I screwed up the schedule yesterday. Woke up at 5 and loaded the stove before I went to work. Wife got home and loaded the stove at 6. I didn't throw any splits on before going to bed. Wife woke me up at 3 AM saying she was cold "go take care of the fire!" So my question is, should I have just thrown a few pieces in before bed to get through the night??? Just trying to figure out the 24/7 burning schedule when it is cold here. Usually just make a fire when I get home and don't let it burn through the day...
So I was up at 3 AM this morning...
- Thread starter claybe
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With that schedule, I would have your wife build a small hot fire at 6, so that it will be ready to load up for real about an hour before your bedtime.
topoftheriver
Member
There is no magic formula but common sense and judgement. Everybody messes up now and then. As a general rule, I load the stove before bed. Sometimes if you get up in the middle of the night for any variety of reasons, check on it at the same time. Most often it should be OK but you may have to add a few splits to make it until morning. It is a hit and miss thing. Even when you think you have it figured out, you don't. One reason is the type of wood you are burning. Some wood burns long and others evaporate before you know. I'm not giving husband and wife advice. Maybe you should speak with her. The same thing happens here also.
topoftheriver
Member
The power company would love it. They seem to be losing market share.Get an electric blanket with individual controls.
For 24/7 burning a typical winter day looks like this for us: I load the stove around 6am before work. My wife throws a few splits in the stove around 12 or 1 (I have a drafty house so we lose heat). Sometimes she will put another small load on around 5 or I will load a few splits when I get home around 7. Then around 11pm I load the stove for an over night. This works for us in our drafty house on Long Island.
topoftheriver
Member
I have to admit that the balancing act is extremely difficult. Jody, my wife, puts a few splits in now and then. I usually load with 4 or 5. I wouldn't say it's an even split. You gotta love it.
When it's cold I load before work and I load before bed. I try to adjust the load size to accommodate a 12 hour cycle. When it's warmer I'll stuff it full and try go for 24 hour loads.
KodiakII
Minister of Fire
Have her mother move in to remind you when to do things.
definitely this. there would have been coals left in a few hours.Get an electric blanket with individual controls.
I would have put in a couple splits before you sacked out. It won't harm a thing and your sleep will not be interrupted.
The electric blanket idea is a good one. I think on max heat, it draws ~200 watts. Not much of a ding.
My wife and I have a dual electric blanket . . . not sure why I kept arguing against it for so long . . . it's quite nice to slip into a pre-warmed bed as our master bedroom is one of the few rooms in our house that can get a bit cool . . . upstairs bedrooms are fine, but due to the house layout the master bedroom can be a bit chilly.
I figure I'm saving plenty of money by not heating the whole house with oil . . . I can pay for a bit of electricity.
I figure I'm saving plenty of money by not heating the whole house with oil . . . I can pay for a bit of electricity.
We try to time our loading for the overnight burn for 10:00 pm, not any later than 11:00 pm.
Same here, only she uses electric heaters upstairs to heat individual rooms when in use. Quicker, and I hope cheaper, than running the oil for the upstairs zone.
Edit: That cold snap we had last week, which is the norm for some people, really brought to light weaknesses.
Edit: That cold snap we had last week, which is the norm for some people, really brought to light weaknesses.
got down below zero last night and at one point in the night I woke up and checked the temps in my bedroom. It was 55 and I was sweating, so turned my electric mattress pad off. Ours is dual zone, so wife will generally have hers on high and I hardly ever use mine, but it makes a HUGE difference.
I like the mattress pad one, it goes on like a fitted sheet and we both have these cool dials that go from 1-9 to adjust the temp. You don't have to worry about the blanket getting crooked or stolen to end up in the living room. We like to turn them on a few minutes before hopping into bed on a cold night.
I like the mattress pad one, it goes on like a fitted sheet and we both have these cool dials that go from 1-9 to adjust the temp. You don't have to worry about the blanket getting crooked or stolen to end up in the living room. We like to turn them on a few minutes before hopping into bed on a cold night.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
Some "AM's" and "PM's" would help to follow your OP, but here are some thoughts:
1. Keep the thermostat turned up to some level you can tolerate. If the stove is doing the job of keeping the place warm, the furnace won't run a bit. If the stove dies out, the furnace kicks on. Then it's your choice as to whether you want to just let the furnace do it's job, or get up at 3am to feed the stove.
2. Try to find 3 times per day when you can load the stove. For me, that means 6:30am, 6:00pm, and 9:30pm. The 6pm load is a little smaller, and burned a LOT hotter, when I want heat and I'm home to keep an eye on the stove temperature. The other two loads are burned at minimum air setting, for max burn time.
1. Keep the thermostat turned up to some level you can tolerate. If the stove is doing the job of keeping the place warm, the furnace won't run a bit. If the stove dies out, the furnace kicks on. Then it's your choice as to whether you want to just let the furnace do it's job, or get up at 3am to feed the stove.
2. Try to find 3 times per day when you can load the stove. For me, that means 6:30am, 6:00pm, and 9:30pm. The 6pm load is a little smaller, and burned a LOT hotter, when I want heat and I'm home to keep an eye on the stove temperature. The other two loads are burned at minimum air setting, for max burn time.
shoot-straight
Minister of Fire
i only get max heat out of my stove. since its soapstone, i reload more often. after 8 hrs or even more, i will still have coals, but the stove temp will have dropped quite a bit. once its really warm, i need to keep it warm to heat the house. when im around, i feed the stove smaller number of splits of less than optimal woods. at 10 pack the stove with oak or similar. my internal alarm wakes me up usually around 2 or so. i throw a few more oak splits on the super hot coal bed and go back to sleep.
i simply love the look of my stove. its awsome, but i keep waffling about upgrading to a larger one. in the dead of winter with the wind blowing it simply cant keep up in my drafty house. on thing that is good is that in most average winter weather we burn and dont smoke ourselves out with too much heat. i guess i feel its better to under shoot than over. by undrshooting we never have creosote issues, and our chimney is a pain to clean.
i simply love the look of my stove. its awsome, but i keep waffling about upgrading to a larger one. in the dead of winter with the wind blowing it simply cant keep up in my drafty house. on thing that is good is that in most average winter weather we burn and dont smoke ourselves out with too much heat. i guess i feel its better to under shoot than over. by undrshooting we never have creosote issues, and our chimney is a pain to clean.
KodiakII
Minister of Fire
topoftheriver
Member
I'd still load the woodstove with 3 or 4 splits. The way I see it, either your in this woodstove thing or NOT. Different strokes etc. How do you feel on the morning when you take the blanket off?
ArsenalDon
Minister of Fire
A lot depends on what you are burning....we have to burn pine...so we get a good 5-6 hours which means that i go to bed at 11 and the cats wake me up to eat at 4-5 ( yes they are spoiled and I am a P#SS*!) so I just re-load feed em and go to bed...If I was burning a hardwood I would be locking them out of the bedroom and staying asleep
topoftheriver
Member
Very nice but I don't know how pine last that long. I have a hard enough time with oak, maple, locust, ash,and hickory, among the others. When I burn pine it evaporates away, not to mention no coals, just ash.
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