outside temp and stove settings

[esuitt]

I had a quick question about outside temps and stove settings.
Do you find yourself adjusting the feed and fan speed as the outside temps get colder?
Reason I ask, is yesterday my 1st floor was 80*, I think outside was 45*. Last night it went down into the 20's and today is supposed to be 38* and over night my 1st floor temp went to 70 which makes the upstairs cold.
Today I shut the stove down for half an hour to clean the burn pot out and vacuum down the ash. After starting it back up it just did not seem to warm as fast as usual. So I bumped my settings from 3/5 to 5/7 and my 1st floor temp has went up to 72.
Am I just worrying to much?
The house is in my pic and I already know it is not insulated except for in the attic which is blown wool.

 

[Turbo-Quad]

I don't have the same stove, but my house is not isulated either and only one story. It is a bear to heat with my Quad. When the temps get in the teens I have to run it wide open to keep the house at 70. When it gets below zero my kitchen and bathroom pipes will freeze up even with the stove running wide open. I am installing another stove in the cold end where the pipes are so hopefully this will help. The wind is a big factor with my house as well. I am burning a better brand of pellet this year so I hope I have better results. I really hope to insulate next year. I believe insulation may be the key to heating a home with a pellet stove.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

... I really hope to insulate next year. I believe insulation may be the key to heating a home with a pellet stove.

Actually insulation is the key to being able to heat a building at a reasonable cost no matter the heating devices employed.

 

[esuitt]

Yeah, I figured the easiest for me to ever insulate our house was to get foam blown in the walls. I am not tearing out these plaster walls.
Plus I do not use the outside air for our stove, so it should be pulling in what ever air is in the house already.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I had a quick question about outside temps and stove settings.
Do you find yourself adjusting the feed and fan speed as the outside temps get colder?
Reason I ask, is yesterday my 1st floor was 80*, I think outside was 45*. Last night it went down into the 20's and today is supposed to be 38* and over night my 1st floor temp went to 70 which makes the upstairs cold.
Today I shut the stove down for half an hour to clean the burn pot out and vacuum down the ash. After starting it back up it just did not seem to warm as fast as usual. So I bumped my settings from 3/5 to 5/7 and my 1st floor temp has went up to 72.
Am I just worrying to much?
The house is in my pic and I already know it is not insulated except for in the attic which is blown wool.

You do not have a 100,000 BTU +/ hour device there so you have make some adjustments such as anticipating the temperature several hours in advance, not turning the stove down below its ability to recover in a reasonable time at night, and making certain you can do a relatively fast cleaning. Even going so far as to clean only during the warmest part of the day and deferring cleaning if possible when the next day may be warmer.

If your house has any drafts in it anywhere along the outside walls or vents that don't close when not in use, the wind can actually suck the heated air out of the house among other things.

 

[Augmister]

Yeah, I figured the easiest for me to ever insulate our house was to get foam blown in the walls. I am not tearing out these plaster walls.
Plus I do not use the outside air for our stove, so it should be pulling in what ever air is in the house already.

Big fan of foam insulation and had my crawl space under the house sprayed in November of last year. What a difference! Jacked up the attic insulation to R-38 and nice and toasty this season. The house was vinyled a few years back and wrapped, with new windows so stick the fork in... we're done.

Completely agree, you need to get the insulation right before you worry about the stove or pellet selection.....

 

[esuitt]

Yeah, I figured the easiest for me to ever insulate our house was to get foam blown in the walls. I am not tearing out these plaster walls.
Plus I do not use the outside air for our stove, so it should be pulling in what ever air is in the house already.

Big fan of foam insulation and had my crawl space under the house sprayed in November of last year. What a difference! Jacked up the attic insulation to R-38 and nice and toasty this season. The house was vinyled a few years back and wrapped, with new windows so stick the fork in... we're done.

Completely agree, you need to get the insulation right before you worry about the stove or pellet selection.....

Happy with the lignetics, right now they way they burn and heat the house.
All the windows are have been replaced by us or previous owner and are double paned insulated.
The house has cement asbestos siding and covering it with vinyl is out of the question right now. There is no crawl space, it is a full basement. But dirt floor with slate stone foundation.
I remember my parents paid someone to come out and spray foam their house and it did not turn out real well. That was 25 years ago and they probably used the cheapest place they could afford at the time also. I just know a few years later we went and ripped the plaster off of one of the walls and it was only filled half way up with no fire stops.

 

[lordgrinz]

Yeah, I figured the easiest for me to ever insulate our house was to get foam blown in the walls. I am not tearing out these plaster walls.
Plus I do not use the outside air for our stove, so it should be pulling in what ever air is in the house already.

