Nippee. How is your stove doing?

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fbelec

Minister of Fire
Hearth Supporter
Nov 23, 2005
3,690
Massachusetts
with the cold weather that finally hit the northeast i have been running the defiant all day and night vs. a fire at night and maybe one in the morning if it's chilly. my boiler doesn't even know that it's cold out as it is only heating the water tank and a couple of rooms in the basement. upstairs it's running about 70 to 72 in the center of the house. right now at almost 2 am it is 15 below zero and very windy. the front porch is creaking and the back deck sounds like someone is hitting it with a sledge hammer
 
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I am so surprised our cookstove with its comparatively small firebox has been keeping us comfortable during this cold event. I had fully expected the boiler to take over heating our main floor at some point. That didn’t happen. At -16 outside, the indoor temp now has dropped to 69 in the space between kitchen and living room, warmer in the kitchen. One afternoon and night of negative temps doesn’t stress things like a stretch of real cold when the cold has time to really creep in. Still I’m very happy with how the stove has done even with the regular attention to keep its temps up and the more frequent feeding. The insulation and windows from our past rebuild have highlighted their value. Also the buffers of an enclosed porch, lowest temp 30, and the 14 ft long greenhouse gave some protection from the cold and wind to one and a half outside walls.
 
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Yup, definitely time for a BIG fire...
 
everywhere lol 200yr old stone house no insulation. tip of the hat to our distant relatives tuff buggers
Same here 1860s"insulated" farmhouse . It has more character and "patina" than any modern dwelling
 
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I live in a Bethune-Thompson style house built in the late 18 hundreds. It was "insulated" in that era's style, unfortunately a little out of "specs" in this century. Last night really taxed my stove, but she did a valiant job keeping the water in my bedside glass from freezing.

Bethune-Thompson style house (copied, in part, from the provincial plaque to commemorate Bethune-Thompson House at the house
in Williamstown, Ontario.)

"This home also incorporated a French Canadian
construction technique, colombage pierroté, which used a timber frame filled with masonry
rubble. "

Colombage pierroté consisted of a heavy timber frame with brick infill for lateral stability.
The infill in the various walls was comprised of wattle and daub (interwoven sticks and mud),
stones and bricks. "
 
Watch the pipes in the basement if there is one. Run the boiler or furnace once in a while to keep things warm enough down there too.
 
Yes! In the cellar we put in a used hanging heating unit with a fan and connected to the boiler with a thermostat years ago but never needed it. Tested it yesterday to make sure it was still working.
 
I was in northern VT skiing when the cold weather hit, I've never been in cold like that, it was kind of fun seeing it all unfold and not have to worry about anything, the residents up there took it in stride, although school was closed on Friday, along with the mountain operations, my friends and I took the time to taste some of Vermonts best ipa's and lagers, fun day it was, a little slow to get going yesterday morning to.
I got home back to NNJ, and my house was 56 (set the t-stat for the minimum) 2 loads of wood later, I was cruising at 66 upstairs and climbing, when I pulled into my driveway, I noticed a ton of small branches all over the place, apparently, when the arctic front hit, the temps did a freefall and the dead ash tree's were "exploding" in the breeze, I noticed a few tops and trunks broken out, wish I was home to see it.
 
I was in northern VT skiing when the cold weather hit, I've never been in cold like that, it was kind of fun seeing it all unfold and not have to worry about anything, the residents up there took it in stride, although school was closed on Friday, along with the mountain operations, my friends and I took the time to taste some of Vermonts best ipa's and lagers, fun day it was, a little slow to get going yesterday morning to.
I got home back to NNJ, and my house was 56 (set the t-stat for the minimum) 2 loads of wood later, I was cruising at 66 upstairs and climbing, when I pulled into my driveway, I noticed a ton of small branches all over the place, apparently, when the arctic front hit, the temps did a freefall and the dead ash tree's were "exploding" in the breeze, I noticed a few tops and trunks broken out, wish I was home to see it.

I'm at Killington right now, -23F when I woke up yesterday, +23F right now! The wind Friday night was insane.
 
Im very happy with my wood stove. It was -5 here, 68 in the house.