I had Thanksgiving dinner at a dear friend's home, a couple I've known for over a decade. After dinner, we all went to the living room, a very comfortably-appointed room where his 1980's Coalbrookdale Little Wenlock was burning (yes, he's an English expat). It's a teeny little stove but is the perfect size for the room. I've enjoyed it many times before, but not until last night did I sit in the chair closest to the stove and look at the installation and their burning habits in detail.
Overview: The house has excellent southern exposure, with 8-9 tall double-glazed windows and brick floors to store the heat; well-executed 1980's direct-gain solar techniques. The chimney is 12 feet from stove outlet to top. The Little Wenlock is designed to burn 10" long wood. He borrows my brushes and rods twice a year to clean his chimney, so I know the setup produces plenty of creosote.
First thing I noticed is, the stove was burning with the door cracked open. I asked why, and was told "It's the only way the wood will fit, and besides, it seems to burn better that way." I didn't press the issue, but that got me looking at other factors. I looked in the woodbox (he buys from a commercial wood seller), and all the wood was 15" long. He refilled the stove with a single split at a time, standing on end, wedged between the door and the baffle.
After I while, I noticed my feet and legs were feeling cold. I felt the floor, and it indeed felt quite cold. Odd, since the bricks were supposed to store heat. Looking around, I noticed one of the windows was cracked open. Walked over, and indeed a steady stream of cold air was pouring in, as one would expect. I asked about it, he said "The stove burns better if it's open, so we keep it open".
Now I know this guy well, he's a close friend. But he's also a stodgy old Englishman who is very set in his ways and looks down his nose at the notion of improving almost anything. Despite this, I explained to him how all of these things were interrelated, and how much more comfortable his space would be, with less wood burned, if only he added 3 feet of Class A to the top of his stack, and cut his wood down to fit his stove properly. I wasn't surprised when he got very defensive, making silly, irrational excuses for keeping things the way they were, after all, it's working fine...
This wasn't the first time I'd gently pointed out such a thing to him. As usual, his wife listens carefully, sees the truth of what I'm saying, would very much like to make the necessary changes, but then slumps back into the couch when he slams the door shut on changing anything. Sigh.
Other than that, it was a lovely evening with great conversation.
Overview: The house has excellent southern exposure, with 8-9 tall double-glazed windows and brick floors to store the heat; well-executed 1980's direct-gain solar techniques. The chimney is 12 feet from stove outlet to top. The Little Wenlock is designed to burn 10" long wood. He borrows my brushes and rods twice a year to clean his chimney, so I know the setup produces plenty of creosote.
First thing I noticed is, the stove was burning with the door cracked open. I asked why, and was told "It's the only way the wood will fit, and besides, it seems to burn better that way." I didn't press the issue, but that got me looking at other factors. I looked in the woodbox (he buys from a commercial wood seller), and all the wood was 15" long. He refilled the stove with a single split at a time, standing on end, wedged between the door and the baffle.
After I while, I noticed my feet and legs were feeling cold. I felt the floor, and it indeed felt quite cold. Odd, since the bricks were supposed to store heat. Looking around, I noticed one of the windows was cracked open. Walked over, and indeed a steady stream of cold air was pouring in, as one would expect. I asked about it, he said "The stove burns better if it's open, so we keep it open".
Now I know this guy well, he's a close friend. But he's also a stodgy old Englishman who is very set in his ways and looks down his nose at the notion of improving almost anything. Despite this, I explained to him how all of these things were interrelated, and how much more comfortable his space would be, with less wood burned, if only he added 3 feet of Class A to the top of his stack, and cut his wood down to fit his stove properly. I wasn't surprised when he got very defensive, making silly, irrational excuses for keeping things the way they were, after all, it's working fine...
This wasn't the first time I'd gently pointed out such a thing to him. As usual, his wife listens carefully, sees the truth of what I'm saying, would very much like to make the necessary changes, but then slumps back into the couch when he slams the door shut on changing anything. Sigh.
Other than that, it was a lovely evening with great conversation.
