New record

[MissMac]

No I do not.

do you find when it's this cold that you really notice your leaky spots in the house? i find that in this weather, the rooms furthest from the stove are hard to keep sufficiently warm, and are the spots where the drafts feel most prevelent. however i don't think i'd install an oak because my set-up isn't really conducive for one, and i'm concerned about the issues it could introduce to my set up

 

[MissMac]

Most water lines are buried below frost line if possible. Snow is also good insulation so not disturbing the snow over well and septic lines is a big help. Some people have heat tapes in water lines as well but they aren’t cheap to run.

ya my place is on shallow soils over bedrock, so nothing is buried below the frost line. i have heat traces on my water line from the lake, and also on the chunk of pipe at the end of the pump up to the septic field where it falls back into the tank. likely wouldn't leave the house unattended for more that a day, just to make sure that we keep the water running and things flowing well. and you're right - keeping an undisturbed snow pack is a great insulator. lots of folks here wrap their septic fields with snow fencing to keep the deer from pounding the frost down into the ground

 

[MissMac]

I always wonder how does all the heavy machinery start in thi cold weather.

some of the loggin fellows up here will leave their machines running. others will start a little fire underneath to warm things up before firing it up

 

[Mnpellet]

When it’s this cold leaks are definitely easier to find for sure. We have been doing some remodeling and I have done a fair bit of caulking leaks. Our house is definitely not tight but not terrible as it heats pretty easily. I couldn’t put an oak on my stove if I wanted as its centrally located and house is on slab, honestly wouldn’t put one on if I could.

 

[RandyBoBandy]

This post has inspired me to dig out my Spiderman Dr. Denton pajamas with footies and start scuffing along the carpet . . . Spiderman meet Electro!

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[wooduser]

It doesn't seem that people are having trouble with stoves that are going out for lack of fuel by the time that morning comes. I presume that shows that human motivation to keep the fire burning hot is more important than the details of stove design?

 

[Hogwildz]

My humidity is usually about 35 . I get shocked every time i touch something, so much so that im twitchy. Sore throats ain't to much of a problem but the damn bloody noses are. The worst part is the dry skin and itching from it. I have tried running 2 humidifiers and had a pot of water on the stove and if im lucky all that might raise the humidity 5 pts. I finally gave up.

-20 this morning, got the wood furnace going along with the wood stove just to keep up. I had just the stove going yesterday -13 while i was at work all day and i was pleased to see the house was still 64 degrees when i came home after 9 hrs. -20 today and rain forecast for this weekend, go figure.

I'm good at 35%. No static cling, no shocks. No bloody noses or sore throats. My skin is still dry, but not as bad s when it was at 23ish %. When I used to go to the eastern part of Washington State, it seems the first couple hours there, my skin was dry as a pocorn fart. Don't miss that shitsky.

 

[Mnpellet]

Not sure what you mean however I’m burning in an ashford 30 and think some credit should go to the stove for keeping my house warm. The stove let’s me sleep all night and wake up to a warm house.

It doesn't seem that people are having trouble with stoves that are going out for lack of fuel by the time that morning comes. I presume that shows that human motivation to keep the fire burning hot is more important than the details of stove design?

 

[Rich L]

This is why I shoot for low humidity in winter.
-32f outside and 75f inside. Currently 22% humidity. Some climates require out of the box humidity levels.
I have wood floors, lots of wood furniture, and wood doors and trim.View attachment 239627

Eureka how good are those windows with the cold your getting ? If they work well what brand are they ?

 

[wooduser]

Not sure what you mean however I’m burning in an ashford 30 and think some credit should go to the stove for keeping my house warm. The stove let’s me sleep all night and wake up to a warm house.

If it didn't have the fuel to burn all night, would you actually let it go out?

I don't think so!

That's why I suggested that human motivation is more important than stove design.

 

[jetsam]

If it didn't have the fuel to burn all night, would you actually let it go out?

I don't think so!

That's why I suggested that human motivation is more important than stove design.

My family used to, yes. I expect people still do. We'd shut down the fireplace and bank the coals in the stove, and get up early to get the old smoke dragon roaring again.

Just a couple hundred years ago, very few people had any expectation that the house was going to be warm in the morning, because they didn't have insulation or double pane glass, and they often heated with large fireplaces with huge open flues.

It is nice to get up to a warm house, but it is it nicer than sleeping for no more than 3-4 hours at a clip, and doubling your cordwood usage?

