First tests with new stove - seasons and temp differentials

[check212]

Recently installed my drolet 1800i and a chimney liner, and have been running some tests to see how hot I can get it, and in what time frame. I had trouble heating my home last winter, but have overcome a few problems. I now have a newer epa stove, my wood is seasoned to 20% with moisture meter, I have a block off plate and chimney liner. I also have a thru-the-wall fan blowing hot air out at top of living room to hallway, and I'm going to install one blowing cold air in from hallway to living room. My fireplace is interior and centrally located in my home. It got down to 53 degrees F last night, and I thought I would do a test. Also, I'm in SC.

I was only able to bring the house up 8 degrees in 3-4 hours. Does this sound normal? Stovetop temp was around 600 F when I reloaded and dampered it down 80% of the way. My draft pulls well. Moderate insulation in brick home, and single pane windows.

My general question is does the time of year affect how easy it is to heat a home? Based on barometric forces and temperature? I know a draft is stronger in winter, less humidity, etc. I've also read people can get their house in ranges based on outside temp. Like if it's 30F or above they can get it to 80F, it's it's 0F-20F outside they can get it to 75F inside, and -0F outside to 65F inside?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Nick Mystic]

Hi check212, I live about 90 minutes north of you in Marion, NC. I haven't tried to heat my house up to the levels you are talking about for this time of year, so I can't comment based on first hand experience. There are a lot of variables at play in your question. For instance, when you say you heated your house up only 8 degrees in 3-4 hours we need to know where you took your temperature readings. Are these all taken right in the same room as the insert or are you taking readings from a more distant room in your house? One thing you have to keep in mind when you are taking temperature readings from a cold start up is that your house is starting out being close to the temperature of the air inside it. So, that means you have to generate enough heat off your insert to heat the walls, floors, ceilings, furniture, etc. up before you are going to start getting a lot of heat to the air. That's why it is always easier to warm up your house after you've been burning long enough for everything to be warm. I'm talking about during a reload.

 

[Rickb]

Mine will not raise the temp of the house very well. But it does a great job of maintaining it. So if your getting a raise in that short of time I would say your improving.

This is assuming your not talking about the stove room.

 

[check212]

I got the temp readings from a room right next to it, on the thermostat. So, not the same room, but close. They're not connected by a door, but by a foyer/hallway, or through the kitchen.

 

[check212]

Hi check212, I live about 90 minutes north of you in Marion, NC. I haven't tried to heat my house up to the levels you are talking about for this time of year, so I can't comment based on first hand experience. There are a lot of variables at play in your question. For instance, when you say you heated your house up only 8 degrees in 3-4 hours we need to know where you took your temperature readings. Are these all taken right in the same room as the insert or are you taking readings from a more distant room in your house? One thing you have to keep in mind when you are taking temperature readings from a cold start up is that your house is starting out being close to the temperature of the air inside it. So, that means you have to generate enough heat off your insert to heat the walls, floors, ceilings, furniture, etc. up before you are going to start getting a lot of heat to the air. That's why it is always easier to warm up your house after you've been burning long enough for everything to be warm. I'm talking about during a reload.

That makes sense. How long does it take to heat your home from a cold start?

 

[Nick Mystic]

Really depends on how cold it is inside and out. Typically, this time of year (shoulder season) when the house gets down into the low to mid-60s and the forecast calls for it staying cool outside I'll go ahead and build a fire in our Woodstock Classic down in the lower level of the house. Within a couple of hours enough heat will find its way up the centrally located staircase that the upstairs will warm up enough to take the chill off (upper 60s to low 70s). If I built a fire in the big Jotul located in the upstairs living room it would overheat the upstairs.

Now in the winter time there are times when my wife and I will go out for 5 or 6 hours and if the Jotul F600 happened to be nearing the end of its burn cycle before we left the house might be down to 64 - 66 by the time we return. Let's say it's in the 30s outside. Then it will take a couple of hours to heat the upstairs back up to 68 degrees. Our living room, where the stove is located, has two story tall cathedral ceilings that open to a sleeping loft, so there is a lot of space to heat up.

 

[Silenced38]

Nick Mystic, its off topic. But i really like that painting above the mantel.

 

[Ricky8443]

Its amazing how that room makes the stove looks so small. What type of wood are you burning (oak, ash, chestnut, poplar?)

 

[HotCoals]

Radiant heat you will feel pretty quick after getting a fire going. That said it takes awhile to heat up the objects in your house.
I'm not sure but it seems the more humid a house is the longer it takes to heat it up but the higher humidity will then hold the heat longer.

 

[HotCoals]

I might add that the bigger the temp differential is the better the transfer.

 

[check212]

Radiant heat you will feel pretty quick after getting a fire going. That said it takes awhile to heat up the objects in your house.
I'm not sure but it seems the more humid a house is the longer it takes to heat it up but the higher humidity will then hold the heat longer.

That's true, didn't think about that. Guess it's similiar to boiling water out of wet wood. Takes more energy to warm the water in the air up. I'm in SC and it's still pretty temperate/humid this time of year.

 

[HotCoals]

That's true, didn't think about that. Guess it's similiar to boiling water out of wet wood. Takes more energy to warm the water in the air up. I'm in SC and it's still pretty temperate/humid this time of year.

Make sure you get a reading with your MC meter on a fresh split. The prongs should then go with the grain of wood they say on here.
Good seasoned wood should have checking on the ends and when you bang two pieces of dried wood together it should make a higher ringing sound..like a bat hitting a ball not a dull thud.
The wood is crucial with theses epa stoves.

