Jen’s Boot Camp and Allerton Abbey Experience

I think it would be fair to run the cook stove just for heating at least once a day to simulate having multiple meals in the wofati, as you mentioned in the podcast usually cooking/eating just 1 meal per day. So firing up the cook stove again every day will help simulate that activity, and help minimize additional heat loss to the mass. You could fire it in the morning or evening for the "virtual meal", opposite of the normal time you are already using it. Plus more wood burning might also help with excess humidity?

Having the window treatments up during the night or when away will help limit heat loss, if the tops can be attached to the frames and the bottoms could be rolled up or pinned to the ceiling (says the 6'6" tall guy) when in use during the day.

Joshua Myrvaagnes wrote:

Sometime when you have a few minutes, can any of you describe "pleasant temperature" a little more fully? would an elderly person with poor circulation feel comfortable?  Are you staying bundled up much of the time? are there certain pockets of time when you're cold until you've gotten the fire going?  Thanks!

I can provide a data point/opinion here as I am "over 65" and have been experimenting with the thermostat setting in the house I moved into recently.
At 62F I feel cold normally dressed and need two fleece jackets to feel comfortable. At 68F I am comfortable with one jacket which is my normal winter wear.
I'm not sure how far below 62F I could go and still feel comfortable by adding more clothing layers (long johns etc.).

Bits and bobs :


1) heat from the cooker :
Have you tried using stack effect to draw more air across the surface?  
e.g.  Grab a 4-8 ft piece of ducting from the bone pile or wherever and hold it a few inches above the hot burner area ( maybe with a stand or hanging from the ceiling ) .   It should help get the heat away from that area.    If that works more would work better.
A solid maybe.


2) De humidification :

Intentionally leave one of the windows without a cover to get the water condensing their first, then figure out how to deal with _that_ window condensing.  Possibly a metal plate rather than a window.   Possibly placed in a cold sump / the lowest spot in the area so that the cold doesn't drain the rest of the structure of heat, but can be allowed to get cold enough to dehumidify then let the water flow down ( and out? ).


Good luck!

Tom,

Both of those are cool ideas that we have not tried. Thank you! We will report back any results we get.

Tom Rutledge wrote:

Bits and bobs :


1) heat from the cooker :
Have you tried using stack effect to draw more air across the surface?  
e.g.  Grab a 4-8 ft piece of ducting from the bone pile or wherever and hold it a few inches above the hot burner area ( maybe with a stand or hanging from the ceiling ) .   It should help get the heat away from that area.    If that works more would work better.
A solid maybe.



Good luck!

Great idea! I bet a hood of some sort connected to said ducting would work much better; angle out towards corners and try to get some circulation going. Aim those peltier fans accordingly when they shown up..

Adding surface area to the cooktop seems like it might help too. Old computer heatsinks, aluminum angle scraps...?