Anyone Hot Reloading Cat Stove
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Well I loaded that fire at 5:30 am and then reloaded at 1 pm, 7 hours seems about normal when I'm shooting for really hot over really long...
The stove is also the room that the thermostat is in for the well rested propane boiler, it read 84 degrees before I turned on the fan, and it instantly jumped to 88 with the fan on. The room has 9' ceilings with normal height doors (6 1/2'?) so there is 2+ feet of space filled with VERY hot air in that room that has a hard time getting out. Since I reloaded at 1pm the stove jumped right back up to 550 degrees except now the room is at 91 on the thermostat! I don't really have the fan pointed directly at the stove anymore, more of a glancing blow off of the front in the same direction. Maybe a ceiling fan in this room is called for to get all of that air out of the upper top of the room...
Now I want it to get cold to see what happens
Now I want it to get cold to see what happens
OMG that is WAY too hot for me! My wife would throw me and the stove out the door if I had any part of the house got that hot!The stove is also the room that the thermostat is in for the well rested propane boiler, it read 84 degrees before I turned on the fan, and it instantly jumped to 88 with the fan on. The room has 9' ceilings with normal height doors (6 1/2'?) so there is 2+ feet of space filled with VERY hot air in that room that has a hard time getting out. Since I reloaded at 1pm the stove jumped right back up to 550 degrees except now the room is at 91 on the thermostat! I don't really have the fan pointed directly at the stove anymore, more of a glancing blow off of the front in the same direction. Maybe a ceiling fan in this room is called for to get all of that air out of the upper top of the room...
Now I want it to get cold to see what happens
Hell we'd have the AC on here lol.. Anything above 75 degrees is too hot in this home! Being from Maine I would think you're not a heat nut either..Ray
OMG that is WAY too hot for me! My wife would throw me and the stove out the door if I had any part of the house got that hot!
Ray
Yes, 90 is a bit too hot for me. You have to treat a drafty home like you would pain management, if you wait until you feel cold or the pain, it's too late!
My kids are still little so dad can get away with being in his boxers most of the time he's home...
Maybe if I can get this hot air around the house better I won't have to run so hot and waste as much wood.
Been having chain lube issues with my Stihl 023 and to test it out I went into the woods in front of my house and there are loads of dead standing white pines between 2-1/2"-3" that snapped over dead so very dry and been heating my home cleanly with this all day
I diluted my chain oil with 10-40 oil and it seems much better now 
Normally I never burn pine but it does burn good on the T5 and I have loads laying around so good heat for short moolah ..Ray
Bret Chase
Minister of Fire
I have a house of similar vintage as yours, Cross Cut Saw... it's an old new england farm house... you know, big house, little house, back house, barn. the only insulation in this house is what I have installed, and I'm no where near done. I have an 'ol smokedragon for heat.... I have a ceiling fan in the living, dining and kitchen, and a 16" pedestal fan blowing behind along the wall behind the stove... and one of those door jamb fans in the bathroom.... I have *no* problem keeping this house warm. when it's 15F out... the dining room (where the stove is, is 85, the kitchen 78 or so, bathroom 74, master bedroom 72, and the living room is a perfect 68 degrees.
Bret Chase
Minister of Fire
If my wife is home all day... I will walk in the house after being outside all day, and she'll have it about 85 in the kitchen and be sitting there in shorts and a tank top... it takes my breath away!
The stove is also the room that the thermostat is in for the well rested propane boiler, it read 84 degrees before I turned on the fan, and it instantly jumped to 88 with the fan on. The room has 9' ceilings with normal height doors (6 1/2'?) so there is 2+ feet of space filled with VERY hot air in that room that has a hard time getting out. Since I reloaded at 1pm the stove jumped right back up to 550 degrees except now the room is at 91 on the thermostat! I don't really have the fan pointed directly at the stove anymore, more of a glancing blow off of the front in the same direction. Maybe a ceiling fan in this room is called for to get all of that air out of the upper top of the room...
Now I want it to get cold to see what happens
Hmm... you know I've always been very happy with the way natural convection has moved the heat around our house ,but you have me really curious what might happen if I did point a fan at the stove... just how much more heat could we pull off it? The room where the stove is never feels particularly hotter than the rest of the house, but maybe passive currents are not the fastest way to get heat off it.
I'm thinking directly at it is too much now, just moving the air in the room is heating the entire house better than the stove has when it is in the 30's outside, and for me there is a HUGE difference between low 20's and mid 30's.
I just had to put on shorts, my sons friend is over so I didn't think boxers would be appropriate
We also have one of those little corner of the door frame fans that is turned off at the moment. I'm not sure how much good it really did.
Aww, that's sweet, after all this time just the sight of your gal in shorts and a tank top takes your breath away...
