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you have an OAK on your stove?

 

Yep. There's existing insulated flex duct up there with an inline blower, but the blower quit working, and the flex duct is crumbling. It also has quite a buildup of "stuff" inside from many years of use. It won't be used again, so the whole shebang has to come out and new in.
That costs money and time I don't have right now though.
Besides, I'm still workin' on the stove room.

 

Yep, put that in last year.
There's a write-up in here somewhere.

 

Thought you did, couldn't remember,
Did it help alleviate drafts?

 

Stove's not ideally located in the center of the house, for sure. I know about that from my MIL's house where the Buck 91 is. In addition to retaining heat longer and moderating swings in room temp, another advantage to better air-sealing and insulation is that more heat will make it to the far reaches in your layout. Good work, Pops!

 

Yep, although the doghouse air and secondaries pull from the house.

I keep thinking how nice it would be to put the stove right in the middle of the wall where I have the 32' notation. Blower would push air straight to the back of the house without much obstruction.
We'd also gain the use of the whole stove room.

 

How would I foam seal the rim joist of my basement with it being finished with drywall and texture on the ceiling?

I was thinking about drilling a small hole (big enough for the straw on the can of foam to fit into) and then sealing the hole back up with patch afterward...

Any ideas?

 

Yes, before they put the roof sheathing on. Remember this house was built on an assembly line indoors.

 

That would be a challenge. We were fortunate to have a drop ceiling in the finished part of our basement so we could remove the tiles all along the edge for the installer to apply the foam. It is quite amazing stuff - whatever it clings to becomes stronger when the foam cures and hardens. The installed told me that when applied to ceiling trusses and the drywall ceiling, he could walk on it and not concern himself about stepping on the trusses. Not sure this is a great idea, but it does say something about the strength of the final product.

If I ever build a house in the future, I would want to look into using this more than the small amount I have in my current home.

 

Didn't they put in an access hatch somewhere....like a closet?
That's pretty odd, but I have no experience with Man. homes.

 

No, not in this house. In fact, I doubt if one would be able to move between the trusses used, not a lot of space.

 

I'll sure agree on insulation, I blew in 50 bags in the attic last year, what a difference. My roof will stay snow covered much longer than the neighbors and another noticeable difference is how long the heat stays in the house. Windows are on the list.

 

It's a bit more expenive, but I'd like to use some of that "ComfortBatt" rockwool around the attic insulation shield in the attic. It looks to be easy to cut and form around that.
I notice more snow melt above that penetration than anywhere else, and it's already been insulated to R-49.

 

Totally agree Dave. For an average house the effort can reduce heating/cooling requirements by a whole lot. Doors, windows, insulation are investments that make a huge difference. Once it's done the wood stove will be able to do it's job easily and less wood consumed.