Expected temperature

Post by **k-2** » Mon. Jan. 06, 2025 9:23 am

If it gets too cold ill start the wood stove. That beast heats up the 20 by 20 room its in to 90 deg plus.
I have fans to distribute the heat to other rooms. Havnt had it running for 2 years.

Post by **Sneuf** » Tue. Jan. 07, 2025 12:23 pm

k-2 wrote: ↑Mon. Jan. 06, 2025 9:23 am I find when it is single digits outside, any room in my home regardless of the temperature is very warm.

I get it: comfort is relative to a person’s tolerance for cold and it’s good to keep in mind whatever it feels like it could be worse.

Nevertheless no one I know would rent a hotel room or Airbnb, find its drafty and cold and be satisfied they got comfy socks and blankets. That expectation of comfort isn’t about money paid for the space I think but rather an expectation of it being like their house.

Here I’ve got some unique challenges in this house due to the amount of drafts in each room that I’ve been working year to year to find and fix.

I recently saw some info stating that in my climate zone (upstate ny) the heating appliance to choose should have a btu output of 50-60 btu/sqft * house sqft. For me that calc works out to be 110k BTU.

Since this Harman is 85k BTU I thought it’d never be able to provide Airbnb comfort solo. I had started to look at upgrading the stove.

On this day my indoor temps range from 72(room with stove) to 52(farthest from stove). But now it seems that some people have more sqft, similar btu output and indoor temps between high 60s to low 70s. I’d prefer this narrower range and having the Harman as the heat source.

Post by **Sneuf** » Tue. Jan. 07, 2025 12:29 pm

k-2 wrote: ↑Mon. Jan. 06, 2025 9:23 am If it gets too cold I’ll start the wood stove. That beast heats up the 20 by 20 room its in to 90 deg plus.
I have fans to distribute the heat to other rooms. Havnt had it running for 2 years.

I wish I could have one in my kitchen which is typically between low 50s to low 60s.

Post by **k-2** » Tue. Jan. 07, 2025 3:05 pm

Sneuf wrote: ↑Tue. Jan. 07, 2025 12:29 pm I wish I could have one in my kitchen which is typically between low 50s to low 60s.

Its just a big stove for an open concept home. Any home with a bunch of small rooms does not lend itself to a large woodstove . I also have a large woodstove in a different house im rehabbing thats all open and it works much better. My stove will heat 3- 1000sq ft floors well if i run a couple fans under floor vents. You can buy a cooking woodstove that are very nice. I dont let my place get under 75 in any room in winter.

Post by **k-2** » Tue. Jan. 07, 2025 3:07 pm

Post by Sneuf » Tue. Jan. 07, 2025 12:23 pm

"k-2 wrote: ↑Mon. Jan. 06, 2025 9:23 am
I find when it is single digits outside, any room in my home regardless of the temperature is very warm."
' I get it: comfort is relative to a person’s tolerance for cold and it’s good to keep in mind whatever it feels like it could be worse.

That was coldhouse that wrote that.

Post by **ColdHouse** » Tue. Jan. 07, 2025 4:14 pm

The wind and teen temperatures have made my upstairs colder than I would like. Basement is plenty warm. First floor comfortable but my bedroom is frigid. Last night I didn't turn up the stove so I woke up to a cooler home. First floor was only 65 where it normally is 70. Bedroom was 56.
So I am cranking up the stoves a little to hopefully get a little more heat.
I don't mind the bedroom too much because under the covers. It is a little nippy coming out of the shower.
Gonna put an ice scraper on the counter to clear the mirrors, lol.
Wife not bitching so I'm not going to worry too much about it. Freaking wind is howling though.

I have this Casablanca ceiling fan that is probably 1980 Vintage. Thing is very detailed and has a light. It hangs from the vaulted ceiling at the top of the stair case on the second floor. About a year ago it got finicky and stopped working. I bought a new control board and switch a year ago and just installed it last week. I turned on that fan to help bring the heat upstairs. My guess is that if I bought a new fan it wouldn't be as good as the one already there and would have been more work than fixing the one in place.

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Post by **Sneuf** » Wed. Jan. 08, 2025 11:59 am

k-2 wrote: ↑Tue. Jan. 07, 2025 3:05 pm My stove will heat 3- 1000sq ft floors well if i run a couple fans under floor vents. You can buy a cooking woodstove that are very nice. I dont let my place get under 75 in any room in winter.

