# Brrr!



## Todd (Jan 19, 2012)

Coldest day so far this year, -12 this morning with a -30 wind chill! Both stoves burning low and slow keeping the 2000 sq ft house nice and toasty. I've been waiting over a year for this to see if these two little stoves could keep up on days like this and so far it seems they have plenty of power to spare.


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## oldspark (Jan 19, 2012)

Same temps here, -25 wind chill but the wind is out of the north so house is 70 right now.


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## neumsky (Jan 19, 2012)

That's cool! haha


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## Osburning (Jan 19, 2012)

Sounds like you have everything well under control, how long does the keystone burn at a time in this weather.


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## wkpoor (Jan 19, 2012)

With 40 panes of glass on this house (1stfloor are mostly all 6' tall) there is no keeping up with this cold snap with one stove. Just not possible. Heck the 100btu furnace was on for 30mins this morning and could only make it feel a little better. Still 63 degrees in here.


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## Pagey (Jan 19, 2012)

I struggle to heat the house when it's in the low 20's and teens.  I can't imagine -12.


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## begreen (Jan 19, 2012)

I hear you wk! My goal this year is to start addressing our ridiculous amount of glass with a combo of insulated curtains, tracked honeycomb shades, and some inner storm windows. If you look at the house here you can see what I mean, and this is just one side. The other side has even more windows. The light is nice, but the heat loss is not. 

Sparks, I am tickled pink to hear that you are staying warm in spite of the bitter cold.


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## firefighterjake (Jan 19, 2012)

I wouldn't mind the very cold weather if we had the snow to go with it . . . having just the cold without the snow to play in is like being home sick and the TV doesn't work.


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## ScotO (Jan 19, 2012)

BeGreen said:
			
		

> I hear you wk! My goal this year is to start addressing our ridiculous amount of glass with a combo of insulated curtains, tracked honeycomb shades, and some inner storm windows. If you look at the house here you can see what I mean, and this is just one side. The other side has even more windows. The light is nice, but the heat loss is not.
> 
> Sparks, I am tickled pink to hear that you are staying warm in spite of the bitter cold.



BeGreen that pic looks like it was taken in NY in February ....lol....how much snow did you end up with out there yesterday?


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## begreen (Jan 19, 2012)

That was yesterday afternoon. 7" here, now with a growing coat of ice. Hope we maintain power. The lights have been flickering and the branches are hanging low.


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## Todd (Jan 19, 2012)

Osburning said:
			
		

> Sounds like you have everything well under control, how long does the keystone burn at a time in this weather.



If I turn them way down on a full load of Oak I can squeeze out 10-12 hour burns consistently. With warmer average Winter temps I can get away with just burning my basement stove a little hotter and keep the other stove in standby or do a quick hot small fire with it to boost temps.

Next year may be more of a challenge when I add another 200 sq ft addition which will have a lot of windows but it seems like I have plenty of power in reserve and can burn the stoves a little hotter if need be.


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## ScotO (Jan 19, 2012)

BeGreen said:
			
		

> That was yesterday afternoon. 7" here, now with a growing coat of ice. Hope we maintain power. The lights have been flickering and the branches are hanging low.



That's more than we've had all season!  We usually have had several feet by now.........hope you guys get by without too much damage......


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## Battleaxe (Jan 19, 2012)

Low of -5 here in southern Wisconsin yesterday and this morning. High of +5 today. I don't run the stove during the day when the house is empty, so we turn the thermostat down to 62. I crank the stove up when I get home at night and once its up to temp the gas furnace doesn't run at all. I loaded the stove up last night at 10 before bed and still had hot coals I could've loaded onto when I left the house at 7am this morning. I have our thermostat programmed to heat the house just before we get up, so it did kick on a bit heating the house up to 70 degrees. I'll probably burn the stove during the day when I'm gone at work once I get a bigger wood supply built up. I just got the stove this year and was lucky to have as much good wood to burn as I did have. I've got a few oak and cherry trees still standing that have been dead a couple of years that I need to work on for next year.


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## bluedogz (Jan 19, 2012)

firefighterjake said:
			
		

> I wouldn't mind the very cold weather if we had the snow to go with it . . . having just the cold without the snow to play in is like being home sick and the TV doesn't work.



+1.


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## Waulie (Jan 19, 2012)

> Coldest day so far this year, -12 this morning with a -30 wind chill!



I sure am glad I'm on this side pond, Todd.  We almost never see temps that low.  Low of +5 tonight here and that;s plenty cold for me!


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## ScotO (Jan 19, 2012)

bluedogz said:
			
		

> firefighterjake said:
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Actually I would LOVE to have a month of single digits...and no I am not crazy.  That would kill off the infestation of deer ticks in our region........yes its that bad!


