East Coast Stove Weather Update

[jpl1nh]

After our first real taste of what many of us here in the East would reasonably call "winter" cold, we get a respite for about a week. Not that it is going to be warm mind you, but close to seasonable anyway, some rain, a bit of snow in the mountains, snow showers, possibly a storm at weeks end that might be a lot of snow in the Western Appalachian ares, maybe not. What made this past week so demanding on your stove's output was the wind. In Newfields we recorded wind chills as low as -10, quite unusual for mid-November. Lat night when the wind finally relented, I actually could let the stove burn down to close to the ash stage! The real story developing here is that this past week seems to portend a taste of things to come. Most longer range models are suggesting more outbreaks of that type of cold across large swathes of the Eastern portions of the nation through at least the first 2 to 3 weeks of December with unusually cold temperatures and potential bitter wind chills all the way into the deep south. Places like Atlanta GA may find themselves struggling to break the freezing mark for high temps at times, while the more northern reaches deal with daytime highs in the teens, etc. putting wind chill values into negative territory. It is my experience that it is not so much the absolute temperature outside that determines the heat needs from my stove as it is the wind chill and we may be hard pressed in that area. We all can give thanks that energy costs have fallen so far so fast because it looks like energy demand for heat is going to be very high for a while to come in the major cities of the Eastern US.

 

[Rich L]

After our first real taste of what many of us here in the East would reasonably call "winter" cold, we get a respite for about a week. Not that it is going to be warm mind you, but close to seasonable anyway, some rain, a bit of snow in the mountains, snow showers, possibly a storm at weeks end that might be a lot of snow in the Western Appalachian ares, maybe not. What made this past week so demanding on your stove's output was the wind. In Newfields we recorded wind chills as low as -10, quite unusual for mid-November. Lat night when the wind finally relented, I actually could let the stove burn down to close to the ash stage! The real story developing here is that this past week seems to portend a taste of things to come. Most longer range models are suggesting more outbreaks of that type of cold across large swathes of the Eastern portions of the nation through at least the first 2 to 3 weeks of December with unusually cold temperatures and potential bitter wind chills all the way into the deep south. Places like Atlanta GA may find themselves struggling to break the freezing mark for high temps at times, while the more northern reaches deal with daytime highs in the teens, etc. putting wind chill values into negative territory. It is my experience that it is not so much the absolute temperature outside that determines the heat needs from my stove as it is the wind chill and we may be hard pressed in that area. We all can give thanks that energy costs have fallen so far so fast because it looks like energy demand for heat is going to be very high for a while to come in the major cities of the Eastern US.

So how did your stove hold up during the cold spell?

 

[Tfin]

I say bring it on. My stove nor my wood supply will be over taxed. My wallet and my patients may be after Jan 20th though. ;-)

 

[jpl1nh]

The little friggin Keystone just chugged along. When we get down to the -20 windchills or below sustained for a few days, it needs a little furnace assist here or there. But this cold was well within its bounds in our set up.

 

[sbohlen]

I dont know about you but my draft sure has gotten alot better. I can finally close the air down on the T6 all the way and the EBT keeps it going all night long. i was worried that the EBT was just another gimmick when I was trying to burn a month ago. Works great now!

 

[Tfin]

I remember there was one cold snap we had last winter when the outside temp was down to around -20F ambient. My Englander 13 was still able to keep us plenty warm inside (73F-74) but I had to make sure the stove top temp was always above 550F.

It was almost as if you could feel (sence) the heat output of the stove pushing back on the cold trying to force its way into the house. Weird, but strangely comforting as well.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

It is during those times when we just stay indoors and count our blessings while feeling sorry for those who don't have wood heat. I remember one day last winter when it was really cold and windy and two different propane trucks came down our dead end road. Yes, three of us, but two heat with propane. Ouch! They freeze while we are comfy.

 

[stanleyjohn]

My wood stove got a good workout last week and weekend!so did my wood pile 8-/ .Since this is my first year of wood burning in awhile it will be interesting on how long my 2+ cords will last.

 

[FireWalker]

I remember there was one cold snap we had last winter when the outside temp was down to around -20F ambient. My Englander 13 was still able to keep us plenty warm inside (73F-74) but I had to make sure the stove top temp was always above 550F.

