Should I upgrade my wood stove?

[stoveliker]

I have not seen 6 hrs either. So this likely depends on draft (i.e. it doesn't get -10 here)

 

[Highbeam]

Most people don't run their stoves that way. It takes a ton of heat to warm up a cold pole building. If the cat stove was in there it would chew through wood about as quickly run wide open.

I don’t know if it’s even possible for a cat stove like the BK to chew through 3.5 cubic feet of wood in 3 hours. The max burn rate doesn’t seem high enough.

But yes, heating up a very well insulated shop building means I can run the noncat at high output for much longer than a normal house. Lots of thermal mass in the concrete.

 

[begreen]

Easily done in the 30NC.

Yes, it probably can be done in the Summit or T6 too. We've had a few reports of folks doing that. Personally, I don't push our stove to its limit. I'm more for it lasting longer than me.

 

[stoveliker]

I'm more for it lasting longer than me.

Dang, that's a burn time I'm jealous of
🤣

 

[NickW]

Dang, that's a burn time I'm jealous of
🤣

No, but when you get home from a weekend away, it's -10 and windy, and the farthest reaches are sub 60 degrees it was good to be able to let it rip and reload in 4 hours. Rarely was it necessary, but could certainly be done. Not normal daily operation.

 

[DickRussell]

That's where a cord of wood has gone to so far this year, heating the outdoors through the basement walls. You will get the quickest return on investment by insulating them. By insulating the walls and sealing up the sill plate all the way around the consumption of wood burned will be reduced up to a third.

Good to know. Think rigid foam board is my best bet for insulation?

Yes on foam board. Do not just put up a stud wall and lay fiberglass batts in between. That's a recipe for a musty smelling basement. In our basement, there is 2" foam board fastened with powder-driven nails through fender washers. For ignition and thermal protection of the foam, 2x4s are fastened flat side to the foam using masonry screws into the concrete, with sheetrock over that. The 1-1/5" studs provide space for shallow electric boxes for outlets. It is acceptable to have a FG insulated stud wall inside the foam layer. Before insulating the concrete walls, be sure you have addressed any water leakage problems. For more info on insulating a basement wall, go over to greenbuildingadvisor.com and do a search there. One useful link is: https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/7-steps-to-an-energy-efficient-house-1-the-basement