Results on a warm night, and what to expect on a cold night

[chutes]

Had my first real (non break-in) fire going all last night. Turned all thermostats off in the house, so that it was only the insert. The room where the insert was located got up to about 82F. The furthest end of the house, same floor as insert, the thermostat read 67F. It was on 60F when I started the fire. Upstairs, the thermostat read 67F when I started the fire, and was 71F after a couple of hours. Insert seems to be heating the house very well.

My question is, what should I expect on a very cold night? Similar results? For example, last night in northern Connecticut the weather report states that the overnight low was 26F. I don't buy that, as there was no frost this morning. I say that it was more likely in the mid-30s. Are my results on a night in the mid-30s applicable to results I'll experience when the temp outside is in the single digits, or should I subtract a few degrees from the temp inside the house? (Assume that I will fire my stove to about the same temps that I fired it last night).

Thanks,
Dave

 

[jeffee]

I would say that it very much depends on how well your house is insulated.

-Jeff

 

[chutes]

There are all new windows and doors on my house. The insulation in the walls is the original insulation, but the house was recently wrapped in tyvek and new siding was installed.

 

[billb3]

All things being equal, I'd expect the stove room temp to be 82 with an equal fire but the outer extremity temps to be a couple degrees less.



Local temps can vary.
Many reported temps are from the local airport (except for when they start with the sponsored Weathher-Watcher reports)
local airport is usually in a valley. Cold air sinks.
If you're up on a hill or in a different valley the temp can be different. Wind direction can make a difference with a variance from the airport temp, too.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

The rooms farther away from the stove will be colder. You will be burning harder, pumping more heat into the house, but you will be loosing more heat into the atmosphere.

Matt

 

[chutes]

Thanks everybody.

I guess that I have plenty of reason to be pretty optimistic. Even losing a few degrees on the rooms further from the house is still a bit warmer than 64F which is what I set my thermostats to last year.

Plus - I don't think that the measurements that I posted was the peak warming of the house. The house seemed to still be warming up when I went to bed last night and let the fire die, so those rooms further away might have even gone up a few degrees. Plus - I haven't yet tried any other tricks to circulate the air. For example, I've seen that BeGreen has recommended pointing a fan at the stove as a way to circulate the cooler air toward the source of heat. I can still try that if necessary - plus, was only burning the insert at around 400F according to the magnetic thermometer on the unit. I could probably take that a little higher as well, right?

 

[begreen]

Measuring off the face of the stove your temps may be a little lower than measured on a stove top, but you should be able to take it up to 600 and get some real heat. When it gets to zero outside, that will be closer to what you are shooting for.

I couldn't find info about the installation. Is this an interior or exterior chimney? Did you put in a damper block-off plate?

 

[chutes]

I couldn't find info about the installation. Is this an interior or exterior chimney? Did you put in a damper block-off plate?

Exterior chimney. No idea about the damper block-off plate? Unless that is something that is standard in installation, then I don't have that. I paid somebody who was smarter than me to do the install.

 

[begreen]

Did they put in a full liner for the stove? If you want to increase the heat output of the stove, putting in a block-off plate can help. Otherwise much of the heat from the back of the insert is trying to heat up the whole exterior chimney. Do a search on block-off plate. There are lots of discussions about it here.

Here's a wiki link with more info for you:

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/wiki/Why_damper_seal_is_needed/

 

[chutes]

Thanks. I'll read through that.

And yes, they put in a full liner for the stove.