burn times???!!!

[dookits13]

i have a 2300 sq. ft. , 2 story house , built in 1880 , uninsulated , but with all new windows. for an old house its fairly tight .. heres my question , i have a harman furnace rated at 90,000 btu's - 2200 sq. ft., right now i dont have the cold air return hooked up ( am in the process of getting it hooked up ) - i am only getting roughly 4 hour burn times, which is killing me , up in the middle of the night , cant leave the house for long !! so will the addition of the cold air return help with this , and my main question will insulating make a big difference . i am assuming so , but just keeping in mind the possibility of a larger furnace ??? the dealer told me i would be fine with the smaller one , now i'm not so sure??? any thoughts/// thanks joe

 

[bjorn773]

I heat my 1100 sq.ft. home with a stove rated for 2200 sq.ft. I am heating the basement and main floor, so that may count as 2200... not sure how that rating goes. The house is about 60 years old, with basically no insulation in the walls and maybe 6 inches in the ceiling. It's relatively tight as far as drafts go. When the temps drop below freezing, I have to reload in the middle of the night as well. This is the only heat source I use, other than a couple of small panel heaters to cut the chill in the bedrooms(furthest from the stove). I don't know if this is a fair comparison, but it's my situation. I imagine your furnace is much more efficient at distributing the heat than my setup. Regardless, it seems to me if you are trying to heat the entire house with that furnace, those burn times may not be out of line. I'm sure wiser, more experienced members will be able to offer more info.

 

[bjorn773]

Just another quick thought, it is going to depend on the type of wood you are burning and how big the splits are. I find I can almost make it through a night if the stove is loaded with some big oak splits. When burning maple or cherry, it burns much quicker with lower btu's.

 

[reaperman]

I heat with a wood furnace also. I dont have the cold air return hooked up either. The HVAC guy said I didnt need to until I finish off my basement. Because of a open stairway near the wood furnace. With all of that said, I dont get long burn times either. I've never really timed them because my furnace goes out sometime in the night, but the house is still warm in the morning. But there are no coals left by morning if I check. But my home is brand new, and is insulated very well. My routine for burning is lighting the unit around supper time, and by bedtime the house is normally around 80. I add a bit more wood before bed, and the fire dies out during the night. I wont have to light another fire until the next day around supper time. By that time the house cools down around 70, maybe 68. I do get the benefit of solar gain during the day. So generally I just burn in the evening hours. I live in central Minn, and I'm able to follow this routine regardless of the outside temp. I credit this to the insulation value of the new home and not the wood furance. The furnace produces heat, but there are factors involved, mainly wood type, and seasoned wood are the two biggies. But without the insulation this would not be possible. There have been days when the temps are in the 20's or low 30's that I havent had to light the furnace at all, day or night.

So coming from my previous home, a drafty mobile home where I had to burn 24/7. To a new home with actual insulation, I have seen the value of a well insulated home. Insulation will pay for itself in time, much like a wood stove will. I'd insulated what you can and consentrate on that first. I dont think a bigger furnace would necessailry help, it would just have a bigger firebox and burn more wood, not necessairly any slower. Good luck