Had a whole bunch of extra work around the power plant due to the cold -leaving at 3am and getting home ~7pm relying on the GF to make the "last" daytime load and me not being able to crank the stove for a couple hours after getting home before catching a few hours of sleep has let the house get cold.... Never have I let the house get below 63F but it's happened twice this week 61 both times. I gauge temp drop based on outside air temps/wind on some of the coldest(5-7F) mornings I run high alert and reload ~2am or 3 if I have to go to work, typically getting the house to 76 before going to bed I wake to 66-68 so it's not to bad when the GF loads before she leaves for work.... The caveat is she leaves for work ~6:30/7 and comes home to a 61F house at 3-4??????? I know everything in the house has heat load(stored BTU's) to offset the drop but normally I'm seeing 6-8deg when I go to bed @2100 and wake @0430. I just haven't been home to get the house to 76 before bed, and she has had a hard time getting the stove up to temp before she leaves for work My new test this week since I can't trade her in is to try and change the wood loading.. N-S, will require some re-cutting and a quick jig but it will be easier than explaining what is oak/gum/hickory/pine/maple bark free wood without putting post-it notes for what she needs to load and when.... pics will come tomorrow right now I'm drinking a cold one
I'm guessing she does not look at the site or she may be trading you in especially since you can't keep her hot brother.
The bed stays plenty warm She likes the pictures everyone posts - but she all the time bugs me about who the heck I'm typing to on here...not like I'm on Ashley Madison I mean seriously it's woodpiles and chainsaws and grilling - Is that cheating?
I was in a very similar boat for the last few years with the wife. I made a move to solve all my/your problems. I bought a BK. She hasn't touched a piece of wood, the stove, or anything related since. She is very happy with the move. She thinks it is well worth the price tag. I agree, happy wife, happy life.
I have found with my wife it has to be simple, less complicated to get the results we need. I fill the firewood ring with the wood we are using and teach her how to reload when shes here. She does it better this year than the last few years, she likes it warm. I try to take as much of the labor out of this as I can to keep simple simple. Last night she came home and did an overnight reload. She stuffed the firebox full and got it to temp, shut it down and went to bed. I came in to a nice bed of coals this morning and gave her kudos for a job well done.
I agree simple is best! We would get into arguments because I'd come home to find old CDW cat stove smoldering away because she closed the bypass too quickly.. Already had a chimney fire and was heading for another one! I upgraded to the T-5 and it is much less finicky than the CDW stove.. Good heat and arguments ended plus we get long burns with lots of heat with the T-5..
Yeah, supposedly we're about as high as we're supposed to get. It has been a cold winter even by our standards. Saw alot of snow in December, but haven't really had any appreciable amounts since Xmas. Dang well gonna love spring this year for sure. Talking to some friends who ice fish. They are finding anywhere from 18 to 32 inches of ice in this area.
We've been getting all your snow here rotti! Been quite cold for us as well.. I would have trouble staying warm with your temps though.. This house is not designed for that kind of cold! Love the T-5 for heating and it's great for cooking too
What kind of ice thickness do you folks usually get? Back in the 70's when I was growing up, we had thick enough ice that the town 6 wheeler would drive on and plow the snow for us to skate. Haven't seen that in over 20 yrs now.
Normally 12-18". The last 4 or 5 years we've had above normal winter temps so not so much ice. This year has been exceptional.
My fiancé will operate the stove when I am home so I can give her some direction. She is learning how the stove burns and the burn cycle but I am there to take over if need be. She has been doing great. Trading her in would be a crap shoot. Never know what your going to get next time around. I vote for training or stove upgrade.
She's been getting better at it. It's probably more to do with the extra cold temps we've been having. Still the flame thing is what I guess gets in the way of perceived heat vs warming the house up. She used to rip through some wood(still does on occasion) our days off are now permanently set together(used to work rotating shift). I tried a N-S load of gum and a few pieces of oak that were too long to load E-W this afternoon -It's all coal load now been fully closed for 3 hours house went from 65 to 72 but it was mild today ~52F. Working on 76 again before this next cold snap. If I can get the slab warmed back up(nearly impossible) it shouldn't be too bad. Weatherman says 60's next weekend - I'm holding off on a new stove
I think I found the culprit - walked out going to the grocery store a half hour ago - heard something running??? Like the AC condenser running. Sure enough I never turned it to off back in the fall, it was set to 68F but is on a wake/sleep setting and the clock is out of synch on it so no telling when it has been running, So if she were getting the house over 70 - the AC was knocking it back to 68 minimum - which explains the normal 5-7deg drop I am used to seeing. -Yes I feel like an idiot
That's a real bummer....but we have all done things that we look back on and say...WHAT, HOW COULD THIS BE
