Springtime temperatures are finally starting to arrive here in NW Montana.
Daytime temps are now commonly reaching the forties and fifties, and nighttime temps are 25- 40°F.
For the past 6 months, we have been living with Shorty Core and heating with bricks.
We have never had it so easy!
Burning one load of
wood in the morning and one in the evening has been an eye-opening
experience.
We have had at least one window cracked every day & night all winter long! That is how warm heating with bricks is. (Admittedly, our house is small)
Now that it is getting warmer and warmer, we have stopped having any fires in the evening.
One minor fire in the morning is
enough to "recharge" the bricks.
It takes apx 2 hours to notice the bricks heating, and after four hours, they are up to temperature for the next 24 hours.
During the shoulder season, care must be taken to prevent heating those bricks too much. You can easily make them too hot!
To avoid this, I have started to utilize my bell bypass in the morning. It has remained completely closed all winter.
As soon as the fire is lit, the steel airframe and large glass window release a great deal of heat into the room.
When partially open, my chimney temperature rises from 150-180°F to 250°F or more, but nowhere near what a "blaze king" metal box stove sends out every time it is lit!
My bricks currently rise to about 130°F, but during real winter, with two fires a day, they were often 130°F in the morning before lighting a fire and quickly 200°F plus afterwards!
So, there is a learning curve for living with a masonry heater.
But;
You never worry if you added wood to the stove before leaving town.
You will never ever have a chimney fire.
You will not be chimney sweeping ever again.
You will have wood left over every spring and need to cut and split less new wood each year.
You will not be adding pollution to the
local community, and you will be doing your part to negate global warming.
This is a skill well worth learning...
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