 

[begreen]

Raising the temp of the house interior 6-8 degrees is not the same as maintaining it. When you raise the temp that amount you are not just raising the air temp. You're also raising the temperature of the mass of the interior furnishings, the wall, ceiling and floors, the carpet,etc.. That slows the warming process and takes time to equalize. So in this case the stove might do fine at maintaining 75 inside if burning 24/7 when it is 10 degrees outside. But the same stove might struggle to get to 75 at the same outside temp is the interior temp was allowed to drop to 55F.

 

[Nick Mystic]

Regarding that painting: It's an Edson Campos original I commissioned some 30 years ago.

 

[check212]

I might add that the bigger the temp differential is the better the transfer.

Can you explain this more please?

 

[HotCoals]

Can you explain this more please?

Heat will transfer faster to colder objects.
Just google thermodynamics ..i ain't all that smart ,just ask my wife..lol.

Take two ice trays fill one with cold water and the other with warm water ..put in freezer and see which one freezes first. You maybe surprised.

 

[madison]

I know this will be debated, but , get a blower. and check that there is a blockoff plate in the chimney.

that massive (and very cool) hearth and semi recessed stove maybe sucking up a lot of the heat.

- (hearth in front the unit looks really short) -

 

[check212]

I know this will be debated, but , get a blower. and check that there is a blockoff plate in the chimney.

that massive (and very cool) hearth and semi recessed stove maybe sucking up a lot of the heat.

- (hearth in front the unit looks really short) -

Yes, the stove has a blower, and I packed my entire chimney around the liner with rockwool. It shouldn't pull out any of my house's air.

 

[Poindexter]

I am thinking a fair chunk of the heat put out by the stove is going into all that brick.

How long does it take the temp to drop back to baseline after the fire goes out?

 

[check212]

I've been remodeling a bathroom, and I tore out the old drywall. I discovered my brick ranch has no insulation in the walls (tar paper on brick with 2x4 framing), and only R13 in the attic. My question is, if I make the attic R38, will I see a big difference without the wall being insulated? I may do the walls later. Blown cellulose is cheap enough, but I've been reading about it, and I've found not to try with the blower from the big box stores, it won't dense pack into the walls.

And from what I've read, I'm actually pretty lucky in that I have 2x4 framing on the brick wall from a house built in early 60's. Seems a lot of them just have slates with less than an inch to put insulation.

 

[Nick Mystic]

I am not an insulation expert, so I'm not attempting to give you a professional answer to your question. However, I do know that the most critical place for insulation is in the attic since most of your heat loss is through the attic. I once had an energy audit performed by Duke Power on a different home I lived in here in NC and I had a wood frame home with no wall insulation. My report suggested that I add insulation to my attic and seal up as many air infiltration points as possible around doors, windows, and electrical outlets. As for wall insulation, they said it would be helpful, but might not be cost effective.

My advice to you would be to increase your attic insulation and try to seal all your air infiltration points as I outlined above. Caulking outside around windows, doors, etc., as well. Air is actually a very effective insulator when it is trapped between two materials as it will be in your walls once you seal them inside and out. Monitor your heating and if you find you are keeping warm burning an amount of wood you are comfortable with, then you will save yourself the expense and effort of insulating all your walls.

 

[check212]

Saturday night I did my first official fire in response to outside temps. Got down to 40 degrees that night. Loaded the stove up, put a fan at the end of the hallway blowing cold air toward the stove room. Went to sleep and I woke up to a warm room. 73 inside (in back bedroom of a ranch house), 40 outside. Woke up periodically and by the time the stove needed more wood around 6am, it was 68 in my bedroom.

I was very pleased as 40 degrees is probably the average winter temp around here, maybe a little lower. But in January-Febuary it can get single digits to 20 and wondered if my setup would still work when it's that cold. I disovered my roommate had turned the blower completely off and cracked a window in his room which is next to mine, and it was still 73 in my room most of the night. So, it screwed up my test, but that's still pretty impressive. Will do some more tests when it drops into the 40's again.

 

[gyrfalcon]

I am not an insulation expert, so I'm not attempting to give you a professional answer to your question. However, I do know that the most critical place for insulation is in the attic since most of your heat loss is through the attic. I once had an energy audit performed by Duke Power on a different home I lived in here in NC and I had a wood frame home with no wall insulation. My report suggested that I add insulation to my attic and seal up as many air infiltration points as possible around doors, windows, and electrical outlets. As for wall insulation, they said it would be helpful, but might not be cost effective.

My advice to you would be to increase your attic insulation and try to seal all your air infiltration points as I outlined above. Caulking outside around windows, doors, etc., as well. Air is actually a very effective insulator when it is trapped between two materials as it will be in your walls once you seal them inside and out. Monitor your heating and if you find you are keeping warm burning an amount of wood you are comfortable with, then you will save yourself the expense and effort of insulating all your walls.

Amen to that. The one thing the previous owners of my old (1860) house really did right was pack the attic, more of a crawlspace really, rafters with insulation. The 1st floor has some blown-in insulation in the walls, but the 2nd floor is unheated and has no insulation at all in the walls. Still, the 2nd floor rooms never get below mid to low 40s, even when it's minus double-digits outside. Yeah, I know, that 40-something is cooolllld for most people, but it's fine with me. I prefer sleeping in a cold room burrowed into down comforter, etc. The point being that that attic insulation puts a floor, so to speak, under the indoor temperature.

 

[begreen]

I disovered my roommate had turned the blower completely off and cracked a window in his room which is next to mine, and it was still 73 in my room most of the night. So, it screwed up my test, but that's still pretty impressive. Will do some more tests when it drops into the 40's again.

Tell the roommate to not turn off the fan and close the bedroom door the next time.

 

[check212]

Tell the roommate to not turn off the fan and close the bedroom door the next time.

His door was closed, so I don't know how much of an effect that had. One of the bathroom windows was open too, because we're renovating it.