Not my photo , just stole it from fakebook but I thought it would be appreciated here . 180 degree sauna is 200! Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk
More like frostbite. If I had done that when married, she would've left me earlier. As brenndatomu suggested some window film is a cheap investment that may help a lot.
Biggest differential I’ve had was 2-3 years ago when that bomb cyclone came through. -7 outside and average 75 indoors (stove room was almost 90, upstairs bedrooms were about 60) It’s been about a decade since I’ve seen 20F below zero here, but it can happen.
The gaskets were shot and someone overfired it and popped a couple of the welds. We replaced it the following summer with a Quadrafire. I want to say the original was a Heatilator. We didn't know a thing and it was exciting at the time. I have never tried splitting at -20, I can only imagine! There is nothing harder than finding dry wood in March during a cold year like that. I think working through things like that made our marriage stronger.
Dunmyer mowing llc just remember nothing will give you greater bang for your buck THAN insulating and air sealing.. Don’t focus on I got to replace all the windows that’s 20 grand. One bay of attic or rim joist is $30 dollars and couple hours. Just do 2 or 3 a month you will get there
Never kept track. I do know that I can still rise from 70 inside while it's currently -6 outside. An oversized unit can be a pain in shoulder season, but hasn't seen cold it cannot overcome. -20 just means opening the damper on the feed door a little further.
We have done 120°+. It gets stupid cold here some years, and I don’t have a good explanation for it. Makes us glad we have a big stove and plenty of wood. Have to be careful in shoulder season because one little fire will take the chill off, but you end up reloading before it’s fully warmed up. The stove weighs right close to 1,000 lbs and throws heat for hours. If you feel the house cooling off, the fire is out.
Interesting question, never really thought or calculated for it that way. I’ll throw into the mix how many days can you do it? And wind. I’ve noticed it’s not too hard for a day or two but after that the cold seems to begin permeating the walls. Or maybe it’s just me slacking off and letting the fire go out.
Thats an interesting question added to it and I am sure it differs for people. I believe myself I could do it indefinitely For a season. It would get to be a grind though.
Windows are very low r value targets. Old vs new doesn’t change much. If they leak, then add some gaskets and putty. A film kit will do more than new windows. Focus on air leaks and insulation. Windows are marketing BS, and nothing more. R values are less than 3, and most are between 1-2. Windows are just holes in your insulation. We have SIX 4’x5’ windows on one end of the house. The heat loss from those is at least as much as the rest of the house! It is the coldest room in the house. We are planning on removing at least 2 of them. It’s very bright during the day, but they are giant thermal leaks. You know those big houses with an entire glass wall that faces a lake or big yard? Their heating bill is more than the mortgage. The only windows you can find here have energy star labels plastered all over and energy ratings in bug huge print, but if you actually read them, they say they are for the southern half on the country! Not meant for cold northern climates. My brother bought a few windows for his house and I was looking at the labels. I just about fell over when he told me what he paid for them too. Cheap vinyl crap. We have vinyl windows in the house that were here when we moved in. They leak like crazy. Seal gaps and add insulation.
glass is glass, but seals and gaskets eventually leak . Improvements over the years, same with PVC, welding and construction has improved. I replaced the last two casement windows from the seventies at my mom's house. They had aluminum "gaskets". Every Fall I would go bend them back out before closing the window one last time for the Winter. Just about any new window would be better than those. I still have a couple of double hungs with window weights on the porch. They leak like sieves. R-value of the glass is irrelevant. The aluminum storms on the outside help a little but a layer of plastic on the inside makes a huge difference, especially on a windy day. The plastic film has to be installed in such a manner that it be effective, not just for an increase in a tiny bit of R-value but for a wind stop. Windows with window weights leak not just thru the windows but thru all the trim boards that make up the weight boxes.
Agreed, the whole replacement window industry is a scam. Air sealing and insulation provide many times the gains given by new windows...but that's not to say there are no gains to be had if your old windows truly have issues...but overall, the potential gains are WAY oversold!
Yes because you can see pretty new Windows; if air sealing and insulation done right.. You don’t see it. good fitting storm window do a great job insulation most people won’t do work
Our friends just got a quote for over $40k to replace all the windows in their little ranch style house...nothing crazy, just normal sized windows, and not a huge number of them either...I dont recall the exact number right now...when he said the cost I thought that must be for new siding, windows, etc, but nope, he said that was windows only!! (Pella) (they sent 'em packin)
We were working on a house a couple Summers ago and they were getting a quote from Anderson. It was a McMansion on a small lot with a boatload of windows and get this it was less than 25 years old. Cant imagine what it cost.
I live “not too far” from Anderson windows AND Cardinal glass. They are very close to each other. I did some work for them years ago. Having the background and experience I have acquired over the years makes me sick at the prices of mass produced goods. They are made for pennies and marked up about a million percent. Extruded pvc and some flat glass. I worked at a glass shop for a while and we made and rebuilt double pane windows for people on the side. It’s a piece of cake and does not cost much, especially when it is automated. $100 for a standard window would be a fair price.
