The Vent and Rant Thread

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

Oh yeah... work! Work. WORK!!!

After 10 years of heating a house with only a wood stove (which did a very nice job of keeping us warm even with weeks of below Zero temps) my happiest memory of winter was moving into a house with electric heat and a thermostat!

Finally getting to sleep in on Sunday mornings, not having to get up to fill the stove early when the temperature was -30. No more carrying wood from the pile outside to the pile inside. No more cutting, splitting, and stacking 7 cord in the front yard. I'd hate to think about adding MAKING 7 chord of these bricks!

Stitchawl

The guy I work with lives up in the mountains near Denver and does exactly that every winter....

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by kennyc

The guy I work with lives up in the mountains near Denver and does exactly that every winter....

I did like the fact that I didn't have to pay for heat through long, cold northern New England winters. I like the fact that we could use a renewable resource to keep us warm. I loved the smell of the house in winter. We used a Jotul stove that was very efficient and effective. I had my own wood lot behind the house with plenty of past-their-prime hardwoods and white and gray birches. After the first year my wood was always cut, split, and dried in the barn for the following year so dry wood was never a problem. One weekend in the fall my neighbor and I would rent a power splitter, and we split his and mine, working together. It was work, but doing it together with the wives and kids was fun... but...

... it was the daily grind, day after day starting in September and not ending until May, fill the stove at 11pm, wake up at 8 and fill the stove again. Carrying loads of wood into the house, spilling sawdust, bark, and wood chips all over that had to be cleaned up. Emptying out the ashes and carrying them outside, sweeping up what fell on the floor... In January and Feburary, giving the stove an extra feeding at 6pm, and burning it hot so the house would be nice and warm for showers. Always having to BE home to fill the stove so the pipes wouldn't freeze up. If we wanted to go away for the weekend we had to arrange for the neighbor to fill the stove for us. The twice a year mess of cleaning the chimney, trying not to fall off the roof as I did it.

As I said, getting a place with a thermostat was truly a blessing.


Stitchawl

[dreams]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

Oh yeah... work! Work. WORK!!!

After 10 years of heating a house with only a wood stove (which did a very nice job of keeping us warm even with weeks of below Zero temps) my happiest memory of winter was moving into a house with electric heat and a thermostat!

Finally getting to sleep in on Sunday mornings, not having to get up to fill the stove early when the temperature was -30. No more carrying wood from the pile outside to the pile inside. No more cutting, splitting, and stacking 7 cord in the front yard. I'd hate to think about adding MAKING 7 chord of these bricks!

Stitchawl

I had to look to make sure this wasn't me posting.

I hated having to keep the wood pile full and the stove going. For a few years, I had a neighbor that would go over and start my stove an hour or so before I came home so the house would be warm for me. I use to set my alarm to wake me up, so I could reload the stove in the middle of the night, so it would be warm in the morning.

I still come home at night and wake in the morning thankful for electric heat, now.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by dreams

I had to look to make sure this wasn't me posting.

LOL!

I hated having to keep the wood pile full and the stove going. For a few years, I had a neighbor that would go over and start my stove an hour or so before I came home so the house would be warm for me. I use to set my alarm to wake me up, so I could reload the stove in the middle of the night, so it would be warm in the morning.

That was the beauty of the Jotul stove. It was so efficient that I could put in three splits of wood 20" long at 11pm, and the house would still be warm at 8am and there would be plenty of coals left to get the next load of wood going. Once the cold weather hit, we never had to re-light the stove as long as we filled it twice a day. And only in the sub-zero weather did we need to give it a third filling in the early evening.

I still come home at night and wake in the morning thankful for electric heat, now.

I bow down to the God Thermostat. Now, living in a more sane climate, we heat the house with a DeLonghi Oil-filled electric heater and a couple of small fans to blow the hot air around as the winter temps usually stay just above freezing. Usually. As long as there is no major earth quake we never lose power. The cat has pulled her cushion next to the heater and has settled in for the winter.


