Sharing my success

[mol1jb]

Hey all,

So after installing the PE Super 27 in November, I wanted to reflect and share on how things are going for this stove setup.

First some background and specs on my house. We moved to this house a little more than 1 year ago. We live in central IL with winters that average temps in the 20-30's. I have always been an energy conscious type of person and loved wood heat for years now so I know I wanted to have a wood stove installed. However, instead of installing a wood stove right away, I elected to do insulation and air sealing improvements and then size a stove accordingly after one winter. We added in the attic and walls. The attic went from R-18 fiberglass batt to R-50 cellulose blown in on top of the batts. The wall cavities were empty and blew in cellulose to R-13. My house is a 1950 ranch with 1200 sqft main floor and full basement. I also knew that I wanted the stove on the main level since in my last house I was heating from the basement and didn't really love that setup.

Now to describe this current wood stove setup. With this setup were were looking to use renewable resources for heating, lower gas utility bills and increase the comfort of our home. We decided on the Super 27 based on last winters heating bills and the size of the house and insulation values. I knew that I wanted to place the stove as close to the middle of the house as possible since my house is a typical ranch layout with living space on one side and bedrooms on the other side of the house. I was fortunate that the middle of the house has a very good location for my wood stove to sit.

So being half way through December I feel this overall setup has been extremely successful. On an average day when I am home all day I load the Super 27 half loads 2-3 times during the day and full load over night. This has kept my house at an average of 73* throughout a 4-5 hour burn cycle of half a load. Temperature swings are usually only 1-2*.

I'll recap why I feel this setup has had such great success:
1. Medium - high insulation values + air sealing (I can not express this enough. The best investment you can make on your home to increase comfort and reduce heating and cooling costs)
2. Central stove location
3. Correctly sized stove
4. Well seasoned wood (2 years seasoned)
5. Ranch style house (even heat throughout the entire house is easier with one level)

I hope this helps those who are looking to do future installs. Good luck to everyone burning this winter.

 

[begreen]

That's a good setup and summary. Whats the temp in the bedrooms? Are you using a blower on the stove or a fan on the floor to help heat distribution? Or does the central location of the stove do the job?

 

[bcrtops]

That's a good setup and summary. Whats the temp in the bedrooms? Are you using a blower on the stove or a fan on the floor to help heat distribution? Or does the central location of the stove do the job?

Yes, as above.
Did you add the blower option?

Good stove, keep us posted as you go through the winter.

 

[mol1jb]

That's a good setup and summary. Whats the temp in the bedrooms? Are you using a blower on the stove or a fan on the floor to help heat distribution? Or does the central location of the stove do the job?

There are 3 bedrooms of the main hall that goes toward the sleeping side of the house. They are usually 2-3* cooler depending on which room you are in. The master bedroom is the furthest from the stove and that is about 12'. Only on the colder days do I put a floor fan in the master and blow it down the main hall toward the living area. I have the blower for the stove but have never used it. Currently the stove does fine with out it.

Another advantage that is working for me I forgot to mention is that the main hall entrance that heads toward the sleeping side of the house has no cased opening, meaning the ceiling of the living area keeps the same height at the start of the hall and lets a good amount of heat flow down the hall with ease.