My thinking exactly Dave. Less wood use would be great. I'm already noticing a slight difference, and I'm not even that far along yet. Going into the attic again today to prep for the next phase in the stove room attic area. Need to finish pulling the 10" flex duct out, get some old boards and such out, and trace the wire for the front porch light. I'd like to maybe tie into that for a motion light pointing right at the shed.
Currently 30 outside. Only have one stove going tonight. No rush of air coming down stair. When it hit 19 a few nights ago, I probably could have gotten away with just using two stoves since it wasn't a long term cold blast. I used three just to see how the upstairs reacted. The upstairs 5-10 degrees warmer than it ever was during low temps like that.
Amazing the difference insulation and no drafts makes! My 1st house was uninsulated and upstairs would be freezing cold and after blowing insulation into the attic I had to turn the radiators down because it was too hot! Ray
Yep, saw one at HD for just under $50, and R-10. Don't know if I can make one much cheaper than that. Looked like a little pup tent.
I am actually noticing a big difference on these mild days. What was killing me previously were temps in the upper 50s. I would still need to burn a stove or two since I still had so much cold air coming in. Huge difference now. We're in the upper 50s and the house is 65-70 with no stoves going. I had the Defiant going last night (temps in the 30s) and that load ended at 9am.
Good news, BBar. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised when the real cold hits. Butt dyno tells me good things are happening here too, but I'll reserve judgement for a minute.
First section and the block-off to the stairs is not done yet. The master bedroom and kitchen should show additional improvements when that is done.
It used to annoy me so much when I would see posts like "It's only 50 here, no fire for us today." And I'm sitting here with two stoves going thinking "Oh go to hell, it's still cold in this place."
Yep, done the same thing. Obviously, those homes were built, sealed, and insulated well. Quite unlike mine, and sounds like yours, as well. Decided to take it easy today. My legs are a little worn out from getting up and down the ladder yesterday. When my wife woke up, the first thing she said was "Who wants to go out for breakfast?". So, that was my big event for the day.
I know what you mean it was over 70* today and the low is supposed to be in the upper 60s tonight but Im going to have to light a fire just to take the chill off its quite chilly in here today.
We didn't get out of the upper 30s today. Only used the Defiant. I have the Defiant and the 30 going right now just to make things easier in the morning. Currently 23 outside. Last year I would have been running the 30 and the Defiant all day and night in these temps and end up with a cold master bedroom, or I would burn all three stoves throughout the day to fight out the cold. With just the Defiant going, the house was 65-67 for the most part, the room with the defiant was 75-80, and the master bedroom was 60-65. The Master bedroom attic still isn't complete, but it is an improvement over last year. Completed (again, hoping that is this weekend) that bedroom and the kitchen area will retain heat a lot better since the attic staircase will be blocked an insulated. I am please with the results so far, but we have not had long periods of cold temps, yet, and we have not had real winter temps with strong winds. That will be the real test. Either way, I should reduce my wood consumption with the decreased heating needs during shoulder season.
I'm convinced people had slightly different living expectations before the advent of electricity and central heating I swear it wasn't religion to blame for the creation of large families but the lack of (air) heat in bedrooms.
Well, right now the house is in the process of being warmed up again. I worked on the attic from Saturday evening through on to Sunday night without sleep. Had the attic door open most of the time and my wife decided she was plenty warm enough with just the one stove going (meaning she didn't feel like getting up to tend to the stoves) So, I woke up to an upstairs of 53 degrees and one lone piece of wood in the Defiant. Thank, hun! All three stoves are running. Still need to seal off the attic window and create a better seal for the staircase block off, but everything else is done and I can finally put all the chit back into the attic.
Heating the house is a LOT easier. No longer chasing the cold. With highs in the 40s and lows in the low 30s I am only running the Defiant. For me this is really weird. Keeping the room that the 30is in at 75+ has been super easy even when the stove is sitting at 250 degrees with only some coals. Still burning pine at this point, so my burns aren't noticeably different. When I switch to hard wood later this season I hope to be surprised.
This is similar to having wet wood, then using dry wood. The "AHAH" moment , when the realization hits, that insulation (dry wood) makes a big difference. I'm noticing the same BBar.
Dropped to 11 last night. Had two of the three stoves going. Woke up to the master bedroom at 61 which would have been unheard of with those outside temps. Sometimes even with three stoves the morning temp in the master bedroom would be below 60. Definite improvement.
