Techniques for heating a cold cabin more quickly?

[Gearhead660]

I was actually looking at that same heater! The Renai that is. I like how simple the install is, just a 3” hole in the wall. I’m also considering a small conventional furnace with an exposed air duct along the short side of the ceiling. I really like the idea of not having to winterize after every winter visit. Do you have an estimate of how much it costs you to maintain 48f all winter with your cabin?

I keep the heat at 50f when we are not at the cabin. Its about 1100 sq ft. Went thru 200-300 gal of propane last winter. Last winter was the first time keeping the heat on. Previous years we winterized every time we left. Got tired of that...

 

[EatenByLimestone]

16x29 cabin in the Adirondacks. I have a 2 cubic foot stove in it. First thing I do when I get in is to light the stove. Then i close the door to the back area. I heat a 16x12 room first. I also flip on a propane sunflower heater that is 15k btu. A couple electric heaters also go on. In a pinch, i can also turn on the propane stove itself. It takes a while to get the stove alone to heat the room. Using other sources of heat in a pinch makes it easier than sitting on a couch in a -12 cabin.

Once the front room is to temp I open the door and heat the back rooms.

 

[ki25]

I was actually looking at that same heater! The Renai that is. I like how simple the install is, just a 3” hole in the wall. I’m also considering a small conventional furnace with an exposed air duct along the short side of the ceiling. I really like the idea of not having to winterize after every winter visit. Do you have an estimate of how much it costs you to maintain 48f all winter with your cabin?

It's minimal to be honest. I have a 125g Propane tank and it gets topped off every few months and it usually runs about $60. That's NH prices though. I can try to find an actual bill when I get home to give you a better idea. We're heading up to the cabin tomorrow so I'll test out how long it takes to hit 70.

 

[hansenjw]

16x29 cabin in the Adirondacks. I have a 2 cubic foot stove in it. First thing I do when I get in is to light the stove. Then i close the door to the back area. I heat a 16x12 room first. I also flip on a propane sunflower heater that is 15k btu. A couple electric heaters also go on. In a pinch, i can also turn on the propane stove itself. It takes a while to get the stove alone to heat the room. Using other sources of heat in a pinch makes it easier than sitting on a couch in a -12 cabin.

Once the front room is to temp I open the door and heat the back rooms.

Nice! I’ll probably try the “zoned” approach next time.

I also have an indoor propane heater (ventless) that I haven’t been using because of the moisture, but come to think of it, if I only run it for a few hours, and if the wood stove is running and pulling dry outside air into the house, then the moisture probably isn’t an issue. I’ll give that a shot too!

 

[hansenjw]

It's minimal to be honest. I have a 125g Propane tank and it gets topped off every few months and it usually runs about $60. That's NH prices though. I can try to find an actual bill when I get home to give you a better idea. We're heading up to the cabin tomorrow so I'll test out how long it takes to hit 70.

Thanks, I’d appreciate that! Let me know what temperature you’re starting at too please.

 

[SteveKG]

I've been living in a cottage in the Rockies that is wood-heated, since 1985, before that a 500 sq ft cabin for 11 years, same deal. If I am gone away for, say a few days, in the winter, it takes a few days to get the place all warmed. By that I mean, two days after return I can open a drawer and grab cold socks. Takes a long time for the heat to migrate into all the crannies. I know of no other process except patience. Reallty, it doesn't require but a few hours of the stoves heating to get the main living areas warm. The floor takes time, the closets, any room closed off by a door, etc. Just the way it is. Physics.

As suggested, one could put in supplemental heat [propane, for example] and accelerate the warming process. But I've never bothered.

 

[agonyzhou]

I have a little VC Intrepid 2. After learning how to make the cat happy (i.e., not thermo-nuclear), I think I have a handle on running it pretty well.

The Intrepid is a flexburn model, that also work without the cat. Maybe you can try to take the cat out and burn the stove harder initially? After one or two days you can put it back in.

 

[begreen]

The Intrepid is a flexburn model, that also work without the cat. Maybe you can try to take the cat out and burn the stove harder initially? After one or two days you can put it back in.

This depends on the model. Some earlier Intrepid IIs were cat only.

 

[hansenjw]

This depends on the model. Some earlier Intrepid IIs were cat only.

Yeah, mine is cat only. Model 1990.

By the way, the heat from the cat is just absorbed into the body of the stove and radiated from the top and sides just like the heat from the firebox right? I was just curious because when the cat is active, I don’t feel any difference in heat output from the back of the stove where the cat is located, which kind of surprised me.

 

[old greybeard]

We have the same situation. Had a old smoker that used to warm the cabin in 2-3 hours. Our first epa stove was too small, traded it for a Osburn 2300. It even takes a while to generate heat. We run our propane wall heater, my buddy heater, put something in the propane cookstove for dinner, and run the wood stove when we show up and its cold. Takes a few hours , and if its real bad we sit in the loft.
Best solution is now that we are retired we wait until my buddy goes to his camp, he turns on the propane and we go up the next day.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I can get my cabin warm fairly quickly, but it does take a rush of btus to do it. The woodstove really isn't even cranking yet when the cabin starts to warm up.

 

[ki25]

So I paid alittle more attention to the heat this time. Starting temp was 50F in the back bedroom. Took 3 hours to hit 65. It’s been cold here, not really leaving the 20s.