Does anyone else have a temp that...

[chazcarr]

your stove can no longer handle the warming duties completely?

I have a stove rated to exactly the size I am trying to heat, but during the recent fluctuations in temperature in my area I have noticed that my magic number is 25.

Once the outside temp gets to 24, I start losing ground on keeping things warm. I start closing non essential rooms off and try my best. With the polar vortex temps I am back to turning the heat on a few times a day to keep up. Even with the stove cruising as hot as I am comfortable with.

I know others on here live in much colder climates. And some do not even have back up heat. What can be done? All I can think of is getting a portable heater in the bedrooms.

Does anyone else notice that they have a temp line where things drop off?

Thanks

 

[BigBubba-Burn]

Morning , In My case it would be -10'F below. Basement not bad . but up stairs chilly .when it gets this cold I place heavy blankets up to the windows ..lol and there new . But I still do that , as of right now its -15'F . Plus I will start and get the fans to move air around the house . It does not take much , I use pc fans with power supplies. works . I am also right on a huge lake so the damp is the real killer . I also found that insted of loading the fire box with huge pieces of wood small makes more heat faster . but must reload faster aswell .. good luck and stay warm

 

[shoot-straight]

i just upgraded. my old one couldnt keep up when it got below 20 with wind. while im still learning, my new one is good to about 10 degrees it seems. im hoping i can make it put out more heat. still learning.

im in open, and my house isnt very tight, i cant expect any stove to keep up if its cold and blowing 40. wish i could go back and build a different style of house, and one that was much tighter and easier to heat.

 

[Dakotas Dad]

If, at 24F, your stove cannot keep up, Your stove is to small. I would think this is a fairly regular temperature line to cross in CT, I know it is here in KY, and I think of CT as being colder than us in general.

There are a few reasons why it may not be able to keep up.. poor quality wood, poor burning practices, leaky/drafty house, poor insulation. Among many things.

Your stove is rated to "exactly the size I am trying to heat".. well.. those ratings are under absolute best conditions, and most consider them to be a bit inflated anyways.

Our stove is rated for a bit larger than what it's in, (rated 2,500sqft, heating 2,100) We have a very good layout/floorplan for wood heat, our wood is all at least 3 years stacked, and mostly high bTu hardwoods. At 0F outside, we can keep it +70F inside. But we do run the air a little more open, and make sure to be mostly oak, when it gets that cold out.

 

[branchburner]

I have a stove rated to exactly the size I am trying to heat

Trouble is, those ratings are somewhat arbitrary and generally "up to" a certain square footage, but can't account for a drafty antique cape like mine, and quickly become meaningless when the temps drop like this. I hear the exact same advice for stoves as I hear for tractors: figure out the size you think you need, then go up one step.

Not sure what my cut-off temp is for whole-house warmth, but I sure know I'm below it today!

 

[shoot-straight]

will add that i dont mind the heat kicking on just a little here or there in these bitter temps. some of my pipes are FAR away from the heat of our stove. we have a insulated attached garage with some exposed plumbing thats on the far side of the house. im glad it got a bit of heat from our unit. these temps are beyond extreme for us.

 

[BobUrban]

Ratings are just an estimate at best and likely under perfect conditions. Everyone has to do things a little different to keep that cozy warm house in sub-arctic temps and the best place to improve this is insulation(of which I need lots of improvement) My stove could likely heat you out of a 3000sq' open space building if it were super tight, heavily insulated and center located - on the other hand, it would struggle heating an 800sq' cardboard box with 0 degree temps and any wind at all. There is no magic so take the numbers the manufacturer provides with a grain o' salt.

My next venture is tightening up this drafty cardboard box I am living in so the heat I create can be stored inside and not blown away in the breeze.

 

[chazcarr]

I have all those things taken care of. No more leaks or drafts (in fact house might be too tight) and I am burning the good stuff. Stove operation is not the issue. I think it is more layout. I use the PC fans to move air as much as possible but my stove is on the far west side of the house and all the wind blows from east to west. My house has a horrible layout for heating with wood. Many small interconnecting hallways and corners. 24 is the number where temp can no longer really climb. at around 15 degrees is when I definitely need to turn on the heat.

Still, looking at the thermostat report, it goes on for less than and hour and a half a day during -1 degree weather. Much better than before the stove when it would be on nearly 15 hours a day at temps like these.