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## bsj425 (Jan 19, 2012)

Could be worse has been in the -50s here


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## Todd (Jan 19, 2012)

bsj425 said:
			
		

> Could be worse has been in the -50s here



I've been watching that AK weather this year, looks like one of the worst Winters in a long time.


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## ScotO (Jan 19, 2012)

Wow, -50.......no ticks up there!! :lol:


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## WoodpileOCD (Jan 19, 2012)

Todd said:
			
		

> bsj425 said:
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Just read that the Copper Basin dogsled race was cancelled due to the -50Âº and extreme snow.   WTH...  we're having one of the warmest winters down here in the lower 48.  

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...e-winds-temperatures-50-degrees-freezing.html


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## spaceman spiff (Jan 19, 2012)

Waulie said:
			
		

> > Coldest day so far this year, -12 this morning with a -30 wind chill!
> 
> 
> 
> I sure am glad I'm on this side pond, Todd.  We almost never see temps that low.  Low of +5 tonight here and that;s plenty cold for me!





  +1

   Being close to the shore has it's decided advantages. Still, it's single digits here. And windy.

Stay warm, all!


Spaceman


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## HighHeat22 (Jan 19, 2012)

Yeah, but being by that shore I bet you get a lot of lake shore snow accumulations.


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## spaceman spiff (Jan 19, 2012)

HighHeat22 said:
			
		

> Yeah, but being by that shore I bet you get a lot of lake shore snow accumulations.


 
    Usually there is a lot of lake effect snow but this winter we did not get any measurable snow until around Christmas.
Maybe a foot on the ground now. I ran my snowblower for the 1st time yesterday. (not that i'm complaining)  :coolsmile: 

spaceman


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## Waulie (Jan 19, 2012)

> HighHeat22 - 19 January 2012 03:12 PM
> Yeah, but being by that shore I bet you get a lot of lake shore snow accumulations.
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Yup, usually we do.  It just hasn't been cold enough to really kick up much this year.  It sounds like we do have a bit more than Spaceman up here with more on the way.  Frankly, I'll take snow over super cold any day.


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## NH_Wood (Jan 19, 2012)

firefighterjake said:
			
		

> I wouldn't mind the very cold weather if we had the snow to go with it . . . having just the cold without the snow to play in is like being home sick and the TV doesn't work.



-1 for me! I was really enjoying the bare ground and cold temps - was getting a lot done around the property, including a big jump on wood that I normally only do in the late fall. After last year's snows, this year has been simply awesome. I hope the several inches on the ground right now melt, and we only see a few more short lived inches for the rest of the winter. I don't mind the winters, but this winter has been a welcome break for me! Of course, I don't own a sled. Cheers!


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## North of 60 (Jan 20, 2012)

What are you guys gonna do when winter hits.   :lol: 
Stay warm and enjoy your heaters.


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## PapaDave (Jan 20, 2012)

north of 60, I've got a brother in law who says anybody who lives above the 45th parallel suffers from permanent brain freeze. After living this far north for over 5 years, I'm starting to believe him. :lol: 
I have no idea what happens to you guys way up in the far reaches of upper super duper Coldanada. :ahhh: 
Sorry Jake, but snow WITH the cold doesn't help. It just means I get to freeze my arse off while plowing. My wife thinks I go out there to play with my tractor. Next snow may be her turn. :coolgrin:


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## firefighterjake (Jan 20, 2012)

. . . but snow with the cold helps insulate the ground, plants and home . . . plus it helps some of the animals . . . not to mention folks who have businesses related to snow (snow plowing, skiing, snowmobile shops, etc.)


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## VCBurner (Jan 20, 2012)

Hey Todd, 
As always I'm enjoying your threads. -12 is cold, as cold as it gets around here. We have not seen it this year, the lowest it has been is near 0Â°. We had an unusual October Nor'easter that dumped  22" on my town and 36" just west of us. 700,000+ left without power for days, some for weeks. We've only seen a few inches at a time since then. We had some pretty cold days early last week, my little pellet burner was struggling to keep up. House is 1600sq ft, stove heats 1600 sq ft! As we all know the ratings are for average conditions. We've only burned just over a ton though, pretty lucky so far this year. Only spent about $250 to heat this place on pellets so far this year. How are you doing with the wood consumption?


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## Todd (Jan 20, 2012)

VCBurner said:
			
		

> Hey Todd,
> As always I'm enjoying your threads. -12 is cold, as cold as it gets around here. We have not seen it this year, the lowest it has been is near 0Â°. We had an unusual October Nor'easter that dumped  22" on my town and 36" just west of us. 700,000+ left without power for days, some for weeks. We've only seen a few inches at a time since then. We had some pretty cold days early last week, my little pellet burner was struggling to keep up. House is 1600sq ft, stove heats 1600 sq ft! As we all know the ratings are for average conditions. We've only burned just over a ton though, pretty lucky so far this year. Only spent about $250 to heat this place on pellets so far this year. How are you doing with the wood consumption?



