My winter heating history.

[OAITW r.2.0]

Growing up in So. Maine, my folks put an oil furnace with forced hot water/BB heating in the house they built, in 1959. I was 6. Sisters, - 5 and 4. Never thought about the coldthru....always. We had serious snow winters back in the early 60's...incredible amounts of snow.

But I moved to Central Maine in the early 80's. Bought a duplex in a small, thriving Central Maine town. I lived on the 2nd floor with my wife Tammy (grhs). No insulation to speak of. Windows were incredibly loose and porous. Heat source: kerosene drip stove. Sand bed. a continuous kerosene pilot, once lit. Drip, drip, drip. Lotsa fumes. Fire Hazard. Eventually replaced with a woodstove - a small Consolidated Dutchwest box. Incredible heat change. Downside, I had to carry the wood up 30 ft. stairs, then another 30 ft. to the stove - between 40-60 lbs per carry, 3-4 times a day. And depending on the weather.
Relined the chimneys to safely single flue burn for both apartments with separate oil furnace set-up, downstairs.

Heat requirements totally changed when I ripped out the interior horsehair plaster/lathe wall system - restuffed cavities with R-19? insulation and sheet-rocked, Big Diff. Next, the windows: rebuilt the woodframe and lead ballast windows, but added exterior storms bought to accommodate the bay window design, The result being an apartment of approx 1100 st and it effectively heated us on about 1.5 cord of wood/winter.....given the insulation/window upgrades I made.

>>>>Next Installment: The next move and the energy lessons learned on buying high land 50 acres with an 1850's built farmhouse.

[2naSalit]

1. That's a lot of improvement butworth it...

Especially considering what you started with. I just spent a few night sitting a friend's dog at their place because the primary heat was wood and someone had to keep the fire going and tend to the dogs. It was a really nice place at a fantastic location, and dogs.

Having to rely on the stove was a good reminder, it's been about five years since I had a wood stove for heat, I think I did well. Never got below 66F or higher than 68F, they have a nice set up for a big 2 story.

[elleng]

2. WHEW!!!

I rent an OLD house, was once farmhouse, I think, 100+ years old, and thank goodness landlord and is family attended to 'necessaries' years ago; PERFECTLY comfortable! (Southern MD, so winter is merely another season, not THE season, here.)

[blm]

3. Still sounds cozy.

🔥 🔥

[rsdsharp]

4. I grew up in NE Iowa in the 50s and 60s in a house built in 1907.

The furnace was coal, later converted to gas, but there was never forced air heat upstairs where the kids slept. Lots of heavy blankets during the winter. I woke up in the morning more than once with a thin film of ice on the water in the glass next to my bed.

[OAITW r.2.0]

5. On the plains? I can imagine the winds coming out of the East Rockies and chilling your world.

In my life, I have had heat security. I still do, but I am happy having a wooden stove providing the hot air that keeps the 2nd floor comfortable....unles the stove needs a recharge. But I also have an electric blanket (non-LED) that provides the perfect level of heat I need to sleep well (currently at 3)

[rsdsharp]

6. No, this was a small town in Iowa.

Probably 700 miles from the eastern Rockies. Our weather pretty much came down from Canada and the Dakotas.

[OAITW r.2.0]

7. Cold Air is friggen cold air....from where-ever it comes.

[rsdsharp]

8. Got that right!

[Bayard]

9. We love our wood stove

Not only is it very cost effective and efficient, its so nice to sit in front of in the evening, and be quite comfy. Mr. Bayard installed electric heaters in the bath and bedroom walls to supplement. We have 9 inch thick logs on our cabin, but the roof is not insulated (we did NOT build it, and have been correcting things since buying).

We have a ton of our own wood now, since having several large dead walnut trees taken down. Dry and ready to burn.

[3Hotdogs]

10. Biggest return on insulation is in the attic. If you put it between the joists,

do not put it directly on the roof's sheathing. Hang it an inch or two below the sheathing.

My daughter bought a wood pellet stove. Quite happy with it.... Western N.J.

[jpak]

11. I shared an old house in Bangor with a friend

It was heated by a huge wood fired cook stove that we frantically stoked when we got home.

There was a little fancy parlor stove that was trusted during the day...

One cold homecoming, we had no kindling, and ransacked the basement for anything that burned.

Found a 2 pound coffee can packed full of dope

Smoked the shit out of it after we bought a real wood supply.

Hee Hee