Ugh, one more split

[babalu87]

So its supposed to get to 25 tonight and I am adding oak to a pine coal bed, one more turns in to one more... there thats almost a full load.
Well, secondary burn is ripping making ghosts and its 86 IN THE LIVING ROOM!!

It better get to 25 tonight :red: I should know better, full loads only when its already in the 20's.

 

[BrotherBart]

I hear ya brother. A couple of splits turn into Hades with the NC-30 on occasion when I think "Well, maybe it will burn better with just one more.". Next thing you know we are sleeping in the yard.

 

[DiscoInferno]

Here's what I always wonder when I see these posts about a single load raising the temp into the mid 80's, because even though I heat a 2000sqft house basically full time on about 4-5 cords from a single stove it simply doesn't seem capable of that kind of heat output:

1. Is your room thermometer in the line of sight from the stove, or near the ceiling? Is it really reading the average air temperature, the hot air near the ceiling, or the radiant heat from the stove? I know my thermostat around the corner always reads lower than the thermometer in the middle of the room and the air up high is stifling (but headed upstairs).

2. What was the air temp before you loaded up? How good is the airflow out of that room? I don't think I've ever raised the temp in the stove room more than maybe 5 degrees with a single load, but I do seem to have excellent convection out to the rest of the house. And I guess I only really pack the firebox at night or when I'm leaving for a while.

 

[BrotherBart]

Well, in my case when it happens the room the stove is in goes over eighty at waist high and the far bedroom remote thermo does over 75. Yeah, air moves in this 2,500 ft. joint pretty good and fast.

Little brown haired girl in the bedroom upstairs knows in a heart-beat when beer instead of brains loaded the stove.

 

[Burl]

BB you crack me up. I'm personally chompin at the bit to get my stove going and maybe have a chance to get the house to 85 when the Norther blows in and the temps get down to 35. Til then I just have to dream of being in a cold place.

 

[Tailrace]

Well, in my case when it happens the room the stove is in goes over eighty at waist high and the far bedroom remote thermo does over 75. Yeah, air moves in this 2,500 ft. joint pretty good and fast.

Little brown haired girl in the bedroom upstairs knows in a heart-beat when beer instead of brains loaded the stove.

"...when beer instead of brains loaded the stove" LOL, that's funny right there, I don't care who you are

 

[Lignums]

It is funny how after one year of burning can change a person, in the beginning my old lady had the windows open all the time, now, 65 is cold, wanting me to get the stove going...

 

[babalu87]

Here's what I always wonder when I see these posts about a single load raising the temp into the mid 80's, because even though I heat a 2000sqft house basically full time on about 4-5 cords from a single stove it simply doesn't seem capable of that kind of heat output:

1. Is your room thermometer in the line of sight from the stove, or near the ceiling? Is it really reading the average air temperature, the hot air near the ceiling, or the radiant heat from the stove? I know my thermostat around the corner always reads lower than the thermometer in the middle of the room and the air up high is stifling (but headed upstairs).

2. What was the air temp before you loaded up? How good is the airflow out of that room? I don't think I've ever raised the temp in the stove room more than maybe 5 degrees with a single load, but I do seem to have excellent convection out to the rest of the house. And I guess I only really pack the firebox at night or when I'm leaving for a while.

Disco, how big is your stoves firebox?
I dont really think anything as far as ratings matters except for the size of the firebox. Aside from secondary burn and CAT's these things are just big steel/cast iron boxes. My stove is a little too big for my house but I damn sure didnt want to go under-gunned and when I put the addition on the back of the house (a solarium one day) the stove will be the perfect size. All night burns were a must and that is the other reason I picked the 3610.

1: The thermometer is on the wall directly across from the stove about 5 feet up and that could skew the numbers a little but suffice to say it was Hades in that room. My daughters room, generally the coolest room in the house was 75 this morning and it was 76 downstairs with temps in the mid-20's at 5:00 AM

2: It was 68 when I started the stove. Surprising how cool 68 feels but I was in boxers and a t-shirt. Our house has excellent convection as well, I just loaded the stove for the 20's while it was still 40 out :red:

All I will say is our stove is impressive to say the least. We had a night I remember in the low single digits and it was blowing out of the North over 30 knots all night. I went to bed around 11PM and the living room was 76.
The house never went below 74 that night on a full load of oak.

Keeping design in mind ( secondary burn etc.) a free standing wood stove will always beat a fireplace insert as far as heating capabilities.

