Renjilj
New Member
I agree completely. As soon as secondary combustion slows/stops in my insert, the temperature in the house starts dropping. I have to feed wood hourly to keep temperatures somewhat steady in the house. I can easily go 8 hours or more without adding wood and start it right up again from the coals, but my house would be cold as hell without the furnace kicking in.
Im a newbie to inserts and now curious why my set up is setting off alarms bells. Guess I expected this performance was fairly norm. Maybe listing my setup (variables) and some more stats will help comparison?
Yesterday loaded 7:15 AM. Left for work. Came home at 6PM and built a small fire off hot coals to get me to the big fill for the night. Think it was 71 still in main? 10 3/4 hrs.. Not real cold out, maybe 20-22?
Filled er up last night at 10:30 - main house 74*, beds 70*, helper fan in hallway on. Cut the air at 10:50, stove at 650*, blower on 1/2+, helper fan in hallway goes off. Did run 2 of the 3 zones on boiler about 5 mins to make sure pipes wont freeze overnight. First time this year they have been run and it hurt!..
At 6 Am stove 234*, main house 73*, beds 64*. Turn hallway fan back on. Reloaded 8 AM, main house 71*, beds 65*. Left for work at 8:30. 9+ hrs - didnt check outside temps, for sure above 0, maybe 10-13F? Rest assured it was cold...
Osburn 2000 is a 2.4 cu', 75k BTU fire box rated for 750-2100 sq'. Seems fairly well matched to house requirements? Burn about 50% Red Oak and balance other H/W, typically Maple, Ash, Cherry. Oak MC 20-26%. other stuff <18%. Load mostly NS
House is 1920 sq', single level, 7.5' ceilings with pretty open floor plan in main 1/2 (1000sq'), usual hallway and doors for bed 1/2 (920sq'). Lots of insul in attic. 15 year old Anderson windows and doors (except front door is 45 years..). Walls insulated 2x4, Tyvek'd with vinyl siding. Exterior chimney with 15' of insulated liner. Full block off plate and completely insulated FP behind/around insert. I am convinced without this, the duration of heat I experience would be significantly reduced. I do keep it running 24/7 as well.
Cold beer in the fridge