 

[ryanwc]

>Just a couple hundred years ago, very few people had any expectation that the house was going to be warm in the morning, because they didn't have insulation or double pane glass, and they often heated with large fireplaces with huge open flues.

Yeah, it makes you wonder. I read a biography of Stalin that made it sound like when he was sent to Siberia as a young criminal, they were living in huts with doors that sort of fit the doorway, with people staggering about drunk and falling asleep in the snow.

And I'm now reading a book on Gothic cathedrals that a friend of mine wrote. There's an illustration of a ducal palace with a huge triple-wide fireplace, but it made me realize that none of the cathedrals seem to have hearths. You didn't live in them, but still, people came together every week to spend time in these enormous drafty buildings with no heat at all. I guess it protected you from the wind while you prayed. "It's better to light a votive than curse the cold"?

I took a walk today at -13 after a bit of shoveling. It really wasn't bad at all, and while I was plenty bundled up top, I had nothing but jeans below the waist (well, socks and boots obviously). But that's a half hour, not a life. Perhaps you could normally get through it without much trouble. But it must have dispatched those who got sick pretty quickly. If I get the flu, I'm shaking at 68 deg.

 

[Mnpellet]

If it didn't have the fuel to burn all night, would you actually let it go out?

I don't think so!

That's why I suggested that human motivation is more important than stove design.

I guess if my stove didn’t burn all night I’d either get up and reload, be cold in the morning or let the boiler kick on. Looks like unless it get colder than -51 I don’t have to worry about that!

 

[Sawset]

My family used to, yes. I expect people still do. We'd shut down the fireplace and bank the coals in the stove, and get up early to get the old smoke dragon roaring again.

Just a couple hundred years ago, very few people had any expectation that the house was going to be warm in the morning, because they didn't have insulation or double pane glass, and they often heated with large fireplaces with huge open flues.

It is nice to get up to a warm house, but it is it nicer than sleeping for no more than 3-4 hours at a clip, and doubling your cordwood usage?

Same here. A lot of talk about ice in the wash bowls in the morning. Six foot cross cut saws also had something to do with that. Waste not, want not. It was a hl of a lot of work.

 

[jetsam]

Same here. A lot of talk about ice in the wash bowls in the morning. Six foot cross cut saws also had something to do with that. Waste not, want not. It was a hl of a lot of work.

My grandfather built a house using some trees and a pair of crosscut saws (I still have them hanging over my workbench).

Bucking one round with the 1.5 man crosscut sends me running for my chainsaw, shedding girly tears of woe as I run!

It's different when you have a choice, though. I get to pick which saw I use and whether I'd like the house to be 70 in the morning. If I didn't have a choice, I'd do it the hard way, and it wouldn't be the end of the world.

 

[Mnpellet]

Here we go again

 

[bholler]

If it didn't have the fuel to burn all night, would you actually let it go out?

I don't think so!

That's why I suggested that human motivation is more important than stove design.

But stove design we can now easily burn overnight. So yes it is stove design that allows many of us to keep warm with our stoves overnight.

 

[Stelcom66]

Here we go again

OMG that is incredible. Ya'd think it would be like 'Mostly clear, with a low around -51 ! ! !'

 

[coutufr]

I have triple glazed windows and a steam humidifier straight into the ducts. I keep the humidity level around 40%+_ 4% (depending on outside temperature) in winter with minimal condensation on the windows. Indoor Humidity level is always a trade off. If you don’t have good insulation and windows, you need to keep it lower unless you are renting, growing weed or you just don’t care.

 

[heavy hammer]

Diabel, I work for a electric utility many times in the winter they just have our tracked cranes or buckets run all night. The hydraulic system is not isolated from the motor so on a cold start you turn the motor over and the hydraulic pump. Not easy to do when all that fluid is cold so they just leave it run if we are going to be using them.

 

[Eureka]

Eureka how good are those windows with the cold your getting ? If they work well what brand are they ?

I like the windows, they’re 2 years old, in a new house. Integrity Ultrex, by Marvin Windows. Not the best out there but made well and look nice. No wood to get stained or rot out.

It’s funny but my old house built in 1950 with original windows seldom had any frost or condensation on the windows. They let so much heat out that moisture wouldn’t condense on them

 

[weatherguy]

Effie MN already minus 46. How cold are you MNpellet?

 

[Mnpellet]

-39 so far

 

[Mnpellet]

Stove is full House is warm I’m going to bed.

 

[Mnpellet]

Well it didn’t get as cold as they thought. Only got down to -49.9f. Lol. Going to be nice this weekend and I’m ready for that.