I’m wondering about adding a floor vent to the farthest room for a cold air return line with an in-line fan midway. I’m just not convinced it’d make a difference yet. Seems like there’s still too much draft in the rooms the warm air would pass through. I’m worried it’d make the coldest room warmer and the warmer rooms colder.
The kitchen has a vaulted ceiling so that would definitely make things better. I think to install one I’d have to first get to a better temperature range and figure out how to reconfigure the kitchen layout.
75 sound awesome. I think the only way I’d get that here would be to build a greenhouse over this one.

Post by **Sneuf** » Wed. Jan. 08, 2025 6:40 pm

ColdHouse wrote: ↑Tue. Jan. 07, 2025 4:14 pm The wind and teen temperatures have made my upstairs colder than I would like. Basement is plenty warm. First floor comfortable but my bedroom is frigid. Last night I didn't turn up the stove so I woke up to a cooler home. First floor was only 65 where it normally is 70. Bedroom was 56.

I had 64*F early this morning then down to 61*F around noon and it’s been recently creeping back up 63*F. Burned 40lbs of coal in 11 hrs and unable to hit my min temp target of 66*F. Maybe I should change the minimum to “whatever the house and weather want”. Ugh.

My wife has had been ok with this and the kids don’t seem to notice…because the stove is in the living room and there’s always a warm room to retreat to.

We also have a vaulted ceiling (though the execution isn’t that refined.

) but it’s above the kitchen. My thought is that distance from the stove and the ceiling height are why its so cold in there. Unfortunately the kitchen and living room are the most frequently occupied spaces during the day.

Hopefully I can find a few more manageable fixes to improve things this heating season as well as plan to fix during the off season. Thanks.

Post by **ColdHouse** » Thu. Jan. 09, 2025 5:28 am

Yesterday evening it was pretty warm in the living room so I closed the ash pan vent ever so slightly. The night before I was kinda hot under the blankets. Well this morning it is 68 on first floor hallway and colder again in bedroom.

I think the big factor is the wind. It has been relentless for going on three or more days. My suspicion is that more heat is going up chimney.

I tended the stove when I woke up and didn't add as much fuel so that is a plus. As stated a couple of times, normally the house is comfortable so I will just deal with the colder bedrooms.

Post by **warminmn** » Thu. Jan. 09, 2025 7:58 am

Sneuf wrote: ↑Wed. Jan. 08, 2025 6:40 pm
We also have a vaulted ceiling (though the execution isn’t that refined. ) but it’s above the kitchen. My thought is that distance from the stove and the ceiling height are why its so cold in there. Unfortunately the kitchen and living room are the most frequently occupied spaces during the day.

Hopefully I can find a few more manageable fixes to improve things this heating season as well as plan to fix during the off season. Thanks.

Try running a fan in different positions. Straight up at the tall ceiling for one, aimed at different walls at upward angles to push air in circles, etc. Put a thermometer in a couple rooms. Leave everything alone, the fan, stove, a couple hours at a time and notice which one raises the temps the best in the other rooms. You have to try everything a couple times to be sure it wasnt a fluke and even wind direction can affect it.

Also fans in doorways on the floor pointed towards the hot room can really get heat moving too. You dont have to run the fans full bore. Low or medium should be ok.

Post by **Sneuf** » Mon. Jan. 13, 2025 9:18 am

warminmn wrote: ↑Thu. Jan. 09, 2025 7:58 am Try running a fan in different positions. Straight up at the tall ceiling for one, aimed at different walls at upward angles to push air in circles, etc.

Just want to say thanks for this! I have a ceiling fan in the kitchen but never thought to turn it on. Turned out the fan needs replacing so I put a box fan and oriented it as suggested. The temp has been 62*F but what I notice is the floor just warm enough to walk comfortably on it with socks.

I did this after blocking off an adjacent loft that’s not being used as a living space which I think helped confine whatever heat made it that far to a smaller volume.

Post by **warminmn** » Mon. Jan. 13, 2025 3:32 pm

Glad it worked! Air movement is 2nd after creating the heat.

Post by **ColdHouse** » Mon. Jan. 13, 2025 4:28 pm

warminmn wrote: ↑Mon. Jan. 13, 2025 3:32 pm Glad it worked! Air movement is 2nd after creating the heat.

Fan on Wrought Iron directs air into living room.

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Ceiling fan draws air upstairs.

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Fan on flattened expanded metal door blows into bedroom.

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