question, where is your wood burning threshold?

Yup, me too. I leave the oil burner set at 68 on nights like we're having the next few days. -9° they're calling for now on Friday night. A high of only 10° tomorrow is gonna have the wood stove and oil burner taking turns. The 25 mph winds suck the heat right out of this house, and I don't want an outside wall pipe to burst.

 

That's where we are at too. About 17 windows and a new door away from not needing the furnace to run in our absense during sub-zero temperatures.

 

A pipe on the outside wall in a climate like NY sounds like a bad idea from the start.

 

It is a dumb idea, but the good news during the daylight is they are on a south facing wall. The bathroom was remodeled and enlarged before we bought the house, and the plumbing for the tub wound up on an outside wall.

 

1890s here, replaced the back door with a budget model, the old one was on the verge of falling apart. For the front one I want a steel door with a wood grain finish.

 

NG boiler which was brand new 2 years ago has 2 zones. One on the end of the house where the insert is and the other in our bedroom/back end of the house. I keep it on 68 and it kicks on some at night. I rarely ever got up to feed the old stove unless it was wicked cold. I doubt I will at all with the new stove because I have barely got it out of 2nd gear yet to keep us warm.

 

I've got no furnace. Luckily it's rarely below zero, but regardless it's wood vs. mother nature. If I'm home I'll reload as often as necessary, if not, I know the pipes won't freeze so I'm not worried. But if it came down to it, 60F is about at cold as I'd live (temporarily). I'd either buy more heat or a different house, which ever where cheaper.

 

I'm cheating tonight, closed the living room doors!

It's even cold enough tonight that I have the diesel plugged in and looking like a hybrid.

 

I'm too tight for that also.

 

Shots fired!

Seriously, though, It's 85 in the room with the 30 right now. Just sealed up the attic window. Have the third stove going and it is 69 in the master bedroom, which was unheard of before this year. My process is evolving every year. Right now, I have more than enough heating capacity to handle any expected weather in this area. There is no oil in the oil tank, so I am working without a net. Going forward it is all about control and extended burn times.

I have been burning pine all season to increase my hardwood inventory as I am trying to get four years ahead. Just switched to hard wood to increase my burn times and to make morning restarts easier.

 

Hi, and welcome to the old leaky home club. Pull up a chair and a blanket.

 

First time I've plugged it in, I'm curious if it works.

 

The thermostats are set at 62 work/night and for 70 morning/evening. NG hot water baseboard heat kicks in every morning upstairs. I can pretty much keep it from turning on in the downstairs zone. Normally I set the walkout basement zone to 50 and it never runs. When it is to be in the single digits I turn it up as I have had the pipe freeze (but not burst) where it goes up to the kitchen. Gas bill is at most $100 in the coldest month compared to summertime when it is about $35 for hot water. I can live with that.

 

I have 3 plugged in tonight.

 

A pellet add-on boiler is probably in my future, still. Need to swap out the stoves I have first.

 

This is a great post/thread. It's cool reading how inventive and innovative that members are with their particular situations. There is so much dedication here whether burning hardcore nothing-but wood or part time with backup. At our house we keep the propain furnace from running about 65% of the time because we all work away from home and our stove is not trustworthy enough to burn with nobody home to babysit it. I am watching closely the posts on the Woodstock Real Steel beta unit and with luck the demand for that stove won't so far lead availability that we can have one for next winter.

 

The nearest airport is Norfolk VA. You buy the ticket and Ill pick you up heck Ill even spring for a beer