Found my Stove's Limit

[Jutt77]

My house is a 1953 built brick ranch, single level, old aluminum framed windows, uninsulated walls, older attic insulation.

I can't believe there are houses out there with NO insulation!

For some reason they thought that 2 layers of brick would suffice for insulation back in 1953. Thats something like a R1 value.

 

[Jimbob]

My house is a 1953 built brick ranch, single level, old aluminum framed windows, uninsulated walls, older attic insulation.

I can't believe there are houses out there with NO insulation!

For some reason they thought that 2 layers of brick would suffice for insulation back in 1953. Thats something like a R1 value.

Strange. We have houses that old out here, but they have wood chips in the walls, or they have had insulation blown in.
Mind you, our energy prices are WAY higher, and our climate is a lot colder.

 

[Jutt77]

Feel sorry for you guys out there. Just got back from Denver/Georgetown/Estes last week...pine and cedar as far as the eye could see...when there were even any trees at all.

We're at 0F right now and headed down to -10 tonight. Stove is barely loping along - just an orange bed of coals right now, but still holding 75+ in the stove/family room and 68-69 in the back of the house. Makes me realize how lucky we are to have endless miles of hedge rows and the cold temperatures to really appreciate it!

Yep, pine, cedar and Cottonwood...don't forget about the Cottonwood!

 

[Intheswamp]

My house is a 1953 built brick ranch, single level, old aluminum framed windows, uninsulated walls, older attic insulation.

I can't believe there are houses out there with NO insulation!

For some reason they thought that 2 layers of brick would suffice for insulation back in 1953. Thats something like a R1 value.

Yelp, my grandfather built my house back around 1950...right after WWII when glass was cheap, heating gas was cheap, and the summers weren't too awfully hot. I'm sitting in the southeast corner of my house while typing this...there is a 4.5'x5' window immediately to my left...to my right and in front of me is another window of the same size...these are the "normal" windows in the house...some of the other windows are full wall height and easily 6' wide...vast expanses of glass...SINGLE PANED GLASS installed in old iron casement type frames (leaky). But, energy was cheap back then and cooling was done with lots of opened windows and awnings. Oh, and the walls...no insulation and really no way to get any down into them. Attic....did not have any insulation until me and the family moved in in 1991...there's well over a foot of blown in cellulose up there now. The biggest help so for was the geothermal system that we put in back in 2001...knocked the energy bill just about in half!

Ed

 

[Intheswamp]

Glad to hear you stayed warm while the power was out and -15 would be catastrophic down here in Dixie...I can't even imagine.

Something that's bugging me, though is how much clearance do you have from the front of your insert to your carpet??

Take care,
Ed

16 inches per code Ed

I hear ya...must be the camera messing with my eyes....or just my eyes. hh:
Nice setup...what fish do you keep?...It's been close to 20 years since I kept any...I ran a 55 tall for several years....african cichlids once, black angels (a pain) once, a pair of Oscars and a couple of Jack Dempsys another time....then the salt water era, I enjoyed live rock and critters other than fish most of all....but, when the last aquarium (30gal long) caught on fire I gave it all up. :bug:

Anyhow, looks good and sounds like the insert is taking care of things. I'm sure it's nothing compared to the weather you're having but south Alabama is under a winter weather advisory from tonight until 6pm tomorrow...we don't get a lot of those down here.

Take care,
Ed

Hey Ed - Yeah, its actually a bit shorter than 16", its like 14.5"...I'll be replacing the hearth late spring with a larger design. You have good eyes I have Tanganyika Cichlids...Black Calvus, Leleupi, Cyps, Occalatus, albino plecos (not tanganyika), Julies, synodontis catfish...probably some others I'm missing.

I grew up in SW Virginia and there with the humidity it FEELS a lot colder than it is. Here its so dry it doesn't quite feel as cold. Still, -15 is cold no matter how you cut it. But parts of the deep south have had more snow this year then we've had in Denver. Crazy weather back east!

Take it easy,
J

Cool. Some of those small cichlids are absolutely beautiful...do you find those beauts to be, shall we say, a tad aggressive? Albino plecos...pelcostomus(sic?) I take it...good window washer, but works on the vegetation....I had an Imperial once but ended up selling him and few other fish when I went salt. "...others I'm missing" reminds me of an Angelica Worm that I had...it simply disappeared one day....finally found it under a couch when I was moving out of my old house...couch was quiet some distance from the aquarium The oscars were the fish, though, that had the most personality...they'd eat out of your hand. One night I was asleep when I heard something in the living room. I got up and went in there to find that one of the oscars had knocked the lid up and was flopping around on the floor. As I started to reach down for it it stopped flopping around and calmly let me pick it up and place it back in the tank....it casually swam out of my hand as if he was telling his buddy "I told you he'd come in here and put me back in". Very interesting. Your's looks like a very nice setup, enjoy!

Ed

 

[Jutt77]

Glad to hear you stayed warm while the power was out and -15 would be catastrophic down here in Dixie...I can't even imagine.

Something that's bugging me, though is how much clearance do you have from the front of your insert to your carpet??

Take care,
Ed

16 inches per code Ed

I hear ya...must be the camera messing with my eyes....or just my eyes. hh:
Nice setup...what fish do you keep?...It's been close to 20 years since I kept any...I ran a 55 tall for several years....african cichlids once, black angels (a pain) once, a pair of Oscars and a couple of Jack Dempsys another time....then the salt water era, I enjoyed live rock and critters other than fish most of all....but, when the last aquarium (30gal long) caught on fire I gave it all up. :bug:

Anyhow, looks good and sounds like the insert is taking care of things. I'm sure it's nothing compared to the weather you're having but south Alabama is under a winter weather advisory from tonight until 6pm tomorrow...we don't get a lot of those down here.

Take care,
Ed

Hey Ed - Yeah, its actually a bit shorter than 16", its like 14.5"...I'll be replacing the hearth late spring with a larger design. You have good eyes I have Tanganyika Cichlids...Black Calvus, Leleupi, Cyps, Occalatus, albino plecos (not tanganyika), Julies, synodontis catfish...probably some others I'm missing.

I grew up in SW Virginia and there with the humidity it FEELS a lot colder than it is. Here its so dry it doesn't quite feel as cold. Still, -15 is cold no matter how you cut it. But parts of the deep south have had more snow this year then we've had in Denver. Crazy weather back east!

Take it easy,
J

Cool. Some of those small cichlids are absolutely beautiful...do you find those beauts to be, shall we say, a tad aggressive? Albino plecos...pelcostomus(sic?) I take it...good window washer, but works on the vegetation....I had an Imperial once but ended up selling him and few other fish when I went salt. "...others I'm missing" reminds me of an Angelica Worm that I had...it simply disappeared one day....finally found it under a couch when I was moving out of my old house...couch was quiet some distance from the aquarium The oscars were the fish, though, that had the most personality...they'd eat out of your hand. One night I was asleep when I heard something in the living room. I got up and went in there to find that one of the oscars had knocked the lid up and was flopping around on the floor. As I started to reach down for it it stopped flopping around and calmly let me pick it up and place it back in the tank....it casually swam out of my hand as if he was telling his buddy "I told you he'd come in here and put me back in". Very interesting. Your's looks like a very nice setup, enjoy!

Ed

Oh yeah, constant aggression but nothing too serious.. Mostly just a lot of posturing but thats what makes them interesting. Funny thing is that the most aggressive fish in there happen to be the smallest species I have. The Gold Ocellatus (shell dweller) will actually attack my hand if I get too close to their territory while cleaning, its really funny to watch. Thanks for the kind works.