It was almost as if you could feel (sence) the heat output of the stove pushing back on the cold trying to force its way into the house. Weird, but strangely comforting as well.

I think like this too. When it's -20F outside, thats 52 degrees below freezing. The temp. difference between indoors (assume 70F) and outdoors (delta T) is an amazing 90 degrees F

Think about the feeling you get on the opposite side when it's 90 outside and you walk into 70 degree air conditioned space and that's only a delta T of 20 degrees.

My neighbor runs oil fired hot water heat, we visited one cold night last winter like 10 below. I was listening for a while and then asked when does the furnace turn off or cycle? He told me when its this cold out it just runs pretty much constantly. He has a .75 gallon per hour nozzle on the thing and that translates to about 15 gallons per 24 hours. At 5 bucks a gallon thats 75 bucks per day! If I ran my oil burner starting in November and only burned half that much (my furnace will burn thru 7-8 gallons per day), I could have my Equinox paid for easily by the end of February! Add in March and thats enough to buy another tri-axle load of hardwood logs. I didn't even mention September and October!

 

[Rich L]

I remember there was one cold snap we had last winter when the outside temp was down to around -20F ambient. My Englander 13 was still able to keep us plenty warm inside (73F-74) but I had to make sure the stove top temp was always above 550F.

It was almost as if you could feel (sence) the heat output of the stove pushing back on the cold trying to force its way into the house. Weird, but strangely comforting as well.

I think like this too. When it's -20F outside, thats 52 degrees below freezing. The temp. difference between indoors (assume 70F) and outdoors (delta T) is an amazing 90 degrees F

Think about the feeling you get on the opposite side when it's 90 outside and you walk into 70 degree air conditioned space and that's only a delta T of 20 degrees.

My neighbor runs oil fired hot water heat, we visited one cold night last winter like 10 below. I was listening for a while and then asked when does the furnace turn off or cycle? He told me when its this cold out it just runs pretty much constantly. He has a .75 gallon per hour nozzle on the thing and that translates to about 15 gallons per 24 hours. At 5 bucks a gallon thats 75 bucks per day! If I ran my oil burner starting in November and only burned half that much (my furnace will burn thru 7-8 gallons per day), I could have my Equinox paid for easily by the end of February! Add in March and thats enough to buy another tri-axle load of hardwood logs. I didn't even mention September and October!

Yo Firewalker,I didn't realize you folks got that kind of cold in your neck of the woods.What are the temps like at this time of the year and how's the Equinox holding up?

 

[iceman]

I remember there was one cold snap we had last winter when the outside temp was down to around -20F ambient. My Englander 13 was still able to keep us plenty warm inside (73F-74) but I had to make sure the stove top temp was always above 550F.

It was almost as if you could feel (sence) the heat output of the stove pushing back on the cold trying to force its way into the house. Weird, but strangely comforting as well.

I think like this too. When it's -20F outside, thats 52 degrees below freezing. The temp. difference between indoors (assume 70F) and outdoors (delta T) is an amazing 90 degrees F

Think about the feeling you get on the opposite side when it's 90 outside and you walk into 70 degree air conditioned space and that's only a delta T of 20 degrees.

My neighbor runs oil fired hot water heat, we visited one cold night last winter like 10 below. I was listening for a while and then asked when does the furnace turn off or cycle? He told me when its this cold out it just runs pretty much constantly. He has a .75 gallon per hour nozzle on the thing and that translates to about 15 gallons per 24 hours. At 5 bucks a gallon thats 75 bucks per day! If I ran my oil burner starting in November and only burned half that much (my furnace will burn thru 7-8 gallons per day), I could have my Equinox paid for easily by the end of February! Add in March and thats enough to buy another tri-axle load of hardwood logs. I didn't even mention September and October!

Yo Firewalker,I didn't realize you folks got that kind of cold in your neck of the woods.What are the temps like at this time of the year and how's the Equinox holding up?

you know whats funny??
in the summer time its like 90 in the day and 40-50s at night we camp up there every year its great!! sweat during the day and sit by the fire at night!!

 

[firefighterjake]

A couple weekends back we had some pretty high winds and cool temps. The stove did a fine job of keeping us warm and heating the house . . . but it did seem as though we were feeding the fire a bit more and running the temps a bit more compared to a day or two earlier and later when the temps were about the same but there was not much of a wind.