I still am using the old smoke dragon this year. I had every intention of building a RMH this year but I changed jobs and just ran out of time to build. I did get an upgrade done on the old stove. The old grate had broken in several pieces and I had filled the gaps with firebrick to get us thru last winter. I took it to my dad (who has better tools and welding skills than I do) for some repairs. He took the grates out of another stove and rebuild my stove. This is the old smoke dragon:
We have already had snow a couple of time this year. It is currently 35 outside and 73 in the house.
Just thru a log on the fire which was down to a smolder:
After a couple of minutes it took off:
This morning I woke up to 20 outside and 66 inside. I am also burning some odd shaped stuff and short cut offs. By the time winter gets here I will be into prime wood that should hold the fire overnight much better. But I also have great insulation here. My walls are 16 inches thick with brick, block, and studs with a couple of different types of insulation in there. I also have 13 inches of insulation overhead (R-31 on top of R-11) and good windows and doors. It is on a concrete pad so no insulation below. While there may be houses that are better insulated, I am also build into a hillside so part of the house is underground for even more insulation.
One thing I am curious about is where everyone is reading their temperatures at. While it is 73 on my thermostat (10 feet from the stove) it is only 65 in the bedrooms in the back of the house. I can limit the temperature difference to about 12 degrees on the coldest days with some fans placed to move the cold air back to the stove. When you guys say you are waking up to 60 degrees is that in the whole house or do you have a big temp difference from the living room (with the stove) to the bed rooms?