A different kind of heat.

[danrclem]

I know that my house holds heat better since I built a brick wall behind the stove in the basement.

We took a trip for four days last week so I cleaned the propane furnace and left the setting on 60 degrees while we were gone. When we got home it wasn't real cold but cold enough to build a fire. We stayed chilled for quite awhile until the house came up to temperature. I'm not talking about the temperature of the air in the room but the temperature of the structure.

I believe it's a radiant heat combined with the house absorbing the heat and it's a constant heat that makes it feel warmer. A furnace turns on and off while a woodstove is putting out heat 100% of the time that it is burning.

Those four days were they only time I have used propane for heat this season. I wouldn't have left it 60% but I had animals in the house.

 

[woodbooga]

Never given this much thought and have enjoyed the responses.

I will say that there's nothing like coming in out of the cold when it's single digits and warming my hands over the lids above the firebox. First thing I do after I kick off the boots - an involuntary action like blinking or breathing.

The next thing I do is turn to the wife and say, "Lars of marcy, I do decla-ya it's some wickedly frigid with the wind a-gustin ou' thay-ya. Whyn't you put your mind to thinkin' o' some alternt waysa gettin' a body wahm."

When I meet folks "from away" they tell me I talk funny.

 

[Marc]

Sounds nahmal to me, and I'm all d'ways down heah southa Wista. Love the wicked high presi's up in New Hampsha though. Thinking about hiking into tuckahmen's this weekend.

 

[woodbooga]

Sounds nahmal to me, and I'm all d'ways down heah southa Wista. Love the wicked high presi's up in New Hampsha though. Thinking about hiking into tuckahmen's this weekend.

You talk funny, lol.

 

[wdchuck]

What Marc said.
:agree2:

 

[Marc]

You talk funny, lol.

Liar! When have have ever heard me talk? Now I'm going to be all paranoid n stuff.

Now spelling, that's a different story.

 

[woodbooga]

Liar! When have have ever heard me talk? Now I'm going to be all paranoid n stuff.

Now spelling, that's a different story.

LOL. And have fun and be safe on Mt. Washington. On a clear day, I can see its snowy summit beyond the Ossipee Mountains. Haven't hiked it in 15 years.

 

[HuskyMike]

LOL. And have fun and be safe on Mt. Washington. On a clear day, I can see its snowy summit beyond the Ossipee Mountains. Haven't hiked it in 15 years.

I have spent alot of time in Ossipee, I love that area! I wish I could live there!

Ossipee lake is nice and all the other connecting lakes. We spent many years cruising around those lakes and rafting down the Bear camp river (brrr) we used to cook out on the sand bars and stuff. Good memories!

 

[Marc]

LOL. And have fun and be safe on Mt. Washington. On a clear day, I can see its snowy summit beyond the Ossipee Mountains. Haven't hiked it in 15 years.

Always safe. I go there mostly to ski and ice climb. Love the Presi's. For just winter hiking though, I think the Sandwich range or the Pemi is tops for me.

 

[bore_pig]

I think Mark nailed that one real good, all that radiant heat absorbed by our surroundings is partly radiated back to us, warm air= warm summer day in the shade, wood stove heat= warm summer day in the sun...

That's a good analogy!

I would love to see them mts that you guys talk of. Went to Colorado 20 yrs ago. Really liked it! Want to see Warshington next.

 

[excess650]

I have a hard coal stove in the basement of my current house(bilevel), and because of the positive experience, a woodstove in the basement of the new house. I would have preferred hard coal, but it isn't available there, and I have plenty of wood. Regardless, I keep a pot of water on top of the stove to increase humidity in the house. I think the fact that the living space floors are always warm makes the house feel cozy.....that and the fact that its usually above 72F. Baseboard electric heat never felt particularly warm and the bills were outrageous.

The contractor working in the new house(1-1/2 story log) this past weekend commented on it being hot in the new house. The thermostat showed 71F, but the only heat in the house was the woodstove in the basement. It doesn't seem to take much heat to keep the upstairs comfortable once the basement is warm. We have opted for a heatpump for air/heat, but likely will get most heat the woodstove in the basement, and a propane stove in the living room for backup and decor.

 

[flotek]

i think its a combination of the fact theres such little moisture and its feels so dry then theres the radiant heat of a wood fire which is more intense and burns hotter through vents heating air we breathe and al l objects to the same temperature and lastly the homes interior air pressure is changed cold air is being sucked in through cracks gaps and windows and hot air is cycling back through the house

 

[Marc]

i think its a combination of the fact theres such little moisture and its feels so dry then theres the radiant heat of a wood fire which is more intense and burns hotter through vents heating air we breathe and al l objects to the same temperature and lastly the homes interior air pressure is changed cold air is being sucked in through cracks gaps and windows and hot air is cycling back through the house

Actually, moisture increases air's ability to transfer heat, so it makes hot air feel hotter and cold air feel colder.

That's why humidity in the summer makes warm temperatures feel unbearable, and damp days in the fall/winter people will say "chills them to the bone" perhaps even more than a day below freezing with dry air. The dry air is a better insulator and therefore actually robs heat more slowly than slightly warmer much more humid air would.

 

[oldchuck]

Ah, heating with wood is wicked nice.

Some posts above have touched on the reasons heat feels different from different heat sources. It's all on the way it is transferred to people from the heat source, and partially influenced by how ambient temperature is measured commonly in a home.

While standing in line of sight to a radiant source like a woodstove, we feel often much warmer than the ambient air would have us think we should. Why? Because it's radiant heat. Humans, being opaque gray bodies, absorb many wavelengths of incident electromagnetic radiation. We are very poor reflectors (good absorbers) of EM in the infrared spectrum, which is most of what comes from the stove. Sunlight feels warm because we also absorb a fair amount of the visible spectrum as well.

Air, on the other hand, absorbs and reflects very little radiation, most passes through (generally speaking, in the infrared, UV and visible spectrums). So the ambient air temperatures around a stove may remain low, especially soon after start up, while a person standing there absorbing all that radiation will heat up quite fast.

Radiant heaters also heat surfaces in the house, as mentioned above, directly. Walls, floors and ceilings get warm. As they warm above the ambient air temps, they begin to transfer heat to the air via convection (and some conduction, sort of). This is one of the disadvantages of a point source radiant heater... to get the heat transferred to distant areas of the house, they practical way is via air convection currents. Before you can get any hot air to transfer via convection, you have to heat the room surfaces first which takes time, and even when you do, natural convection currents are not very efficient on the same floor (but work well between floors).

Forced hot air, on the other hand... may take some time for things to feel warm. Air is a good insulator, so heated air won't warm humans or home surfaces as fast as radiant heat will (generally speaking). Also, even as the air heats up, the walls may remain cool. This means a net radiation loss from a person to the surrounding walls/foor/ceiling which will make us think the ambient air temperatures are cooler than they actually are.

Ok, sorry, I could go on for a while about this but I'll quit now. I took A LOT of heat transfer in college.

+1. Best explanation. Air is a poor heat transfer medium. Radiant heat of any sort, water, steam, wood, sends heat directly to an object which in turn will warm the air.