Stitchawl

[SameOldStory]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

I did like the fact that I didn't have to pay for heat through long, cold northern New England winters. I like the fact that we could use a renewable resource to keep us warm. I loved the smell of the house in winter. We used a Jotul stove that was very efficient and effective. I had my own wood lot behind the house with plenty of past-their-prime hardwoods and white and gray birches. After the first year my wood was always cut, split, and dried in the barn for the following year so dry wood was never a problem. One weekend in the fall my neighbor and I would rent a power splitter, and we split his and mine, working together. It was work, but doing it together with the wives and kids was fun... but...


... it was the daily grind, day after day starting in September and not ending until May, fill the stove at 11pm, wake up at 8 and fill the stove again. Carrying loads of wood into the house, spilling sawdust, bark, and wood chips all over that had to be cleaned up. Emptying out the ashes and carrying them outside, sweeping up what fell on the floor... In January and Feburary, giving the stove an extra feeding at 6pm, and burning it hot so the house would be nice and warm for showers. Always having to BE home to fill the stove so the pipes wouldn't freeze up. If we wanted to go away for the weekend we had to arrange for the neighbor to fill the stove for us. The twice a year mess of cleaning the chimney, trying not to fall off the roof as I did it.

As I said, getting a place with a thermostat was truly a blessing.


Stitchawl

Well .... At least you didn't have to pay for it.

[kindlekitten]

well, you know what they say about heating with wood... it warms you twice!

[poohbear_nc]

I bow down to the God Thermostat. Now, living in a more sane climate, we heat the house with a DeLonghi Oil-filled electric heater and a couple of small fans to blow the hot air around as the winter temps usually stay just above freezing. Usually. As long as there is no major earth quake we never lose power. The cat has pulled her cushion next to the heater and has settled in for the winter.

I have a couple of these heaters too - we have a gas furnace for the house - but when the price of gas skyrocketed a couple of years back we bought the DeLonghi heaters and oscillating tower fans so we could lower the thermostat and decrease our use of the furnace.
When we roll them out in the fall, the cats begin scuffling to sleep on the side of the heater away from the fan! They've really made a difference in our gas bills in the winter.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

my happiest memory of winter was moving into a house with electric heat and a thermostat!

Although I bet your wallet wasn't happy. I think electric heat is the most expensive you can get.

That said, we have electric heat here in florida. Well it's really a heat pump. But we don't run the heat more than for a few weeks of days.

BOb

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Although I bet your wallet wasn't happy. I think electric heat is the most expensive you can get.

That said, we have electric heat here in florida. Well it's really a heat pump. But we don't run the heat more than for a few weeks of days.

BOb

and all of the rest of the time it is air conditioning

[dreams]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

well, you know what they say about heating with wood... it warms you twice!

I can think that now, but if anyone had said that while I was trying to cut and stack wood... well, let me just say, that they wouldn't have been found again until Spring time.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

and all of the rest of the time it is air conditioning

Not "all" but a lot. Just like you run heat most of the year. There are probably about two months of days where we don't run the heat or the A/C. Usually November and April.

Although, running the A/C is much cheaper than the heat.

BOb

[devilsadvocate]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Not "all" but a lot. Just like you run heat most of the year. There are probably about two months of days where we don't run the heat or the A/C. Usually November and April.

Although, running the A/C is much cheaper than the heat.

BOb

See, this is one of the (few) things I like about the Midwest; it's not all about extremes. Heat runs for 3 months, A/C for maybe 2 months (and even then not every day).

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by dreams

I can think that now, but if anyone had said that while I was trying to cut and stack wood... well, let me just say, that they wouldn't have been found again until Spring time.

my Dad was quite fond of telling me that when I was splitting and stacking wood

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Not "all" but a lot. Just like you run heat most of the year. There are probably about two months of days where we don't run the heat or the A/C. Usually November and April.

Although, running the A/C is much cheaper than the heat.

BOb

we really do not run the heat that much either

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

We run the heating for about 3-4 months (although not always every day), and we don't have a/c

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

I have a couple of these heaters too - we have a gas furnace for the house - but when the price of gas skyrocketed a couple of years back we bought the DeLonghi heaters and oscillating tower fans so we could lower the thermostat and decrease our use of the furnace.
When we roll them out in the fall, the cats begin scuffling to sleep on the side of the heater away from the fan! They've really made a difference in our gas bills in the winter.

The DeLonghi heaters really are a God-send. It's amazing how such a small unit can produce so much steady heat, yet not be blistering hot right next to it!


Stitchawl