Colder here. What's your temp? What ya burnin?

10/68

Had around 12" this morning. at least another 3" since then. Calling for 8-12 rest of today/tonight/tomorrow.

I opened the driveway up with a couple passes (one up, one down) just to get some snow moved back. tonight will be below zero and those snowbanks are gonna be pretty hard to move from here on out.....

 

Rich L Not very fancy but we like it. Pacific Energy Super 27. 2 cf non cat. I'm told one of the longer burn time non cat stoves available. We've warmed up to -28c/-18f in the sun. In the stove is the remnants of some apple.

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So does that stove keep up in those cold temps ? If you did it over again would you go with a larger stove ?

 

Schrader, and blaze king princess. When it gets this cold the older non government, non cat stoves are the best, save for the blaze king princess or king that is. Non cats, because they don't have a cat to blow out or clean, and they don't have the tendency to coal up so bad when flat out burning for days or weeks at a time. Plus if something should have happened where you don't have the best wood (too high of moisture), you can keep your home warm without any drama.

Cat stoves are nice when you don't have real real cold weather, due to the burn time and not needing to start a fire often. My older neighbor down the road a ways has two fireviews that work great until it gets cold, then he is spending too much money on propane to heat the bed and breakfast due to coaling. Talked to him this morning and he said he isn't engaging the car and is making kindling in the garage with a electric splitter to keep the coals to a minimum and make more heat.

Lots of folks have quadra fires because the are cheap and put out lots of heat while having viewing glass. If I lived in a little warmer climate with shorter winters, I would have kept the Absolute steel in the house. I liked the giant glass.

 

Sean is your home super insulated ? How can a 2 cf stove keep you warm in those temps ?

 

Man you said a lot. I didn't realize the cat stoves couldn't keep up in that kind of cold you all get. I still think if folks like yourself had one of the old Hearthstone one stoves you would be all set.

 

I have a 1983 built 1300 sq ft foot print (so 2600 sq ft) split level house. In BC in our region of the province houses were built with 2x6 exterior wall construction after about 1980. I have 2 exterior doors plus 2 doors that open into an insulated non heated garage. The house has modernish vinyl windows and vinyl siding. Im self employed so Im not gone from the house for long periods so can do reloads when needed which doesnt have to happen for 9 hours or so depending if Im pushing it and the type of wood Im burning. The key I find is to keep the stove going so I can heat up the thermal mass. Once Ive done this I can keep the house pretty warm. I do want to state that I start loosing ground below -23c/-9f as I like to keep the house around 22c/71f. Yesterday If I recall correctly we got as warm as -27c/-16f and with the furnace off I was able to keep the house at 20c/68f. It should be noted we didnt have any wind yesterday. We have long winters here and have had snow on the ground continuously since late october sometime. Often when its -10c/14f I have to do smaller loads as I can heat us out and my wife doesnt like a hot house. Those doors into the garage get opened from time to time so I can put to use that extra heat.

 

I mentioned the blaze kings because they just seem to work the best in real cold weather. Don't know if it has to due with how they breathe because of the eight inch flue or what. I like to hustle stoves a bit because so many new people are moving in and study stoves on the internet. Then they decide that they need a cat stove because someone on the internet that has been burning for 10 to 20 years tells them that. Or they come from places that have winter, but not OUR winter. People and their relationship to their favorite stove has become too personal with them. They get too romantically involved with what a perfect stove should be. Kind of like sports or vehicles. They take it personally when they call you, and you tell them their setup or stove isn't ideal for them.

I should note that the pacific energy stoves are well trusted also. Vermont castings use to be a good stove, but went the way of the automobile industry. Some of the hearthstone stuff is gorgeous, but secondary to the primary purpose of a wood stove IMO.

 

Yes, it does. A larger stove would just be too much for this house. Down to about 0* I can usually load at night & its 70*-74* in the mornings depending on wood type & pack in the stove. 68* - 72* in the mornings if its really windy or below zero.
Usually a full load at night 9-10pm, then a full load in the morning 6-8am, 2-3 splits of an evening if needed then back to full load before bed.

If I am pushing & using Osage, I usually throw some pine or box elder in to burn the coals down to accommodate a full load if necessary.

The new windows & doors helped immensely. This house was built in the late 40’s early 50’s, I am sure the insulation in the walls has settled & the crawl space is uninsulated.

I can get the stove room into the upper 90’s with Osage & will turn the air handler fan on just to cycle some warm air thru the ducts for a bit of warmth to the crawl space.

I should also mention that I have zero windbreaks to the north & west.

 

I've gone off base here. Sorry folks. I forgot the thread topic here.

 

It's a wonderful thing to hear how woodburners like yourself thrive through their winters.Your situation sounds pretty solid being able to be around to refuel your stove. Plus a warm wife is a happy life.

 

Right now 11 / 74. We don’t get cold often so this calls for breaking into the hardwood stash. If the forecast holds we should be -1 or -2 by morning. Oak will be the order of the day till probably Tuesday.





Owl

 

We have a Century stove similar to yours, 1300 sq ft house as well. The stove was purchased in 04. I have replaced the bricks once and the stove glass once, which was my fault. I burn a little more than 2 cords a year and maybe 25 gallons of oil in a normal year. We are in shorts when we watch TV.

 

I think this one is 4 y/o, I have replaced the glass & vermiculite baffle once & its broke again.

How often are you replacing your door gasket ? I can see flames between my door (top corner) & stove on the lock side. It doesn’t seen to affect the burn or my ability to control temps though. I replaced my door gasket last spring.

We use about 300 gallon of propane a year, thats with hot water heater, clothes dryer & oven.

 

Door gasket is original. I did the dollar bill test this Fall and all was good. My baffle has a dent in it. I assume it was another casualty of the forcing wood/broken glass incident, maybe 5 or 6 years ago. Beer might have been involved. I was concerned about it maybe breaking, figuring it was ceramic or something. I tried a magnet and it stuck so no more concern and everything works fine.

 

Locust and Ash. Black Sabbath is cooking as it should.

 

Yeah around here the wood stove stores find that the Pacific Energy and the Blaze King stoves are the best sellers. Ive seen big box ones and Napoleon stoves in houses as well. We are almost exclusively soft woods here so I can see why those two are the major hitters.