Big fan of foam insulation and had my crawl space under the house sprayed in November of last year. What a difference! Jacked up the attic insulation to R-38 and nice and toasty this season. The house was vinyled a few years back and wrapped, with new windows so stick the fork in... we're done.

Completely agree, you need to get the insulation right before you worry about the stove or pellet selection.....

Happy with the lignetics, right now they way they burn and heat the house.
All the windows are have been replaced by us or previous owner and are double paned insulated.
The house has cement asbestos siding and covering it with vinyl is out of the question right now. There is no crawl space, it is a full basement. But dirt floor with slate stone foundation.
I remember my parents paid someone to come out and spray foam their house and it did not turn out real well. That was 25 years ago and they probably used the cheapest place they could afford at the time also. I just know a few years later we went and ripped the plaster off of one of the walls and it was only filled half way up with no fire stops.

I have an 1880's colonial, with the asbestos siding also. All the windows are replaced with new double hung vinyl windows, and the walls and attic have blown in cellulose insulation. The cellar is a stone foundation with a cement floor, we sprayed the stone walls with foam insulation and painted over it with fireproof paint, it is warm down there with just hotwater being heated by the boiler. My XXV is running constantly at a low flame, so no where nears its max, and this is a 1500sq ft home, not including the cellar. Insulation is your best bet, and cellulose is easy do, you will have to drill I believe 1" holes in the outside walls first to pump in the insulation, but it will be worth it, and you can do it yourself if you rent the insulation blower.

 

[esuitt]

How did you cover the holes up on the outside of the house with having asbestos shingles?

 

[lordgrinz]

How did you cover the holes up on the outside of the house with having asbestos shingles?

The shingles on my house are over the original wood, so there are no holes.

 

[LIpelletpig]

An easy way to offset the time to bring up the temp of the house after shutting the stove down to clean is to put the other heating source you might have in the house ie. oil, gas, electric, propane ON for a half hour to help the stove bring the house up to temp. You might think it costs a ton of money to do but it sure keeps your pellet consumption down a bit. Insulation is a great investment. It will make a big difference. We added insulation to some crawl spaces about a month ago and it has made a tremendous difference already.

 

[esuitt]

How did you cover the holes up on the outside of the house with having asbestos shingles?

The shingles on my house are over the original wood, so there are no holes.

Yeah, I do not have that option. And my big butt is not crawling up the side of this 3 story house with my bad knees! LOL
I hate to think about patching the interior walls, but that looks like it may be my only option.
I know the attic is done pretty well, plus in all of the rafters they have this greenish blue egg crate looking stuff. sort of like house wrap. Black slate roof, so I get what ever warmth comes naturally from that also.

 

[esuitt]

An easy way to offset the time to bring up the temp of the house after shutting the stove down to clean is to put the other heating source you might have in the house ie. oil, gas, electric, propane ON for a half hour to help the stove bring the house up to temp. You might think it costs a ton of money to do but it sure keeps your pellet consumption down a bit. Insulation is a great investment. It will make a big difference. We added insulation to some crawl spaces about a month ago and it has made a tremendous difference already.

I have thought about this also. Since I usually try to keep between a 1/4 and 1/2 of oil int the tank for emergencies.

 

[esuitt]

Supposed to be 23* out tonight. So it is 10:25 and the 1st floor is 76*. Going to leave things the way they are and see what happens tonight. If it gets cold again in the morning, then I know to adjust the stove up before going to bed or to turn the T stat on for the oil.

 

[lordgrinz]

How did you cover the holes up on the outside of the house with having asbestos shingles?

The shingles on my house are over the original wood, so there are no holes.

Yeah, I do not have that option. And my big butt is not crawling up the side of this 3 story house with my bad knees! LOL
I hate to think about patching the interior walls, but that looks like it may be my only option.
I know the attic is done pretty well, plus in all of the rafters they have this greenish blue egg crate looking stuff. sort of like house wrap. Black slate roof, so I get what ever warmth comes naturally from that also.

Sorry, I think I misunderstood you, when i said drill the 1" holes, I meant on the inside walls, not the outside shingles. Yes you will have to plug them, putty and repaint, but it will be worth it over the long run. Don't forget to fill the cavities around the windows as well, we found this to be one of the worst culprits of cold air coming in, though this will require removing the windows to drill the holes in the cavities.

 

[esuitt]

Yeah forgot about them now that you brought it up. I watched the contractor pull the old single pane lead weighted windows out and just screw in a backing board and then screw the windows to the backing board. He did a very nice job and trimming and caulking all of the windows when he finished them.