Perhaps, but even if I do find that I can get more heat with a fan on the stove I doubt I'll want to run that way on a regular basis. I have a strong bias against such things due to the noise, power requirement, and additional maintenance it would require over the long term. I'm not one to want a system that requires power to function (I'd consider pellet stoves if this were acceptable to me), constant noises bother the heck out of me, and with the amount of house dust that collects near the stove (I clean this nearly daily) I can just imagine what a fan that ran every day would look like, especially those small form factor fans sitting near the floor....
Not all fans are noisy and the stove doesn't need them to heat.. They also use 1 amp or less.. I run my fan when it gets cold and it really gets the heat out and I can turn it off if it's mild.. Good to have the option..
Ray
I agree, besides I can't hear a dang thing my wife is saying without all of that added background noise.
That being said, I think I'm going to do this when it's below 25 during the day and I can do this at night without noticing the noise as I sleep away upstairs.
I had found the door frame fan to be too annoying to run all the time as it was, this box fan is even louder.
I like that idea, I really can't believe what is happening right now, the heat isn't going to just leak away but really my house has never been this warm with it this cold. It's currently 23
outside, and still 84 in the stove room, 74 in the kitchen, 70 in the living room, 73 upstairs and drum roll please..... The stove is only 350 and has been since 3:00 since it was too hot in here!These are conditions I would expect in the high 30's outside.
I believe it CCS the PH is one serious heater! The PH has loads of thermal mass and would lend itself well to convection yet still be a great radiant heat source as well..This is why I like convection as it gets the heat out when you need it.. Helps keep the stove room more temperate as well and cools the stove off if things get out of hand.. When it gets cold my fan runs all the time and it can be turned off when the temp is moderate..The blower lives at the back bottom of the stove and is barely noticeable..
Ray
Ray
I'm thinking directly at it is too much now, just moving the air in the room is heating the entire house better than the stove has when it is in the 30's outside, and for me there is a HUGE difference between low 20's and mid 30's.
I just had to put on shorts, my sons friend is over so I didn't think boxers would be appropriate
We also have one of those little corner of the door frame fans that is turned off at the moment. I'm not sure how much good it really did.
I'm curious if you have tried putting that fan in a doorway or hallway and blowing the cooler air rather than trying to force the warm into the cool. It makes a huge difference for sure.
Our house is an old (80-90yrs) two story 3 bedroom with a full finished attic (the boys' room), about 1800sq ft including the attic. It's medium sized but when we installed the stove last year we realized the old walls have NO insulation. With that and the old windows and doors this house leaks like a sieve. I set the natural gas hot water heat to kick on if the thermostat drops below 65. The thermostat is in the living room with the Fireview so it usually only kicks on around 3:00-4:00 in the am. Once we get up and get the stove running it shuts down.
However, I have to keep the Fireview cranking to keep the temps on the first floor in the low 70s during cold weather. Second floor is in upper 60s during the day but we like to keep sleeping areas cooler.
I do find myself reloading at 400 on these really cold days to try to keep the house temps up. When my wood is better seasoned maybe that won't be as big of a problem.
If I had the money I would definitely be upgrading to a Progress Hybrid. I think I could use the extra BTUs. Of course if I could afford to insulate this place and replace the old windows the Fireview would probably be adequate. Life is full of compromises and most of my wood is free so for now we just burn more wood.
However, I have to keep the Fireview cranking to keep the temps on the first floor in the low 70s during cold weather. Second floor is in upper 60s during the day but we like to keep sleeping areas cooler.
I do find myself reloading at 400 on these really cold days to try to keep the house temps up. When my wood is better seasoned maybe that won't be as big of a problem.
If I had the money I would definitely be upgrading to a Progress Hybrid. I think I could use the extra BTUs. Of course if I could afford to insulate this place and replace the old windows the Fireview would probably be adequate. Life is full of compromises and most of my wood is free so for now we just burn more wood.
I'm actually doing that right now, I didn't have the fan pointed directly at the stove but more of a glancing blow towards the front. The side the fan was on was reading a good 50 degrees less on the thermometer than the one on the left (although I have the one on the right because I didn't really trust the one on the left anymore) and I wanted to see if the fan was affecting the temperature, guess I'll find out.
What I have noticed is that the temperatures in the other rooms is significantly better by just moving the air. I think fans on the very cold days and for night burns might be a nice solution.
The most notable thing of my little experiment so far is that it's 19
outside but I've been able to maintain 70+ in the living room and kitchen without getting the stove over 450 for the past 9 hours.Again, the living room is never above 66
and the kitchen struggles to get to 68with the stove at 550 if it's that cold out.
Well, I'm convinced - I am now in search of an inexpensive and quiet fan to set near the floor and point at the stove... perhaps I can find something at Target (near home). Not really interested in a big search.
However, I must say I was quite pleased this morning to get up to 66 upstairs and 68 in kitchen near stove with it 18* outside last night. I am quite certain that last year in same condition the house would not have been as warm in the morning... today's high is low 20's, tonight single digits so a good second test....
