Comparison of indoor vs outdoor temperatures of huts in the winter

[1ADAM12]

Thinking about going on my first overnight winter adventure but I'm a little nervous about the gear my group has (no sub-zero bags). I'm thinking about making reservations for either the AMC High Cabin, AMC Zealand Hut, RMC Gray Knob hut, USFS Black Mountain Cabin, USFS Doublehead Cabin or a cabins in Savoy SF in MA.

Some questions:
(1) How cold can it possibly get?
(2) What's the coldest temperature you've experienced while sleeping in a hut/cabin in winter in this region? (exterior vs. interior temperatures if you remember both).
(3) For those cabins/huts with wood stoves, do you often find it necessary to replace the wood in the wood stove several times throughout the night?
(4) Say the temperature outside is -10 degrees, what can you reasonably expect the sleeping quarters to be in one or each of the cabins listed below? (with or without the wood stove).
(5) Have any of the wood stoves ever failed you? I had a lot of trouble getting the Black Mountain Cabin stove fired up this past spring. Could be I need to brush up on my fire-starting skills
(6) I'm guessing many of you will be sending me on my way to EMS or REI to buy a -20 degree bag. Any model suggestions?

Any feedback/thoughts/ideas/warnings would be appreciated!

Thanks

I camped out for my first outing about a month ago. The first night it got down to -4F and then the next night it was -13F and my zipper broke on my 0 degree bag Lets just say I was a bit uncomfortable

I am actually rethinking camping again until at least it warms up in the 20's

 

[sierra]

Chip, this is a fantastic post, from start to finish. Excellent.

I agree with Chip. Many many years ago,I snowshoed up to just below the ridgeline on the Carters, pitched my 20 dollar tent ( that collasped when I got in ( did not pack down snow) could not cook or drink due to frozen water, my rainsuit (non breathable 15 bucks had soaked everything I had) AND I was dehydrated and starving! I took one look at my poor very young cousin and calmly stated "we will not survive the night" WE grabbed what we could and basically booked down without stopping, getting to road just at dark. Going down was the only thing I did right that day, but I learned many many things for future hikes. Bottem line for me, minus 20 bag anywhere in the Whites in mandatory. P.S. my old tent is still there if you want it, somewhere up there.