[Greenbuilding] Wood by the pound.

[John Straube]

In the four family homes with wood stoves/fireplaces that I am closely familiar with, the temperature is always much higher when wood is being burned.  Not sure why this is the case but I am guessing that it is because the output of a wood appliance is harder to modulate over a wide range. The low cost of wood is also likely a factor.  Many people like the warm temperatures to dry out wet boots, wet mits, and wet wood.  Whatever the reason I associate wood heat with much warmer temperatures in my part of Ontario.
That said, wood heated houses tend to have quite cold "edges", ie, the upstairs corner room could be 50F while the kitchen is at 78F.  
This wide variation in temperature is an issue for many people and seems to be one factor that limits the wide spread adoption of this heating.
In my own very well insulated and airtight home, the 600 sf space with the fireplace often is 75 to 78F and the coldest corner of the house (basement, far corner) can be 10 F cooler.  In my parents very leaky and poorly insulated 100 yr old home, the temperature is often 80F in the kitchen and 40F in the upstairs far corner room during a 10F night.

John

On 2010-12-27, at 11:45 AM, Reuben Deumling wrote:

> 
> 
> On Mon, Dec 27, 2010 at 5:15 AM, Corwyn <corwyn at midcoast.com> wrote:
>  That is, wood heats the same way that oil, or gas heats, so calculating heat loss is sufficient without adding the complication of worrying about fuel type.
> 
> That I wonder about. My guess would be that wood used to stoke a wood stove (rather than say an automated pellet or chip burner which are more common in Europe at the household scale) would be different in terms of the terminal temperature portion of this calculation. The fact that we are the regulator rather than a thermostat, not to mention that most of us who heat with wood are involved in a large number of stages in the preparation of the fuel, I could imagine that we might husband the wood/choose a different or more variable terminal temperature/etc. than if we were heating with a liquid fuel. But this is mostly just speculation. 
> The physics, which I think is what you were driving at, Corwyn, is probably as you say. My interest was in the social--if that is the right term--end of the wood heat circumstances.
> 
> Reuben Deumling
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Dr John Straube, P.Eng.
Associate Professor
University of Waterloo
Dept of Civil Eng. & School of Architecture
www.buildingscience.com

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