How long does it take to warm up the house

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etiger2007

Minister of Fire
Feb 8, 2012
1,255
Clio Michigan
Ok I got home and started the kindling at 3:30pm its been cold all day in the mid to low 30's, the house was at 65 degrees when I started, it is now 72 degrees at 5:45pm. The downstairs is about 1300 sq ft and the upstairs is 400 with two bedrooms and a hall. How does this compare to you? The room with the insert is getting really warm right now the stove top is at 600 and the beer is cold. 32 outside temp right now.
 
Usually we get home after being gone 13 hours or so and it is 65F in the house. I fire up the stove at about 6pm and by 7pm-715pm the house is at 71F

Pete
 
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I'd say you've done well. I'd probably get similiar results. Of course, there are so many variables that comparisons don't mean much. It sounds like you have about the right size heater. You guys get any snow down there? We had an inch or so on the ground this morning.
 
Ok I got home and started the kindling at 3:30pm its been cold all day in the mid to low 30's, the house was at 65 degrees when I started, it is now 72 degrees at 5:45pm. The downstairs is about 1300 sq ft and the upstairs is 400 with two bedrooms and a hall. How does this compare to you? The room with the insert is getting really warm right now the stove top is at 600 and the beer is cold. 32 outside temp right now.

I never realized you lived so close to us Etiger !
 
I'd say you've done well. I'd probably get similiar results. Of course, there are so many variables that comparisons don't mean much. It sounds like you have about the right size heater. You guys get any snow down there? We had an inch or so on the ground this morning.

We got very little , I did have some on the welcome matt when I checked the chimney at 4pm and the house faces west.
 
I get home lately and the house is around 50F. Snow outside and temps are 20-30F. Takes just over an hour and the house is up to 70F.
 
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I only have an insert, but an open floor plan. Takes a little longer for me. I get the kind of time the OP gets, but only in the shoulder season. Usually takes about four hours for me to bring the house (not the immediate vicinity of the stove) from 62 to 72. The bedroom stays at 65 or lower, but that's fine sleeping for me. The kitchen is probably a little cooler, but that's alright too. I burn like Pete, 12 hours gone, then fire it up for the evening. Burn all weekend when it's colder.
 
Woke up this morning after loading the stove at 10:30 with 3 splits then 3 at 2 this morning.

House was 73 when i woke more Like 60's in my room.

added 4 small splits when i got up.
 
We have a poorly insulated house. Wood stove heats the first floor to about 70 in a couple of hours. Heat does not get to the upstairs due to weird layout. Then again, the ducts to upstairs don't work well either so it may actually be warmer with the wood than with the oil heat.
 
Guys thanks for the replies, it sounds like my insert is doing well. I went to bed at 9pm the house was 74, I put in five splits of ash, the stove was at 600. I got up at 4am to reload before work and the house was at 71. The outside temp was 22. Thanks again guys, first year with this insert so im just trying to compare it to others.
 
Sounds like you are doing well Ed. Each home can differ a lot though and for sure the larger homes will take longer as will the poorly insulated homes. We notice a huge difference after we super insulated this old crate.

Last night was the first night I've put in more than 3 splits. Went to bed really early and got up late. Still really warm in the house with a huge coal bed. We've burned a total of 3 splits for the rest of the day.
 
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Sounds like you are doing well Ed. Each home can differ a lot though and for sure the larger homes will take longer as will the poorly insulated homes. We notice a huge difference after we super insulated this old crate.

Last night was the first night I've put in more than 3 splits. Went to bed really early and got up late. Still really warm in the house with a huge coal bed. We've burned a total of 3 splits for the rest of the day.

Thats amazing
 
If highs are in the lower 20's, I'll come home to a house around 65 degrees, and it takes about an hour to bring things up to 69-70.

With my old fisher in the same weather, I'd come home to a 60 degree house, but it took the same hour to bring things up to 69-70.

pen
 
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At 64 in house, 30 outside, fire up the stove,45 min to an hour,72, another 45 to an hour, it's 77,78 in stove room and stays there,stove top at ,450, other end of house is 4 to 5 degrees cooler
 
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I get home lately and the house is around 50F. Snow outside and temps are 20-30F. Takes just over an hour and the house is up to 70F.

tic1976: Wow. Your home temperature change is nearly unbelievable from where I sit.

OP and All: To save on propane costs I keep thermostat at 55F during day (at work) and at night. I got my family room up to 72F from 52F in 2 hours this morning, but heat does not spread from VC Vigilant area well. Family room can be 72 but it will be ~63 at best elsewhere. Three reasons I believe: (i) 2100 sf home (ii) slightly drafty window and door in other side of house (iii) tile floors other side of house. Those tiles just lock onto cold. More on this and my use of fans:

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/moving-heat-to-other-rooms.93528/#post-1238561
 
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tic1976: Wow. Your home temperature change is nearly unbelievable from where I sit.

Small house, mostly open floor plan, and I put blankets over my windows in the winter which makes a HUGE difference. Takes a lot of that hour for the heat to infiltrate, but after that the temp change just takes right off. Of course this is average too. Thermostat is in the middle of the house so I'd say my readings are fair. Of course hotter in the living room by the stove, cooler in the back bedrooms.
 
Half our house is new construction and the other half is 1770's construction. We have one woodstove in the newer half, and are in the process of installing a second stove in the older half, where there was previously a gas-fired insert.

In the newer half, we can drive the temperature from 62F up to 70F in a little over an hour.

The older half has 20" thick stone walls with plaster applied directly to the exterior stone, no insulation or framed-in walls. With our old 40,000 BTU gas insert and the fan on high, I could run it all evening and barely see a change of 2 - 3 degrees after 4 - 6 hours. Then again, when that mass of masonry heats up in a summer heat wave, the interior space takes longer than a normal house to cool off. What's not clear to me (yet) is how well this masonry will hold heat when the stove goes cold in winter. I'm anxious to see how a woodstove does in this space.
 
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I have an insert and a not very open floor plan. Heating up takes a while when I get home. Usually takes from around 5:30 when I get home to about 7:30 to get the upstairs bedroom from 63 to 68. The bedroom can get up to 71 on days when I am home and able to reload more often. The room with the stove usually goes from 63 to 78 in that same amount of time. The kitchen usually get to 70.5 and sits there no matter what I do.

This is a 3,000 sq house and I close the doors to the two non-used guest bedrooms upstairs. With those open the upstairs never warms up.
 
My little engine that could takes about 4 hours, that is why I am upgrading to the Buck Stove 91.
 
I'm eager to know my new answer to this one. With the FV I would have had to say it was rather slow - perhaps add 5* in 2-3 hours or longer if it is cold out - when it was very cold (i.e. near 0*f) then increasing the temp in the house was not likely to happen at a rate one could notice without help.

Now with the PH I've raised the house temp 3-5* in about 90 minutes with a half load of wood - but it was burning hot of course. I look forward to having a chance to really test it out and see what it can do - that will likely be the first time really running it at full output too - right now I just don't want that heat. If nothing else I don't want the family getting too used to it and demanding more all winter forcing me to go cut 50% more wood, heh.
 
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It takes about an hour to really feel warmth from a cold stove (cast iron) and starting with a cool house. By then, the temp inside will have climbed 6-10 deg.
 
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