Wood Stoves: what's new in the world of wood heat.

[Fe Man]

66 upstairs this morning,
54 downstairs in my office.

Something has to be done as there is no excuse for a house built in the last 30 years to be so cold.

[A-Bone]

Originally Posted by Fe Man

66 upstairs this morning,
54 downstairs in my office.

Something has to be done as there is no excuse for a house built in the last 30 years to be so cold.

Have you turned on the heat yet this year??

[a1fa]

The heat raises.. move to the top bunk.

[Fe Man]

Originally Posted by A-Bone

Have you turned on the heat yet this year??

Originally Posted by a1fa

The heat raises.. move to the top bunk.

Good one A-Bone, but yes, the heat is on. Fe Woman is keeping it low to try and save money. We need the insulation fairies to visit our attic!

[A-Bone]

Originally Posted by Fe Man

Good one A-Bone, but yes, the heat is on. Fe Woman is keeping it low to try and save money. We need the insulation fairies to visit our attic!

I'm not sure what the building standards are down there, but even up here (New Hampster) it is amazing how drafty and poorly insulated many homes built over the last couple of decades are... I'm telling you, there would be a market for super-high efficiency homes around here if they could be built within a couple percentage points of a regular house..

[MudWalker]

I keep adding insulation to my home and it helps but the real deal breaker is the glass. We are passive solar and during a sunny day it's great but if you don't close the curtains at night it's really drafty. My stove pulls the cold air across the room and it feels like wind......if you sit sideways to the stove on a cold night one side is toast and the other is cool.

I will eventually give up our floor to ceiling south facing fixed panels for smaller units with operable awning units at the sill and hydronic heat below.

Anyway, is the problem maybe lots of glass and maybe not lack of insulation?

We have a online program here in NY called rescheck that all new buildings and additions have to pass. It's very interesting, if you have a building that is not passing and you simply try to add additional insulation to the envelope to get it to pass it won't work. If you want dramatic positive performance results, just reduce the glazed area from your exterior walls and bam, the building passes. Recently, on a set of house plans the client insisted on tons of windows and glass doors which I gave her but when I ran rescheck sure enough, no go. I raised all the window sills by 3" (keeping the heads the same) and I got a passing mark. The owner never noticed. Point being glass sucks when talking heat loss! If your going to invest money and time, the best bang for the buck is good windows!

[A-Bone]

Originally Posted by MudWalker

We have a online program here in NY called rescheck that all new buildings and additions have to pass. It's very interesting, if you have a building that is not passing and you simply try to add additional insulation to the envelope to get it to pass it won't work. If you want dramatic positive performance results, just reduce the glazed area from your exterior walls and bam, the building passes. Recently, on a set of house plans the client insisted on tons of windows and glass doors which I gave her but when I ran rescheck sure enough, no go. I raised all the window sills by 3" (keeping the heads the same) and I got a passing mark. The owner never noticed.

Makes sense... the R value, even on brand-new, decent quality windows, is pretty damn low... in fact.. shockingly low...

http://www.coloradoenergy.org/procor...f/r-values.htm

Really the major savings in upgrading to new windows from old windows is in air-infiltration via tighter constuction....

[MudWalker]

Originally Posted by A-Bone

Makes sense... the R value, even on brand-new, decent quality windows, is pretty damn low... in fact.. shockingly low...

http://www.coloradoenergy.org/procor...f/r-values.htm

Really the major savings in upgrading to new windows from old windows is in air-infiltration via tighter constuction....

one pane of glass is less than R-1.

New triple pane insulated units are above R-3, the difference is huge.

I remember my old house.....single pane with storms. I added the tape on plastic on the inside and what a difference! In the kitchen I used to smoke by the stove exhaust and hang with the wife........I melted a perfect head hole in the bottom of the plastic panel and the amount of cold air rushing thru that little hole was enough to put out a match. That's infiltration. Adding insulating glass fixes heat loss, both contribute to a drafty house.

[adam_c_eckhardt]

Originally Posted by A-Bone

I'm telling you, there would be a market for super-high efficiency homes around here if they could be built within a couple percentage points of a regular house..

That's the tricky part. Our latest research is on doing ICFs all the way to the roof. Originally the cost was way too high, but after shopping around and finding a guy that's willing to work with us through it- it might pencil out. Obviously I'll keep you in the loop and hope you'll stop by from time to time after we break ground.

oh yeah- I just bought an excavator. Pics to come.

[pilot]

Originally Posted by MudWalker

My stove pulls the cold air across the room and it feels like wind......if you sit sideways to the stove on a cold night one side is toast and the other is cool.

I take it you didn't plumb in a combustion air intake for the stove. That's a common mistake and one that is easy to deal with during construction, not so much after.

It also reduces the low humidity problem.

[MudWalker]

Originally Posted by pilot

I take it you didn't plumb in a combustion air intake for the stove. That's a common mistake and one that is easy to deal with during construction, not so much after.

It also reduces the low humidity problem.

I'm considering an outdoor air kit, it would help to create pressure inside the house instead of sucking cold dry air in. My stove is all set to add the kit, but plumbing a duct to the outside is a pain, my hearth is tile and the stove weighs about 700lbs.

[Mr Natural]

Been looking at the concept of rocket mass stoves, focusing on hot, clean burns, and suckin as much heat as possible from the burn.

[MudWalker]

Originally Posted by Mr Natural

Been looking at the concept of rocket mass stoves, focusing on hot, clean burns, and suckin as much heat as possible from the burn.

Those things are very nice!

[Mr Natural]

Originally Posted by MudWalker

Those things are very nice!

Makes me want to be a dog.

[A-Bone]

Originally Posted by MudWalker

I'm considering an outdoor air kit, it would help to create pressure inside the house instead of sucking cold dry air in. My stove is all set to add the kit, but plumbing a duct to the outside is a pain, my hearth is tile and the stove weighs about 700lbs.

Do you have a basement?? If so, it could be a pretty simple DIY.

If so here is what you may need:

• A hole in the floor near the hearth.
• A vent for the hole that will accept a flexable duct.
• An insulated flexable duct.
• A foundation penetration or retrofitted basement window with vent that will accpt the duct.
• A temp sensor near the stove.
• A temp sensor regulated air damper set to open the damper once the sensor reads above say 105*. There are sensors for all different temps.

Many new, tight houses have a similar set up, but the damper is set to open when the furnace is running.

My next house will have an outside air set-up... current house can't be retrofitted due to a lack of basement under where the stove is...