Very cool. House was 67 again this morning, with the outside about 10. Not sure of the actual low. I raked the coals, then put 3 small splits on n/s. House temp dropped a bit when I took one of the dogs out the front door, but it's recovering......slowly. Still, this wouldn't have been possible BI. With the really cold weather, it's hard to tell whether this is resulting in a drop in wood use, since the wood is disappearing so quickly.
I think with some additional insulation improvements, swapping out the Encore with the Woodstock Steel, and redoing the fireplace to block it off better, I think maintaining the bedroom at 65-70 will be easy and attainable while also getting extending burn times. Also thinking about just doing to Woodstock Steel stoves instead of the Steel and PH combo. The Steel in all dark colors looks a lot better. The PH is still a lot nicer looking.
I don't like the green, but I like the darker colors. I think a two tone matte black with charcoal legs/door/etc might be nice.
bBar, was it you who tackled the blown in insulation with your wife feeding the machine? How'd that go? I've no experience with the job, and am trying to decide if she would be up to it. Also can the machine blow the material straight up about 40ft and then horizontal about 35ft?
Dave I've done two attics with cellulose. 480 sqft game room 10 yrs ago. I was in the attic. It went fine, just seemed slow. Free machine use from Lowes with purchase. 10 ft vertical and 24 ft horizontal. Helped a friend blow about 12" in a 2000 sqft house recently. 12' vertical and 50' horizontal. I was feeding the machine, Lowes loner again, better design than 10 yrs ago. It came with two 50' hoses, definitely blew faster with only one 50' hose attached. Bags weighed maybe 30 lbs, so your wife would have to lift one every 2-3 min, set it on the edge of the hopper and feed it in (can't just dump it). The 40' lift may not be possible. Find out the model of the blower and look up the specs.
Sorry, never saw this post until now. Yes, my wife fed the machine. She is 5'4" 110 lbs and she did just fine. The bales of insulation or more awkward than heavy. The hardest part was getting the hopper into the attic due to the layout of out attic. Once the hopper was in place, blowing in the insulation was very easy. Should be fine since that is what it is designed to do. Bunch of reviews on the Homedepot site talk about doing it with a setup like yours. When I told the folks at home depot I carried the 200 lbs hopper up two flights of stairs they looked at me like I was kind of dumb for doing that. No other option, though. But, when I reapply the insulation this spring the hopper will stay outside the house since I do not have to go as deep into the attic. Walkie-talkies will be needed for your setup so you can communicate what's needed.
So far, so good. Two stoves is all that is needed for the most part. But, for really cold days, three is still needed. For an average winter day, with mid-30s during the day and 20s at night, two stoves keeps the house heated. Huge difference from previous winters. This Friday with a low of -1, with a windchill of -21, it will definitely be a three stove schedule. More insulation will be done, but I do not expect much of a difference as it regards stove operations due to the layout. If I go with a King/ Princess/ Steel lineup, more insulation will just result in longer burn times as oppose to minimizing the need for multiple stoves being run. That's just the nature of the layout of this home.
Just went into the attic and tightened up a few things. Closed and sealed off the attic window with some of the leftover R12 insulation board I was using on the subfloor of the attic. A lot of cold air cam in through there and that is right over the attic stairs that could effect the temps of the master bedroom and the kitchen. I have the blockoff to the stair case in place but it is not as tight as I would like it to be. The insulation blockoff to the window is tight and sealed with insulation tape. Currently 19 and dropping to 11 tonight. Tomorrow will be the bigger test. Low of -1 with 15 mph winds. Switched from pine to hard wood for longer burns and more coals. I have all three stoves going tonight just so I do not have to fight with the cold tomorrow since highs will only be 13. The room the 30 is in is sitting at 85. Warmer than it needs to be, but it is far better than struggling to heat the place.
House is holding up well to this cold spell. We hit -5 last night. All three stoves are going. Things I have noticed that is different from last year: The improved heat retention is still noticeable in at this temps and windy conditions. Still need to figure out what is going on with the second story as heat loss is still a bit high, but vastly improved. There must be something I can do to improve the heat retention on the second floor. Still, at these temps, I am seeing a 5-10 degree improvement. Which sounds good, but that still only puts me at 62-65 degrees on the second floor when the temps were -5. With the amount of heat I am producing, I still feel I should be in the 65-70 range at these temps. Right now, with 8 degrees out, the upstairs is 65-68. I would like to see 70-75 more consistently upstairs during cold temps. Heating is easier. I am not rushing around chasing out the cold, even at these very cold temps. I got 10 hours of usable heat from the 30 for my overnight burn. I reloaded with a stove top of 300. Fan makes a huge difference. I think if I had the Steel in place of the Encore, it would improve several aspects of heating this home. I need to replace all the doors. I caulked the chit out of them with temporary caulk and it is working well, but doors and gallery windows would improve the heat retention. Also want to tighten up the insulation in the first section of the attic more. I think I can make that better. A King/Princess/Steel setup seems like the right choice.
You've somewhat described my results BBar, except I don't have a 2nd story. Easier to get the house temp up, and holds it a little better. Got down to 12 last night. Set up the burn and went to bed about 11:30. When I got up at 7:30, the stove was still at 400, and the house was at 68. Unheard of. All the aluminum framed windows in the stove room look like the inside of an old non frost free freezer when it gets this cold. Got 5 of those in there, and all are 4' x 5' in a 145 sq. ft. room. Anyway, good to hear your good results.
