper 30s with the previous nights lows in the upper 20s. The room with the vigilant was 59-61° in the morning. I had one fire in the Vigilant filled to about 40% capacity. Due to the mild weather it shot the room temp up to 80°+. This also raised the temps of the rooms with the other two stoves.

A change of habits or a sweatshirt in one part of the house won't work? If you stick w/ 2 stoves vs one, the temp variation is too great to live with?

Nope, the layout is for to boxy. The Encore will heat the kitchen, some of the dining room and the master bedroom upstairs. The Heritage will heat the living room, some of the dining room, and the other half of the upstairs. The Vigilant heats the summer kitchen (which is a fancy name for a den/office/second living room), foyer and the main room that connects the kitchen, dining room, and living room.[/quote]

If my basement / family room is 75 the kitchen, living room and dining room up stairs is 70 and the adjacent bedrooms are 65. By the time morning comes on cold nights take another 5 degrees off of each of those. I keep the house good and hot when we are using it and where we are using it. The bedrooms just get an extra blanket or two on them for the winter.

Works for us, but perhaps you are more particular about consistent heating or have a strange floor plan?

That is the case. I've attached the floor plan again to understand what I am working with. Again, I have plenty of heat and BTUs. But, I'm just trying to be more efficient with the fuel.

 

[pen]

Dang, I can see why that's a bugger to heat.

I think I'd have a cat stove everywhere. Then low and slow would be cake and you can still crank when needed.

pen

 

[BrowningBAR]

just get more wood for the season and burn.i had my stove going all day just let it godown in the middle of the day. fire back up hot for the evening.

I have plenty of wood. But, if I could go from 8 cords to 7 or 6 by better managing my heat that would be worth doing. I'm trying to avoid having room temps go beyond 80 degrees since that is unneeded and wasting fuel. My challenge is to get a large enough stove to provide 8+ hours of heat during the winter months but are flexible enough to provide less heat efficiently during shoulder season.

I am VERY happy to have more than enough heat. Now I am just trying to figure out the best way to burn in my situation.

 

[woodmiser]

I'm in similar conditions right now. I just throw a split or two in every so often so the fire doesn't go down to the point of a full relight. Just enough to keep things warm.

 

[HotCoals]

Man..to bad you don't have a wood boiler in the basement with zoned heat. Then use the others when wanted or needed.

 

[Dix]

I hear ya, Browning. Reminds me of mine. A 3rd stove would be awesome.

Can't get heat to the lower master bedroom.

Need a 3rd stove. Def a 30, and then kick in the PE & the 13 when needed.

 

[BrowningBAR]

Dang, I can see why that's a bugger to heat.

I think I'd have a cat stove everywhere. Then low and slow would be cake and you can still crank when needed.

pen

I agree. And that is what I am shooting for; cat stoves. But, I am learning that all cat stoves are not equal. Even though Woodstock makes a fantastic stove, Blaze King's cat system seems to be more efficient. At this point, in terms of cat technology, it seems like it is Blaze King, Woodstock, VC in order of efficiency and control.

I'm digging the hell out of the Encore, but I am wondering how a Defiant would run in the Heritage's spot. Can I get the defiant to give me a low burn like you can with a Blaze King? During the winter I think the Defiant would be great with long burn times, but I am unsure how it would work during shoulder season.

I was actually leaning towards the 30NC before burn season started as a replacement for the Vigilant, but after realizing how the BTUs move around now that I have plenty of the, the 30 is out.

In terms of cost, the ideal situation would be to pick up two used Defiants or a used Defiant and a used Encore. I just don't know if that is the best move. I am also thinking about a Fireview in the location of the Vigilant. Then I started rationalizing putting a Chinook where the Vig is.

Either way, right now I am learning how to manage the fuel so the house stays comfortable without wasting fuel on unnecessary room temps. These are not bad problems to have. I would rather work over this hurdle than to worry about not having enough heat like I had to deal with the last three years burning.

 

[BrowningBAR]

I hear ya, Browning. Reminds me of mine. A 3rd stove would be awesome.

Can't get heat to the lower master bedroom.

Need a 3rd stove. Def a 30, and then kick in the PE & the 13 when needed.

Boxy layouts are brutal when it comes to whole house heating. But it is possible. Unfortunately it borders on the ridiculousness that I need three stoves to heat 2,150 sq ft. %-P

 

[rdust]

That layout is tough but I wouldn't be heating the summer kitchen side of the house in the winter. Whatever heat creeps over to that side I would call good as long as it kept the pipes from freezing in the spring room. A BK or similar type cat stove where the Heritage is and you're good to go. If the summer kitchen side of the house stayed it the high 50's/low 60's I would be more than happy with that.

I'm heating 1980ish sq ft and no way I'd ever dream of running 3 stoves. When it gets really cold I close the double doors leading to the living room, close a bedroom door or two and call it good. If I want to use that room for something I open it up and burn the stove hot for a while.

I'm trying to figure out how you get anything done when managing three stoves!

 

[BrowningBAR]

That layout is tough but I wouldn't be heating the summer kitchen side of the house in the winter. Whatever heat creeps over to that side I would call good as long as it kept the pipes from freezing in the spring room. A BK or similar type cat stove where the Heritage is and you're good to go. If the summer kitchen side of the house stayed it the high 50's/low 60's I would be more than happy with that.

I'm heating 1980ish sq ft and no way I'd ever dream of running 3 stoves. When it gets really cold I close the double doors leading to the living room, close a bedroom door or two and call it good. If I want to use that room for something I open it up and burn the stove hot for a while.

I'm trying to figure out how you get anything done when managing three stoves!

I spend most of my time in the Summer Kitchen. Part of that room is used as my office.

 

[Dix]

I hear ya, Browning. Reminds me of mine. A 3rd stove would be awesome.

Can't get heat to the lower master bedroom.

Need a 3rd stove. Def a 30, and then kick in the PE & the 13 when needed.

Boxy layouts are brutal when it comes to whole house heating. But it is possible. Unfortunately it borders on the ridiculousness that I need three stoves to heat 2,150 sq ft. %-P

2000 here. I hear ya.

 

[ScotO]

I hear ya, Browning. Reminds me of mine. A 3rd stove would be awesome.

Can't get heat to the lower master bedroom.

Need a 3rd stove. Def a 30, and then kick in the PE & the 13 when needed.

Boxy layouts are brutal when it comes to whole house heating. But it is possible. Unfortunately it borders on the ridiculousness that I need three stoves to heat 2,150 sq ft. %-P

I am sure you have regulators in your house, right?......we have 3000 sq. feet of remodeled homestead (heavily insulated since the remodel) and we crank the ol' Napoleon on cold nights....if it gets too warm in the early season we use our regulators.....we have 22 of them.....crack a downstairs window in one location, open up an upstairs window in another location and after some learning you can regulate that shoulder season heat quite nicely...if that don't work, we keep a window fan out all year, and it gets put to use often in the winter...lol...