howdy folks,
you'll be glad to know we haven't died in our sleep or been asphyxiated with too much hookah smoke
yet.
we were fortunate enough to be on vacation in New Mexico for most of the month of January, which was consistently 20-30 below at nighttime. after many delays from navigator stove works, our stove was waiting for us when we got back, and we have been enjoying its heat immensely for the last week. when we received the TINY box it arrived in, I was a little doubtful that this toy of a woodstove could possibly provide enough heat. but now that it has kept us toasty through the last two nights of subzero temps, I'm loving it.
as soon as we fire it up, the temperature starts rising at about the rate of a degree every minute or two, and the humidity in the trailer starts dropping from 65-70% to about 30%. of course, due to the stove's miniscule firebox and the trailer's relative lack of insulation, it needs a handful of wood about every half hour to keep warming it up. that would probably annoy me if there were any other options... but I think a bigger stove would be uncomfortably hot to be right next to all the time, not to mention the fact that there's not a spot for a bigger stove at the moment. the stainless steel heat shield is doing a great job of reflecting heat and keeping the walls and ceiling cool.
so that's all great, except for a bunch of chips in our $550 porcelain job. it's just an aesthetic thing, but after paying a ridiculous amount of money and dealing with totally crappy customer service for three months, I was hoping to at least get a near-perfect stove out of it. but we sure as hell aren't returning it... because we finally have all the heat we could possibly need! and it's awesome.
our PV panels have been providing ample electricity to run lights, music, and computer whenever we want, and the dust buster and propane furnace at strategic times. and as the sun rises higher in the sky each day, we're definitely gonna be rolling in electricity. haven't had to use the generator yet, and the most we've discharged the batteries is down to 75% full.
here are some pics of the woodstove, and our thermometer showing that it's -13 degrees outside and 70 degrees inside. yay!
I've also discovered the joy of skiing down the hill from school to the trailer, which is what I'm gonna go do now.
thanks for reading, have a great weekend!