If, at 24F, your stove cannot keep up, Your stove is to small. I would think this is a fairly regular temperature line to cross in CT, I know it is here in KY, and I think of CT as being colder than us in general.

There are a few reasons why it may not be able to keep up.. poor quality wood, poor burning practices, leaky/drafty house, poor insulation. Among many things.

Your stove is rated to "exactly the size I am trying to heat".. well.. those ratings are under absolute best conditions, and most consider them to be a bit inflated anyways.

Our stove is rated for a bit larger than what it's in, (rated 2,500sqft, heating 2,100) We have a very good layout/floorplan for wood heat, our wood is all at least 3 years stacked, and mostly high bTu hardwoods. At 0F outside, we can keep it +70F inside. But we do run the air a little more open, and make sure to be mostly oak, when it gets that cold out.

 

[mellow]

Mine is 20-25 depending on the wind, I have a leaky house with no insulation in the walls so the wind speed plays a big factor in being able to keep the house warm.

This morning when I woke up it was 4 degrees out and the insert was still at 300 stove top but the heat pump downstairs was running and the heat pump upstairs was running with emergency heat to keep up.

I figure if this only happens a few days a year I can live with it, if it starts to go on like this more frequently I might just have to redo the electrical wires in the wall and finally insulate the walls.

 

[chazcarr]

Mine is 20-25 depending on the wind, I have a leaky house with no insulation in the walls so the wind speed plays a big factor in being able to keep the house warm.

This morning when I woke up it was 4 degrees out and the insert was still at 300 stove top but the heat pump downstairs was running and the heat pump upstairs was running with emergency heat to keep up.

I figure if this only happens a few days a year I can live with it, if it starts to go on like this more frequently I might just have to redo the electrical wires in the wall and finally insulate the walls.

Yes, wind is definitely a factor. Even in my insulated house.

 

[rideau]

So, I fell asleep last night without reloading the stove. Great night to choose, -26F overnight without wind chill. Woke up to a CHILLY home...55 degrees, ice on the inside of the bottom of the windows.

Put a 3/4 load in the PH (I'm trying to conserve wood), and the stove room (16 x 46) was up to 70 degrees in an hour an a half. It's very open to the rest of the home, so a lot of heat travelled to other rooms during that time.

With these extended periods of -24 to -30 F overnight temps(without taking into consideration wind chill) and highs during the day ( if we are lucky and get a sunny day) that approach 0F, to keep the home at 70 degrees I need to load the PH fairly full and keep an active burn. Unfortunately, this year I am short on seasoned wood, so am trying to conserve. Was extending a burn last night, when I inadvertently fell asleep, so now have to heat the home again. No fire, 30 below, and lots of windows results in fairly swift chilling.

I am putting aside my Ironwood as I come to it at this point, so I'll have all Ironwood when I am at the end of my seasoned wood, as I inevitably will be sometime in March. At least that will give me a period when I can eek out some heat with very high BTU wood.

I've burned about 9/10 of a cord since November, and have slightly more than that left. I'm hoping for either an early Spring or a milder late winter. If not, I'll be chilly. If the temps are above 50 during the day, it takes very little wood to keep the house warm. Hopefully we'll have some March day like that. Meanwhile, once this really cold snap is over, I'm going to try to get into the woods to harvest the tops of some long downed, dead, off the forest floor trees to help with the shoulder season.

The woodland surface has been too icy to make for safe cutting. Cars can drive on it without going through the foot or more of icy snow we have. We have bit of powder on top, so underfoot is safer now, but it's too cold to be out for long...wind chill/frostbite warnings out. Looks like things may become more seasonal for a bit after Groundhog day.....

 

[chazcarr]

So, I fell asleep last night without reloading the stove. Great night to choose, -26F overnight without wind chill. Woke up to a CHILLY home...55 degrees, ice on the inside of the bottom of the windows.

WOW that is cold. I don't know why I complain about -1. I've burned over 3 cords so far this year. faster than ever. Although most of my wood this season is cherry. I am not using the 3 year seasoned red oak.

 

[lml999]

Mine is about 15 degrees.

When it gets much below that, which fortunately isn't that often in the Boston area, I switch back to oil and give the stove a rest. Cheap insurance against pipes freezing, and the house isn't tight enough to stay warm with the stove at one end and the bedrooms at the other (multilevel construction).