I fed 2pcs and a few small chunks on the coals and ran it hot, this gave me a huge bed of coals and a 400+ stove to load up before I left for work 2hrs later. So I did a very hot load, packed it full (took 7 pieces) and pretty much immediately engaged cat and shut air down fully. Was rewarded with great flames blowing out of the top holes and what looks like a stead burn - will see how it did when I get home.
However, I must say I was quite pleased this morning to get up to 66 upstairs and 68 in kitchen near stove with it 18* outside last night. I am quite certain that last year in same condition the house would not have been as warm in the morning... today's high is low 20's, tonight single digits so a good second test....
I fed 2pcs and a few small chunks on the coals and ran it hot, this gave me a huge bed of coals and a 400+ stove to load up before I left for work 2hrs later. So I did a very hot load, packed it full (took 7 pieces) and pretty much immediately engaged cat and shut air down fully. Was rewarded with great flames blowing out of the top holes and what looks like a stead burn - will see how it did when I get home.
My house was 62 in the kitchen, 72 in the stove room, and 62 in the living room.
I loaded at 8:30pm and shut the air all the way down and the stove was cruising at 500 when I went to bed at 11:30.
There was a LOT of large coals in the box in the morning and the stove was 320...
It was friggin' cold out this AM with around 3" of snow but 73 degrees throughout the house .. Man this stove kicks a$$ in the cold weather!
Ray
.. Man this stove kicks a$$ in the cold weather!Ray
And yesterday when I got home I was about frozen. Found that my wife kept the stove stocked really well knowing that I'd be cold. Temperature in the stove room was 90 degrees! Normally I'd be hot but it really felt good. Then we let the temperature drop to a more reasonable 84 degrees.
Forgive me for saying so, but I've been posting that what Cross Cut is doing is exactly the way to heat with the PH when it gets cooler out. I have used a small clip on fan at the top of the stairs to blow air down, when we have normal winter temps. Let it run for a few hours. Evens out house temps very quickly.
But when it is cold out, I just use the standing pedastel fan that we run on hot days in the summer. I keep it in the living room, about 12 to 15 feet I guess from the stove, diagonally in front of the door at a 45 degree angle or so, and put it on low. It's quiet, and gently pushes air toward the stove, the door to the hall, the dining room, and the door and pass through window to the kitchen. I have a full bath under the stairs betwen the kitchen and hall, so I keep both those doors open. And I have four steps from both the far end of the hall and the far end of the kitchen leading to a platform, then the stairs turn and run up. So I have really good air flow. Within a few minutes the fan really distriibutes the warm air. I would say it pushes a much bigger volume and works far better when it is cold out. But, for the average winter day, any little fan far away from the stove pushing colder air down results in a five or so degree difference in the colder areas within half an hour easily. Either way, I don't leave the fans on for lomg, for once the air currents get moving, they seem to keep moving for quite a while. Initially you feel the coolness, but after about 15 minutes, all the air is warmer.
And I wouldn't buy a purpose fan. Just use any one you have that you use in the summer.
I was going to ask why you were burning so hot, with the temps up, CrossCut, but I see you cut back. I seldom burn with a high burn.
I imagine that a home that flows less smoothly than mine would do best with fans in both locations...far away blowing down toward the stove area, and the far side of the stove in the stove room blowing out of the stove room.
But when it is cold out, I just use the standing pedastel fan that we run on hot days in the summer. I keep it in the living room, about 12 to 15 feet I guess from the stove, diagonally in front of the door at a 45 degree angle or so, and put it on low. It's quiet, and gently pushes air toward the stove, the door to the hall, the dining room, and the door and pass through window to the kitchen. I have a full bath under the stairs betwen the kitchen and hall, so I keep both those doors open. And I have four steps from both the far end of the hall and the far end of the kitchen leading to a platform, then the stairs turn and run up. So I have really good air flow. Within a few minutes the fan really distriibutes the warm air. I would say it pushes a much bigger volume and works far better when it is cold out. But, for the average winter day, any little fan far away from the stove pushing colder air down results in a five or so degree difference in the colder areas within half an hour easily. Either way, I don't leave the fans on for lomg, for once the air currents get moving, they seem to keep moving for quite a while. Initially you feel the coolness, but after about 15 minutes, all the air is warmer.
And I wouldn't buy a purpose fan. Just use any one you have that you use in the summer.
I was going to ask why you were burning so hot, with the temps up, CrossCut, but I see you cut back. I seldom burn with a high burn.
I imagine that a home that flows less smoothly than mine would do best with fans in both locations...far away blowing down toward the stove area, and the far side of the stove in the stove room blowing out of the stove room.
Have never burned oak, and only burn hickory from time to time (I find it burns hot but fast), but I can vouch that sugar maple, although ti has beautiful green flames, cannot put out the heat that Ironwood does. It is still a good heating wood though. Keeping my home nice and warm.
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