Overnight burns

[PapaDave]

Lots of folks talking about getting overnight burns, etc., so I thought I'd chime in for a minute.
This year, I've been putting in about 8-9 largish splits 6-7" before bed. Doing the whole get it going then turn down the air deal.
I've been sleeping much better and longer (8 hours sometimes) and waking to find plenty of coals in the stove to relight the fire quite easily, usually within a minute or so.
Dry wood is so nice.
However, ....as an example, this morning the house was down to about 63, with outside temp of about 16.
When the outside temp is mid 20's, I wake to the house around 66-67.
Just looking for a bit of feedback/thoughts on whether this is normal or excessively cool. I think the latter.
I know, very subjective.
I think BBar has suggested the house may not be as tight as it should (he'd be correct), so that's being worked on as I have the means. The stove room is the 2nd room to come under my reno knife.
I pulled some T&G paneling down and have found air leaks and poorly done insulation. This was fully expected. Time to gut and rebuild.

 

[rdust]

Once you get that BK this will be a thing of the past. Before I was a cat owner this was pretty normal. I had some pretty big swings in temps when it got below 25. Now my temps rarely change a degree or two over the coarse of a load.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I think you're sleeping too much.

Wake up about an hour earlier and reload.

Matt

 

[PapaDave]

Matt, before I got the stove fixed, I set the alarm for 3-4 a.m. every day and it was already getting cold in the house.
That's just wrong when you're retired.
63's a little chilly, .....I can deal with mid 60's.

"Once you get that BK this will be a thing of the past. Before I was a cat owner this was pretty normal. I had some pretty big swings in temps when it got below 25. Now my temps rarely change a degree or two over the coarse of a load."

Man, I sure hope so. I'll still work on the insulation.

 

[ailanthus]

Sounds like it's the house much more-so than the stove/operation. That sounds like a pretty large load of wood. I'm dealing with a very similar situation in terms of house temperatures, except with a smaller stove and a warmer climate - results are still the same. I've learned a ton here on the forum, but I've also picked up a lot of stove size / insulation envy along the way... I really don't mind waking up to a cool house and I can still get things nice & warm before the wife & kids get up so we're all happy. I do get up for a middle of the night reload when it gets down into the teens.

The stove room is the 2nd room to come under my reno knife.
I pulled some T&G paneling down and have found air leaks and poorly done insulation. This was fully expected. Time to gut and rebuild.

Sounds like a good plan - makes sense that you'd be losing the most heat through the warmest room. Good Luck!

 

[NortheastAl]

Could it be that your chimney is becoming more effective as the temps drop, therefore, more heat going up the flue? Are you shutting down the air all the way on the overnight burn? Got to be an answer somewhere. Just my thoughts.

 

[PapaDave]

I readjusted the air this year to only allow a tiny sliver of air to pass the shutoff plate at lowest "setting".
The stove will now sit and cruise at 500-650 for a while (maybe a couple hours), but not nearly long enough for my liking. A new stove has longer actual wood burn times.
Pretty sure a big part of the answer is the insulation, so that's to be worked on.
I'm in this for the long haul, so that room is going to be gutted to the studs.....top to bottom, and side to side. All joints in the walls will be air-sealed and so will the bottom plate.
Comfort is the long term goal, along with decreased work. Should improve as I go.
I may do an OAK with the new stove....very easy in this room. I feel cool air coming in from other rooms to feed the stove, so the OAK should help some with that.
Went to bed last night at about 1:30 a.m. with the house at 68, outside 29. Filled stove....blah, blah, and woke to the house still at 68 and stove at 300 at 9:00. Outside didn't get to the expected low and was 30 when I got up.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Dave, that reminds me of our old Ashley stove. Back then it was very common to get up during the night to add more wood so the house did not get too cold. Then in cold winter months we were never warm. That, thank God, is a thing in the past.

Last night I put in 4 small splits (ash). We about roasted all night long! Didn't even put more wood in the stove until about 10:00 this morning simply because it was too warm in here.