Heritage burn times vs. House size and insulation

[mikeathens]

I'm curious about other Hearthstone Heritage users' burn times, related to their house size and level of insulation.

I live in a drafty old log cabin built sometime in the 1870s. Total area ~1800 SF. Insulation poor to moderate (R-19 in ceilings, R-11 in stud walls, low R-value in crawl space/basement, don't know R value of massive logs w/chinking - and lots of little leaks from inexperienced people installing insulation before I bought the house). I'm continuously improving insulation as time and money allows and as I find leaks.

To keep the house at 65*F with an outside temp of 15*F, I pretty much have to keep the stove top temp at 400*F or above (preferably 500). So...the rapidly plumiting temperature inside the house brings my stove temp down pretty quick. I have to pack the stove full of red/white oak every 3-4 hours to keep the house warm. If I let it go, I will still have a temp of 300 F on top of the stove after 10 hours or so.

So what are your experiences (especially someone in a house such as mine)?

 

[Highbeam]

I'm not in Ohio and I don't burn oak but I do have a heritage in a home of 1700 SF with R-5 in the walls, 3 inches of attic insulation, and no floor insulation above my ventilated crawlspace. Old single pane windows with aluminum frames.

My outside temps are typically upper 30s this time of year and I keep a fire going all day in the heritage. It is a low burn of 300-400 which keeps the inside temps in the low 70s consuming just under two 21 gallon rubbermain totes per day of alder and fir. I burn the heritage in batches meaning let the fire almost die and then load it up to the gills for another long burn cycle. Even on minimum air setting the heritage will sometimes run up to 450 on a fresh load.

My batch times are about 4-5 hours total and if I wait until 6 hours or overnight then I have to light a new fire from scratch. When weather was warmer I was lighting a morning fire and an evening fire.

 

[mikeathens]

For temps 30-35, I can usually keep the house in the 70's with a fresh load every 8 hours. The oak is nice because there are still thick, hot coals after 12 hours.

 

[bcnu]

I have the smaller Homestead. My house and weather are much different than yours - we'll be in the low to mid 40's this week and will get to 32 one night. So I've been able to keep the (700 sg ft 8' ceiling) room temp around 70-72. I load it full at night and can usually just keep a split or two going during the day. What I've found in my first season is that I need to get the stove top to 400 or more to really pump out the heat. How many cords of wood will u go thru in your cabin?

 

[mikeathens]

This is my first full season withe the Heritage. I have a 1/4 cord rack on my porch, which will typically get re-filled every 5-7 days. That said, I would expect to burn through 1 to 1.5 cords/month - I would guess November through March will put me back 6 cords or so (assuming a few warm days in there). I burn all night, every night and put a full load in before I head off to work (around 6 ish). I get home around 6 PM and still have a good bed of coals to restart things, but by that time, the house is down to 55 F or so, and the stove top is at 200 - 300. Unfortunately, with my house having such crappy insulation, the stove isn't hot enough at that point to make much difference. Weekends typically have the stove at full bore.

 

[bcnu]

We thought we wanted the Heritage when we walked into a stove dealer and saw it in action. Were convinced by dealer and comments on this site to go smaller. Glad I did as the Heritage would have cooked us out. Seems like the Homestead operates quite similar to your Heritage as far as what happens with stop temps etc - our weather is more moderate and I can keep the room around 68-72 without too much trouble - and I'm still not using my best wood. Plus, we're around most of the time to keep a fire going in the stove. It's 11 am, outside temp is 46, stove top is running at 220 with one small split burning and the room is still qat 72. I could probably fill the stove in the morning and let it go, but I'm still having fun tending it. I'm thinking we'll burn thru 3-4 cords but alot of what I'm burning now is smaller limb wood and stuff that I had set aside for another, smaller, stove that we didn't put in a shop. I have a cord of dry seasoned oak waiting for the coldest days.

 

[DriftWood]

a drafty old log cabin Insulation poor to moderate - and lots of little leaks from inexperienced people installing insulation before I bought the house).

You said it all "drafty old log cabin and lots of little leaks". Make them a priority use any thing you can think of to find and stop them.

That Heritage Model #8021 has a EPA BTU out of only 11700 to 32800 BTUs, So your reloading it often is expected. Any stove will burn that much wood to keep the place warm if outside air leaks are present.

Most years after I stop the air leaks around the windows this place is easier to warm up.

But this year we are doing a kitchen remodel. The door is moved and we had a massive air leek into the room with snow on the sides, cold weather has stopped us for a few days. The last blizzard sent wind past the frames. Until I stopped the leaks No WAY was my Heritage keeping this place above 64F.