Help: My Shoulders Are Uneven!

[ArsenalDon]

The whole point is, the value is worth the hassle.

Yes it is......I am still new at this but not a hassle at all so far. I was trying to explain to my still a city boy son that there is something intrinsically rewarding about heating a house when you know that every step of the heating process was created (well except for tree growing part, God did a pretty darn good job there) by your own hands.

 

[Ashful]

To the OP: Move to an all-stone house, then your thermal time constant changes from hours to days. I keep the stove going despite how warm it is today, because I know it may be cold tomorrow. Just keep the stone charged up, and it will repay you later. Indoor temps take a day to change more than 4F - 5F.

I can burn a full load at 600F on the stovetop, and don't see the indoor temp climb more than 2F in that part of the house. Likewise, 24 hours after the stove has gone out, the stonework around the stove may measure 84F on the IR gun, and room temp holds above 66F.

This is the answer to shoulder season burning, and what the soapstone folks try to emulate, albeit on a comparatively small scale. The down side is that when the place cools off, no stove can bring it back up in an acceptable amount of time.

 

[Highbeam]

Ok, so they're all going to lie to you and not admit that wood burning "at times" (not often) can be a pain.

Maybe it's just you?

Breathing and even eating can be a hassle at times. It just depends on what you would rather be doing.

 

[turbocruiser]

Wow, thanks for the responses folks! Just the thread rejuvenated me; lots of humor here! Anyway along with a well timed snow storm which hit right after I posted this thread, your responses have really helped me "refine" my understandings. So here's some stuff that I'm going to do to even when it is warmer than it is now and we don't have a foot+ of snow outside.

1. I'm just going to set the furnace's thermostat to 45 or so just so things don't freeze. Previously I had it at 60 and I think what was happening was the furnace was from time to time adding some supplemental heat for the wood stove when I wasn't always aware of it. That sort of sounds very stupid but it is actually not as easy to notice the heat from the furnace sometimes because it has a variable speed blower, the blower is almost always on at least a little for the "circ/vent" functions, and it also has a two stage gas valve for a 50/100 split of overall heating output and because of all those things it really is able to add small amounts of heat and I am not always aware of when it is heating vs. when it is just circulating.

2. I'm going to make much more use out of any of our 14 other thermostat options (windows) without thinking that it is weird to run the stove with a window slightly open.

3. I already have acquired so much wood I'm sort of worried about whether some will last much longer and actually I am purposely burning it now so I don't toss it later so that's a major motivator.

4. I am also pretty motivated to lower the gas bill not because it is high at all (our gas rates are really low, furnace is 93% efficiency, house is well insulated) but just because I like the thought of that and I'm trying to see how long it takes for the stove to really totally pay for itself. The more I make use of the stove and the less I make use of the furnace the faster I'll get to that goal.

Without thinking too much about what I'd rather be doing right after breathing, and eating and uhh all the other things I love to do, I really do love the whole process with heating with fire wood but I admit I am "lazy" sometimes when it is a matter of just letting the furnace turn on for a few minutes, vs. starting a small fire, opening a small window, letting the small fire stop and then closing the window before bed. That's what I will hope to help by doing the four things above. Thanks All! I appreciate the advice equal to the humor here.

 

[Highbeam]

Let it get really cold by spreading out your short burn cycles. You're on the right track with the low stat setting. It's one thing to start a fire when it's 65 inside and 52 outside, quite another when it is 55 inside and 52 outside. You'll be gaining warmth and not overheating, not wasting wood. Temps in the home will vary.

 

[turbocruiser]

Let it get really cold by spreading out your short burn cycles. You're on the right track with the low stat setting. It's one thing to start a fire when it's 65 inside and 52 outside, quite another when it is 55 inside and 52 outside. You'll be gaining warmth and not overheating, not wasting wood. Temps in the home will vary.

Thanks, as another follow up for this I'm really sort of surprised by how much heat my furnace was adding especially as it got later and later at night; during the day the house was staying warm enough even with the thermostat set so low but at night apparently the furnace was adding some heat from time to time. Again I truly realize that sounds super stupid but with the variable speed blower and the two stage valve setup and then also the furnace cycling so constantly for "circ" function, I just wasn't really aware of how subtly heat was getting added. DOH

So along with all the well timed colder weather we've had here recently, the lower thermostat setting has really helped me use my stove more. ( DOH Again ) I've gone from thinking it wasn't worth the trouble for a few more degrees to realizing that by running the stove along with the furnace fan only on circulate I can relatively easily regulate the temperature in the house, not spend a single pretty penny on gas, and still be so eager every time to use the stove. Its such a simple problem really and such a simple fix but I'll hopefully have much more even shoulder seasons if I stick to that temperature on our thermostat. Thanks again as always for all the helpful hints here.

 

[Highbeam]

It actually sounds like you have a really nice furnace. The huge majority of the population depends on a wall thermostat for their heat and many of them with the traditional on/off roar of a forced air furnace. I remember being woke up when ours would kick on when I was a kid.

 

[turbocruiser]

It actually sounds like you have a really nice furnace. The huge majority of the population depends on a wall thermostat for their heat and many of them with the traditional on/off roar of a forced air furnace. I remember being woke up when ours would kick on when I was a kid.

Thanks, yes I really sort of splurged when it was installed. It is a Trane with either 93% or 95% efficiency rating. I too had the typical type once where it was rated at 60 - 70% efficiency with a single speed blower and a singe stage valve and man that thing was really noticeable not just for heat but for "breeze" (it really moved the air around). I don't remember the brand that was but it worked well enough for about 18 years or so then the heat exchanger had some hairline splits in it so I replaced it right away with the Trane.