This December has been shaping up to be a very cold one. A big surprise was getting snow around Thanksgiving and another surprise was having the temperature fall to -2 degrees last night. Well, since it’s still hovering near -2, I’m inclined to think it went down even lower. When things cool off like this, we tend to want to report extremes.
The way it works is like this: When we wake up in the morning, I turn the pellet stove on. I also walk into the other part of the house where the wood stove resides and get that lit as well. During the day, we feed both stoves. If it’s really cold when we wake up, the temperature in the house is around 40 degrees. It usually takes until noon to heat up to around 65 degrees.
Around 8:30 at night, I’m sweating. The walls have warmed up and if things get too hot, I open the window that I have my desk next to. We keep things like this until around midnight when we get ready for bed. During that time, Laura turns the pellet stove off and I stop adding wood to the wood stove. Overnight, things burn out.
With this recent cold snap, things have changed slightly. I looked at the forecast yesterday morning and noticed that it was going to be very cold for the next few days. I suggested that we keep the pellet stove running through the night and that I fill the wood stove up as much as I could to keep the house warm. In general, I don’t like doing this because, in my humble opinion, it wastes fuel. We kept the stoves on and when we got out of bed this morning, while cool, the temperature hovered around 50 degrees. That’s not bad, considering the wind and freezing temperatures we had last night. Low temps are one thing, low temps and high winds are quite another.
I sort of enjoy waking up in the cold. I like hiding under my blankets until the last minute and then having to rush around trying to get dressed and all that. I feel that this type of thing builds character. If life were too easy, I don’t think I’d be nearly as strong as I am. Since I keep certain areas challenging, I keep myself relevant. It’s weird, but it works.
I wrote all about this in a post from 2013. You should really check it out. It’s delicious.
By the way, if you’d like to see our stove in action, take a look at this video. If you’re viewing via email, you’ll need to click through to the post.
Englander 30-NCH Wood Burning Stove
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You really don’t load that stove up and damper it down? It’s only – what 4 pieces of wood? Then the next morning you have coals and a warmer house.
I try to push it as long as possible, but yes, now that it’s freaking freezing out there, I load this sucker up. It’s a huge stove, so it’s holds a lot though. I really hate burning through wood. So far, this year I’ve burned about 1/4 cord and a 1/2 ton of pellets. I’d say that’s not too shabby. I do suspect that I have a bit of an obsession with this wood thing though. I have a garage full and buy about 3 cord a year. I need to start putting it to good use more.
Jay
I’d say you are doing good with those totals. I burn about 3 full cord in my wood stove insert. Keeps my place toasty. I always load her at night to carry me through.
I was just surprised to see 40 degrees in the AM. Brrrr. I’m hardcore, but not that hardcore.
It’s invigorating for sure. Good thing I’m with someone who knows the cold. If either one of us didn’t like it, we’d have problems.
3 cords is good. I know people around here who burn a heck of a lot more than that. Do you have oil or gas too? We only have wood and pellets.
BTW – I just noticed you are back to posting. Been a while since I’ve checked in.
Hey Ryan! Good to see you back. Yeah, I started posting again a while ago. I thought I had nothing to write about and nearly drove myself crazy. I love blogging too much to stay away. Great to see you reading again!
Jay