I have some hydronic heating and water pipes in outer walls and exposed in our attached garage at risk in extended cold spells, and running heat through them (or near them) is the most effective way of protecting them. In one area, I simply have no way of insulating behind them.

 

[BCC_Burner]

It has gotten as cold as -20F at my poorly insulated, drafty, 1400 square foot cabin so far this winter, and I was able to keep the entire place 72 degrees or warmer. I burned a lot of wood that week, but I could still get the entire house to 80+ degrees burning primarily pine and silver maple.

 

[Sunfish]

Ya need a larger stove, but not too much larger.

Our stove (Jotul 118) is rated for 2000 sq feet and we have 1200. Pretty nice lately, but most of the time it's hard to burn without the house gettin too hot...

 

[USMC80]

hit 0 degrees last night and kept whole house above 65. stove room 74 degrees. So if I had to guess it would be about -10 for me to have to burn in the wood furnace to assist

 

[lopiliberty]

I'm good to 0. Will be able to keep the whole house low to mid 80s. Anything below 0 my liberty struggles

 

[mudr]

Qualifiers first: heating an ~1800 sq ft old farmhouse, most windows are ~10 yr old dual pane, doors old and somewhat leaky, limited insulation throughout (though I did put R30 in the attic). Western NY weather, not very well sheltered from the wind.

My NC30 is good until about about 10 degrees, depending upon wind and sun. That's my struggle point.

 

[northwinds]

I got a second wood heater for those below zero periods. It's getting some use now.

 

[chazcarr]

Ya need a larger stove, but not too much larger.

Our stove (Jotul 118) is rated for 2000 sq feet and we have 1200. Pretty nice lately, but most of the time it's hard to burn without the house gettin too hot...

Yes, I could always use a larger stove, more centrally placed, and not an insert. I can always dream. Perhaps I should start a thread about a stove that can heat ~2700 square feet. And is an insert. The firebrick in the Regency has a few cracks this year, and I might be looking to upgrade.

 

[DTrain]

1950 sq.ft. Cape. 1960's insulation. Masonry Chimney. Mix of 2 year ash, oak, birch and kiln dried ash and birch. My thermostat read 54 in the house this morning. Outside measured -2. At the temps we are having lately (high 15, low 0) The stove can only get the rest of the house to about 60-63 degrees. That's with me babysitting the stove all day. Making sure it doesn't run below 400F. Smaller fires, with a loose pack. 15-30F weather would be much better.

 

[etiger2007]

Yes, I could always use a larger stove, more centrally placed, and not an insert. I can always dream. Perhaps I should start a thread about a stove that can heat ~2700 square feet. And is an insert. The firebrick in the Regency has a few cracks this year, and I might be looking to upgrade.

So what is your house temp when you say your losing ground?
My insert is rated to heat 2,000 sq ft and I'm asking it to heat around 1200 downstairs and 500 upstairs, I have never not been able to see 70 on the digital thermostat located about 20 ft away . When it's 20 and above outside I'm in the high 70 range .

 

[chazcarr]

So what is your house temp when you say your losing ground?
My insert is rated to heat 2,000 sq ft and I'm asking it to heat around 1200 downstairs and 500 upstairs, I have never not been able to see 70 on the digital thermostat located about 20 ft away . When it's 20 and above outside I'm in the high 70 range .

usually 69 degrees upstairs and 71 downstairs with 84 in the stove room.

 

[trguitar]

It actually depends on a few things. I can hold 70* in the house down to 0* outside, loading every 5 hours or so, but if I need to raise the temp the furnace has to come on.

The house gets great solar gain, though, so on a sunny day like today, where it was 5* when I woke up, I easily took the house from 65* to 72* in an hour with the stove and assistance from the sun! If it weren't sunny out, though, I could not do this at 5*.

 

[begreen]

WOW that is cold. I don't know why I complain about -1. I've burned over 3 cords so far this year. faster than ever. Although most of my wood this season is cherry. I am not using the 3 year seasoned red oak.

Bring on the 3 yr old oak if properly seasoned. You want max btus to see the full potential of the stove.

usually 69 degrees upstairs and 71 downstairs with 84 in the stove room.

On second thought, the stove is doing fine. This is a distribution problem. A bigger stove is not going to solve that.