Stove Went Cold for the Day...what a bad feeling

[Lighting Up]

Was out of town yesterday so the stove went cold. When I came home the house was 67 degrees with the furnace BUT something was missing. Felt the cold pockets in the house that I have not felt yet this winter because of the stove. Fired up the stove and they went away. So because of that I just wanted to say: I don't care...I don't care...I don't care...what the cost of the stove or wood cost me...I LIKE THE WARMTH. Did I say I don't care ?
md

 

[oldspark]

I hear ya bro, if I want to be cold I will go outside.

 

[wkpoor]

People who have not experienced the warmth of wood heat can't understand why we bother to heat hte way we do.

 

[My Oslo heats my home]

agreed! wood stove heat is work to produce, it's something not many people enjoy doing. Set the thermostat to 68 and leave it, and you are right, you feel cold in spaces you would never with the stove burning. We are the minority when it comes to how we produce home heat and I would not have it any other way.

 

[Slow1]

It is indeed something different. Even if the room is warm enough I'd rather have the stove burning just so I can feel the heat when in sight of it. I don't think it is even a conscious thing anymore; rather I just don't feel right when the stove is cold.

Over the weekend things warmed up a bit and we didn't 'need' any more fire yet I just wanted to feel the stove so I found myself tossing a few chunks and small bits in there just to get something going. I don't consider that a waste though - I figure I've earned it through the work done to get the wood ready to burn. Funny how we never have these feelings about the forced hot air of the furnace eh?

 

[begreen]

Our heat pump system cost a whole lot more than the wood stove, so I get a very good feeling when it's doing a good job heating the home inexpensively. It's 47 outside, the stove can rest for a bit. I know I'll be feeding it soon enough, probably tonight.

 

[Lighting Up]

It is indeed something different. Even if the room is warm enough I'd rather have the stove burning just so I can feel the heat when in sight of it. I don't think it is even a conscious thing anymore; rather I just don't feel right when the stove is cold.

Well said...
md

 

[Dakotas Dad]

Same same here. Was 45 and sunny here yesterday, so let the fire go out. Got back from town last night, still 71 in the house (heat pump set at 66) but it "felt" cold with no fire... high 30's and sunny today, heat pump kicked on once this morning.. sitting at 69 in the house now.. and she just said, we need a fire.. so ones lit.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

People who have not experienced the warmth of wood heat can't understand why we bother to heat hte way we do.

Right. My wife and I have cut wood the past 3 days and by the time we are done, we are a bit chilly. I can't imagine coming in to a house heated with propane or oil. When we come in the front door, we feel heat! That is the way it should be. Also, it does not take long at all to warm up with wood heat but takes a long time with a furnace.

We just had a couple stop for a few minutes and the first thing they mentioned when they came in was how good it felt. I wonder how long before they start heating with wood?!

 

[LLigetfa]

It turned mild here so the stove went cold twice. Once because it was time to empty the ashes and last night it was just too hot in the house. Just got her lit and cranking when I got home.

 

[BrotherBart]

This is the first December in fifteen years that the stove hasn't gone out many times. Heat the place and let it die like most do in the shoulder seasons usually. But it has been unusually cold since the second of December and the 30 has been hot around the clock since then.

Now cometh the snow next Sunday night. The last one hasn't melted off the roof from like a week or so ago. Unheard of before January.

And if this house gets into the sixties, I screwed up.

 

[begreen]

Update, 44 tonight, wife getting chilly. Woodstove is going and all are warm again.

 

[Lighting Up]

Update, 44 tonight, wife getting chilly. Woodstove is going and all are warm again.

That's great BeGreen....burn baby burn! Since I've been home on Vacation until next year, the stove will be going. 19 degrees outside and 70 inside, the stove will not go cold and I don't care what wood (cost) I burn up...love the heat!
md

 

[wannabegreener]

People say that they get heated by wood twice. I think it's a little more than that

Cut - heat up
split - heat up
stack outside - heat up
stack in the garage - heat up
stack in the house - heat up
burn - heat up

I'm loving my first year with my insert.

My oil company came on Dec 2nd and then again on Jan 7th. First year with the insert and I used at least 75 gallons less during the same time period this year than last year. I have a programmable thermostat which keeps track of how many hours the boiler runs. 1st floor - where the insert is - I use less than 2 hours per day. Closer to 1.5 hours per day. All of it is in the morning when the insert isn't going enough to warm up the first floor. If I could only get my A$$ out of bed a little earlier to put a couple of splits in, I think I could cut it back some more.

The second floor uses about 3 hours per day and the house is not that open.

All the wood I'm using is from the ice storm that happened in Dec 08. My yard looks like a war zone of dropped trees and limbs.