 

[thephotohound]

Disco -

I'm with you. I have a Woodstock Keystone heating 1000 SF, but I have 12 ft ceilings. This stove is supposed to heat 1600 SF, but it's perfectly sized for my particular situation. When it is in the teens-20's outside, I am usually at 75 inside (thermo is centrally located, approx 20 ft from stove at eye level). That's with dual 60 inch ceiling fans pushing the heat around, and a pellet stove downstairs (finished basement, completely open stairway) keeping the basement at a steady 62 (unless someone is down there). It took me 1 1/4 heating seasons to develop this system, but it works for me. All in all, I'll spend about $350 this year to heat the entire 2000 SF (1 1/2 tons of pellets plus incidental wood-prep costs). To be completely honest, I'm very happy with my system, and wouldn't give it up for a bigger stove/higher temps. I can keep the Keystone at full throttle and keep indoor temps at 72 even on the coldest days, and I have a thermostatically controlled heater downstairs that can raise the temp from 62 to 70 in 20 min. I'm a happy guy!

 

[DiscoInferno]

My firebox is listed as slightly over 2cf, 2.04 or something like that. I'll assume that's smaller than your Morso, although I couldn't seem to find the number for that. I'm at the small end for my house size, but I also live in a warmer climate. I suspect the other issue is that a free-standing stove is going to transfer heat more efficiently because of the exposed pipe; I only have a short stub of exposed pipe before the class-A and it reads about the same temp as the stovetop proper.

In any case I'm not really complaining, because to me 76 is starting to get way too warm; 86 is a sauna.

 

[woodconvert]

"Here’s what I always wonder when I see these posts about a single load raising the temp into the mid 80’s, because even though I heat a 2000sqft house basically full time on about 4-5 cords from a single stove it simply doesn’t seem capable of that kind of heat output:"

I've wondered the same. I've gotten my place obnoxious hot like that but not on a single load. I do have a buddy with a soap stone stove of some sorts in a 2,000ish sqft home with a 25x25ish living room. He can do it but it does take some time, more than one load for the house to equalize.

 

[babalu87]

Once the house equalized out it was more like 75 all the way around. It usually happens more slowly than it did last night though.

In all likelihood it probably was that last split that turned the molehill into a mountain.

As far as insert vs. stove I think I can sum it up this way. Put your hands on the side of your insert and tell me how hot it is
Its not just the front but the sides of a free standing stove that push heat. There are advantages to both an insert and a free stander, sort of like the old snow-board vs. ski's argument.

 

[DiscoInferno]

Once the house equalized out it was more like 75 all the way around. It usually happens more slowly than it did last night though.

In all likelihood it probably was that last split that turned the molehill into a mountain.

As far as insert vs. stove I think I can sum it up this way. Put your hands on the side of your insert and tell me how hot it is
Its not just the front but the sides of a free standing stove that push heat. There are advantages to both an insert and a free stander, sort of like the old snow-board vs. ski's argument.

It usually takes my house a few hours after a hot burn to equalize to within a degree or two. When it gets below the 20's it never fully equalizes.

I don't actually have an insert, but I think zero-clearance fireplaces and inserts are similar. I actually could put my hands on the side of my stove/fireplace by reaching in from the top or bottom openings, but of course that heat can't radiate but only convect away. I try to make up for this as much as possible with dual blowers, but combined with my strong draft I know I'm still sending more heat up the chimney than many on here. What I need is a heat exchanger at the top around the stub of pipe. I know those were bad on pre-EPA freestanding stoves, but there's no chance even a big heat exchanger could cool that area enough to cause creosote or hurt my draft.

 

[KeithO]

Disco
I have an even smaller stove (7110) and I also get the temperatures in the 80's within 3-4 hours unless I make a special effort at keeping it throttled down to the max. My take is that my home simply has too little mass and quite good insulation (except downstairs in the basement). The great room that the stove is in has 12 ft ceilings and since the builder stuck a huge 4 foot circular moulding / chandelier slap in the middle of the room, I have no ceiling fans. Even the bedrooms at the end of the hall (about 20 ft hallway) get to 68F with temps at freezing over several days. It is only the bathroom off the master bedroom that gets uncomfortably cold, not helped by the marble tiles under bare feet. I just bought an oil filled electric heater with thermostat and built in 24 hr timer and put it in the bathroom. It is set to about 2/3 power with the thermostat set to keep the temp at about 70 when it is on. The timer brings it on at 5:30 to 8:00 and again at 9pm to 10pm so power consumption will not be a major worry. Last year my winter utility bills were around the $70 mark.

I think that if I put the same wood stove in the basement with its concrete slab and poured concrete walls, the mass of the masonry would moderate the heat output of the stove and the temperature swings would be a lot less dramatic. The upstairs area is really like a cardboard box....
Keith