should I insulate the sarcophagus ?

[RustyShackleford]

My stove sits next to a very flat-U shaped wall of solid masonry. In the encapsulated crawlspace, it is supported by a huge cinderblock pier, roughly 3x7ft (the "sarcophagus", the builder cleverly dubbed it)

Unsurprisingly, the masonry absorbs quite a bit of heat. When I walk out from the bedroom in the morning, thru the hallway behind it, I can feel the heat even before I turn the corner into the living room. It's really nice.

I'm wondering if it'd be more energy efficient to insulate the big pier. I imagine a good bit of heat is radiated from the pier into the crawlspace. The crawlspace typically remains in the 60s even in wintertime. So it can't be that much energy. I'm sure the crawlspace would be a bit cooler, but I doubt there's any chance it'd get cold enough to freeze pipes. Might also make the floors cooler (the insulation in the floor joists was removed when they encapsulated the crawlspace). Anyhow, I'm not quite sure how to think about the situation.

I guess I could see what the temperature of the sarcophagus is), and then use the Stefan-Boltzman law to figure out how much heat is actually going into the crawlspace.

 

[stoveliker]

Insulating the crawlspace pier won't hurt and may help a bit. But it'll increase the heat flow into the ground (because its temperature will be higher where it meets the ground given that it'll shed less heat into the crawlspace).

 

[begreen]

It would be interesting to bring in a FLiR camera to see how much heat is being conducted downward.
Is the crawlspace closed and insulated? If so, 60º is nice. It makes for more comfortable floors.

 

[RustyShackleford]

Is the crawlspace closed and insulated? If so, 60º is nice. It makes for more comfortable floors.

Yes, fully-encapsulated, with 2" rigid foam on the walls and in the rim joists.

 

[bigealta]

It would be interesting to bring in a FLiR camera to see how much heat is being conducted downward.
Is the crawlspace closed and insulated? If so, 60º is nice. It makes for more comfortable floors.

That would be cool. I'd think just taking you IR gun down there and shooting some spots on it will give u the info you need to see how much and and how far any heat is moving down the pier.

I'll guess (with my experience with a large wide brick fireplace around my woodstove) is that not much heat at all is migrating very far down that pier.

What is the temp of the floor under the stove when it's been running all day?

 

[all night moe]

As long as you are comfortable up in the living quarters, Why change it? Since the crawlspace is insulated, your not loosing much at all.

I wish my crawlspaces were 60* and keeping the floors warm.

 

[RustyShackleford]

That would be cool. I'd think just taking you IR gun down there and shooting some spots on it will give u the info you need to see how much and and how far any heat is moving down the pier.

Yep, clearly what I need to do if I'm gonna pursue this.

 

[John Galt]

Think about moisture as well. That little bit of heat could be the difference of hitting the dew point in the crawlspace.

 

[RustyShackleford]

Think about moisture as well. That little bit of heat could be the difference of hitting the dew point in the crawlspace.

Nah, it's pretty dry, have a dehumidifier in there. Even in summer, the dewpoint doesn't get high enough to cause condensation on the un-insulated portions of the HVAC ductwork (with A/C running).

 

[begreen]

Is the crawlspace a "conditioned" space. That is, a sealed space with insulated walls.

 

[RustyShackleford]

Is the crawlspace a "conditioned" space. That is, a sealed space with insulated walls.

Yepper, see post #4 above.

 

[begreen]

I'd let it be and not worry about it. Like I said, warm floors make a room feel more comfortable.