 

[HOOSIERJIM]

This thread made me chuckle. Just earlier today I let the fire die down because the outside temps weren't too bad. Wife gets home from and when I walk in the room she is standing next to the stove trying to soak up what little heat it is producing after she threw a couple splits in. I looked over at the room thermometer and it read 72 so I said it's 72 in here, she says I am cold. I said yeah that wood heat spoils you,most folks don't keep there heat system tsats set that high and you are complaining it's cold

 

[remkel]

In October I cannnot wait until the thermometer shows 40 so i can justify lighting the stove. Wife usually starts griping that it is too hot. Does not take more than a week when she starts to ask "Aren't you goinng to start a fire tonight" because she misses the heat. Even more funny are the neighbors when they come visit. One of their first comments each time is "Oh, it's nice in here!"

 

[Big Al]

In October I cannnot wait until the thermometer shows 40 so i can justify lighting the stove. Wife usually starts griping that it is too hot.

I'm with you there brother except for one thing. I don't think my wife even knows how to say "it's too hot". During the shoulder season, I stop asking her if she wants a fire cuz she just gives me that look like, DUH If it's not in the 70's in the house, I better be making a fire.

 

[Slow1]

Last night I warmed the house up and made plans to clean the cat/ashes/etc this morning. That means I turned air up a bit more in middle of the night so it would be sure to burn down all the coals to make it easier to not roast myself as I did my cleaning....

Well, this morning the DW was up before me... by time I got down she had the stove burning. She doesn't really like to mess with it but somehow she eeked out enough coals to get a bit of kindling burning and loaded it up. Oh well, maybe tomorrow morning I can do a cleaning... temps are more mild now (ha - high of 30 is mild again).

 

[bogydave]

AAAHHHH!
Warm house, even when the power is out.
Come in from outside, go stand by the stove.
Twice nice

 

[Lighting Up]

Funny...just thought of this thread yesterday because my stove went cold again.

Looking at other threads where everyone else on the eastern coast is getting hit with snow we didn't get a flake and we can handle it.. Just warmer temps that made the stove go cold.

Came home to a slight chill and said to myself...self..."light it up"...you don't care what the cost is. Next thing I know I'm feeling that warmth again. Burn baby burn...
md

 

[Hankjones]

My wife says she's lonely when there's no fire.

 

[OhioBurner©]

I'm going to have to play devils advocate here... I hear alot how much more even wood heat is and how using a furnace leaves cold pockets. I'd have to say you have a poorly designed forced air furnace and a miracle of a wood stove then. How could heating from 1 point possible be more 'even' with less cold spots than running a forced air setup into every room with an air return? On a really cold day with the wood stove ripping our stove room is easily in the 80-85 degree range while the kitchen is lucky to be at 65 and the bedroom right above the wood stove is barely 60. And we heat with 2 wood stoves...

I preffer wood obviosuly since I am here, and I enjoy the warmth and sitting in the stove room with shorts on! But I'd never say its more even or make fun of folks with furnaces saying they have cold spots. I get picked on here at work when I say the bedroom was at 60 or sometimes in the 50's...

 

[pen]

I'm going to have to play devils advocate here... I hear alot how much more even wood heat is and how using a furnace leaves cold pockets. I'd have to say you have a poorly designed forced air furnace and a miracle of a wood stove then. How could heating from 1 point possible be more 'even' with less cold spots than running a forced air setup into every room with an air return? On a really cold day with the wood stove ripping our stove room is easily in the 80-85 degree range while the kitchen is lucky to be at 65 and the bedroom right above the wood stove is barely 60. And we heat with 2 wood stoves...

I preffer wood obviosuly since I am here, and I enjoy the warmth and sitting in the stove room with shorts on! But I'd never say its more even or make fun of folks with furnaces saying they have cold spots. I get picked on here at work when I say the bedroom was at 60 or sometimes in the 50's...

Whether they are actual cold pockets or not would be my question if I were being picky. My problem w/ forced hot air is that it is a draft and you can feel the cold air move as it goes to the returns. Additionally, things feel overwarm when the hot air is cycled on and then it feels even colder than it actually is by the time it needs to kick on again. I just don't think forced hot air has a very even feel to it.

Also, the radiant heat of the wood stove is like sunshine, which will be felt most anywhere with a direct view of the stove.

pen

 

[agartner]

With forced air, the only thing that gets heated is the air. Air is terribly inefficient at retaining heat. Wood stoves are radiant, they heat everything around them. Floors, walls, ceiling, hearth, furniture, and, of course, humans. All of these items are better at retaining heat than air.

 

[OhioBurner©]

With forced air, the only thing that gets heated is the air. Air is terribly inefficient at retaining heat. Wood stoves are radiant, they heat everything around them. Floors, walls, ceiling, hearth, furniture, and, of course, humans. All of these items are better at retaining heat than air.

So one room of your house is more evenly heated? Do you live in a one room house? Some stoves are less 'radiant' than others too... I know my insert wont heat the walls any better than the furnace holding the same average temp. Of course the walls/ceiling/floors etc are warmer in the stove room, but that room is is usually over 80* anyway so not very even comparison.