So we had our first cold days in VA, with daytime temps around freezing, nighttime in the 20's. The insert is in my second home, which we keep at 42' when not there. So we got there with temps at 42'. Fired up the stove at about 3pm, inside temps in the upper 50's by 7 or so. Worried about overnight, so kicked on the heat pump + wood and were up to 65' by bedtime. Full load at 11pm, woke at 3am or so with house temps at 59. Yikes. Reloaded, and the heat pump eventually kicked on to keep the temps at 58'. Same thing the next night, with the insert requiring reloading every 2-3 hours in order to put out any serious heat. A real pain overnight, though was able to keep house temps at 60' through the night without use of the heat pump. So, it was a huge pain, but it seems the wood is barely able to keep up in about the coldest weather we get here. Heat pump last year ran constantly and struggled as well in this cold. + had a $350 power bill one month, when we were there for maybe 5-7 days. Lessons learned:
1. Don't fully stuff the firebox unless you have a real hot bed of coals. Did this the first night, and it took forever to get it back up to temp.
2. Use good wood. Yeah, I know. I feel like I had 1 1/2 hands tied behind my back, as I had nothing but semi-dry pine. I think some good stuff will improve the situation immensely.
3. Gotta try and cut down more on air leaks by next year. House was built as a summer house. I insulated the attic over the summer, and installed air-tight can light trims, but the walls are cinder block without insulation (except for underneath the siding), and the floors are completely uninsulated. Not sure how much this heat this lets out. Windows are new though. That 6' drop in a couple of hours (with a fire going at least part of the time) seems excessive.
1. Don't fully stuff the firebox unless you have a real hot bed of coals. Did this the first night, and it took forever to get it back up to temp.
2. Use good wood. Yeah, I know. I feel like I had 1 1/2 hands tied behind my back, as I had nothing but semi-dry pine. I think some good stuff will improve the situation immensely.
3. Gotta try and cut down more on air leaks by next year. House was built as a summer house. I insulated the attic over the summer, and installed air-tight can light trims, but the walls are cinder block without insulation (except for underneath the siding), and the floors are completely uninsulated. Not sure how much this heat this lets out. Windows are new though. That 6' drop in a couple of hours (with a fire going at least part of the time) seems excessive.