That's a nice looking pellet burner you have there. Sometimes I wish I had one to try out but when I take a gander over to the pellet forum and see the price of pellets that feeling goes away.

So far this year I've only burned a little over 1 cord since it's been so mild. Last year I was over a 1 1/2 cords and I usually go through 3 per year.


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## Ironwood (Jan 20, 2012)

6 here now with light winds. I got up late and the smoke dragon was down to a few red coals. 66 in the house when I got up which is 1800 sq ft. Couple of large splits and a piece of slab wood and its now 73 inside. Been burning two year old split Pin Oak and four year old Maple slab wood.


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## HighHeat22 (Jan 20, 2012)

Guess What ?.  Winter is here. 

VCBurner where is your stoves exhaust pipe at ?.


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## hemlock40a (Jan 20, 2012)

firefighterjake said:
			
		

> . . . but snow with the cold helps insulate the ground, plants and home . . . plus it helps some of the animals . . . not to mention folks who have businesses related to snow (snow plowing, skiing, snowmobile shops, etc.)


 
+1.   

Some animals who live in that zone under the snow but above the ground couldn't survive without it.  No snowpack could mean drought in the Spring and that's bad for everything.


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## pen (Jan 20, 2012)

Going to move this over to the inglenook. 

pen


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## LLigetfa (Jan 20, 2012)

PapaDave said:
			
		

> I have no idea what happens to you guys way up in the far reaches of upper super duper Coldanada. :ahhh:


I'm nowhere near the upper reaches, just North of the 49th.  When Americans ask me what it's like, I say it's OK once we get the igloo built.

My house has more windows than BeGreen's.  When we were working on the design, the wife kept making them bigger and I kept shrinking them down.  I never did get my way.


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## firefighterjake (Jan 20, 2012)

LLigetfa said:
			
		

> PapaDave said:
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Which is wise of you . . . and why you are a happily married man.


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## VCBurner (Jan 21, 2012)

HighHeat22 said:
			
		

> VCBurner where is your stoves exhaust pipe at ?.


The stove is rear vented through two walls. 42" going from back of the stove, through one wall thimble, a closet under the stairs, then through the exterior wall thimble. Once outside, it takes a 90Â° and goes vertical 4' into a termination cap.


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## North of 60 (Jan 21, 2012)

PapaDave said:
			
		

> north of 60, I've got a brother in law who says anybody who lives above the 45th parallel suffers from permanent brain freeze. After living this far north for over 5 years, I'm starting to believe him. :lol:
> I have no idea what happens to you guys way up in the far reaches of upper super duper Coldanada. :ahhh:
> Sorry Jake, but snow WITH the cold doesn't help. It just means I get to freeze my arse off while plowing. My wife thinks I go out there to play with my tractor. Next snow may be her turn. :coolgrin:



More than a brain freeze the other day. 
Keep warm you guys.


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## snowleopard (Jan 21, 2012)

Pagey said:
			
		

> I struggle to heat the house when it's in the low 20's and teens.  I can't imagine -12.



Pagey, would you take this to another  thread and tell us more (maybe in the big board) (or threadjack if the mods sleep late on Saturday morning).  This seems fixable.  

Our house is 2000sf, and we have 8 windows that are 4x4 or larger. I am burning spruce and birch in a mid-size parlor stove, sole source of heat. 
After a several-week snap of -20 and colder, it's warmed up here (warmer in the hills) all the way to a luxurious zero F.  It's 75 downstairs, where the stove is located, and 70 upstairs, and our stove is just cruising, not cranking.  My son walks around the house complaining that it's chilly, and I tell him that's yet another reason to wear something in addition to boxers, thank you very much.   This is not, sadly, due to innate brilliance on my part, ergo, most people ought to be able to get similar results.  You're not, and you should be warm.  Let us help.  It's our pathetic idea of a good time.


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## begreen (Jan 21, 2012)

Yikers north of 60! I had to reset and google check my Celsius calcs, but that is Antarctic cold! I didn't think anything but underground houses were designed for those temps.


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## snowleopard (Jan 21, 2012)

PapaDave said:
			
		

> north of 60, I've got a brother in law who says anybody who lives above the 45th parallel suffers from permanent brain freeze. After living this far north for over 5 years, I'm starting to believe him. :lol:



Tell your BIL that for some of us, it's not just an address, it's a diagnosis . . .


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