Pushing a stove hard during cold weather justify a second stove?

[swagler85]

How do u mean the house is insulated a lil too much? What are the symptoms of that? Also, how long between reloads during those cold snaps, etc.?

"Lil too much house for the stove" was meant to imply too much sq footage to heat with the stove during real cold weather, not too much insulation. Sorry, bad choice of words to describe. When pushing the stove load it around 10pm then again around 3am and then burn down coals when I get up at 7 so I can get temps back up on the stove. Upstairs has dropped to 58 at the lowest when doing this. So my thought is instead of waking up in the middle of the night to reload I could just start up a fire in the upstairs and hopefully use the same amount of wood.

 

[wkpoor]

When pushing the stove load it around 10pm then again around 3am and then burn down coals when I get up at 7 so I can get temps back up on the stove. Upstairs has dropped to 58 at the lowest when doing this.​

That sounds like a classic stove pusher senerio. Been there done that in the past. Can't keep house warm in the coaling stage. So you either freeze waiting on coals or just go ahead and pull some out. 8-10-12 or more hr burns means a whole lot of coaling time and for many thats all they need. Options are bigger stove or another stove if wood heat is your aim.

 

[begreen]

Options are bigger stove or another stove if wood heat is your aim.

Or insulating and sealing up the joint to reduce heat loss.

 

[wkpoor]

Or insulating and sealing up the joint to reduce heat loss.​

If I remeber right this guy has a finished basement. It can be challenging even with a perfectly sealed and insulated joint to get the heat up a floor.

 

[SteveKG]

We added a second stove...first one was at one end of the house and we cranked it on really cold days to warm the other end of the house. The second stove helped a lot, the house is warmer and more evenly warmed on about the same amount of wood as with the one stove.

However, no basement, our stoves are on the same level. So our installation is different in that way. But our wood use did not increase as we are able to run both stoves at a lower burn. Not so cold days, we often only burn in one stove or the other.

 

[northwinds]

If I remeber right this guy has a finished basement. It can be challenging even with a perfectly sealed and insulated joint to get the heat up a floor.

House layout is very important. While our house is well-insulated, the stove is located in the lower level where warm air moves freely up to the next level.

 

[swagler85]

Now the next decision is should I buy a small stove to put upstairs, or should I get a much better cat stove for downstairs and move my existing stove to the upstairs.

 

[Ashful]

Now the next decision is should I buy a small stove to put upstairs, or should I get a much better cat stove for downstairs and move my existing stove to the upstairs.

Yes.

Honestly... you're asking a bunch of stove junkies if you should buy more stove(s)?

 

[Slow1]

Depending on how you are pushing that stove you may have gone over the efficiency curve into an area where you are wasting a lot of wood (i.e. the air is so open that a lot more heat goes up the flue or you are shoveling out coals or...).

Anyway - if you have a second stove or you go for a larger stove you may find that you will have a net gain in efficiency and thus this will help to offset the additional stove you are feeding. I doubt it is enough to make up for a second stove burning 24/7 of course (that would be too good to be true) but allowing the stove to run a full cycle at a burn level it has been optimized for should help you get the most heat for your wood.

 

[DianeB]

No one sleeps downstairs but it is our family room is down there and we spend most of our time down there. So I would probably still use the downstairs stove and just run it on low. Wife and I discussed just using the gas furnace but even she much prefers the wood heat over the furnace. So will likely be looking for a small stove to run upstairs. Won't buy anything until spring or summer so in can get a better deal on one, hopefully a store model or display on sale.

Our Castine does a great job heating our upstairs. Only when it got down to zero did it seem to struggle - we are adding attic insulation this year to fix that problem. Our zero temps are usually ony 7-10 days tops each winter.

 

[PA Fire Bug]

We have a similar setup with a family room in basement, living room at opposite end of house. Installing a second stove in our living room was one of our best home improvements. With two stoves, we can choose which one to burn during cool weather and can fire both of them when it is cold. We really enjoy the warmth from the living room stove on cold mornings in the fall and spring. Now we can heat the living room without raising the temperature to 88 degrees in the basement. I don't have a good measure of how much more wood I use but having two stoves is great.

 

[FPX Dude]

Or insulating and sealing up the joint to reduce heat loss.

+1 with BG. U may be losing heat to the elements due to simple air leaks and insulation. I had a home energy efficiency test and found all kinds of unknown problems. Decision to either spend $'s on overall home improvement and retain the heat (and cool better in summer as well), or help to keep the outdoor's warmer. OH wait, I get it, that's where global warming is from?