Note: This post was written while we were living in the house. We keep the RV thermostat at 65F to avoid condensation.
The thermostat is currently sitting at 55F we hope to save a pretty penny this winter on heating – actually, it’s been a few days since the AC was last turned on. Wearing loose fitting clothes and getting up and lifting some weights occasionally, 55F is no big deal. Of course for those who are used to 75F and prefer to wear shorts and t-shirts during the winter while sitting still, 55F is a big deal. If wearing more than one layer feels too casual,A space heater can be a good solution
. The idea is to heat the living room with a space heater and leave the rest of the house cool. It is not the right solution. Normally the normal temperature, when one side of you is warm while the other is cold due to having a space heater on one side of you, or the temperature change from moving from a warm room to a cool room or vice versa, you feel uncomfortable. there are always cool temperatures. Choose yourself.
55F is the lower limit of the thermostat because plumbing becomes vulnerable at lower temperatures. Do not set the thermostat below 55F.After buying a space heater and realizing we already had one (beware: throw away extra stuff! Buying something because you forget you already have it is pretty embarrassing if you’re running a thrifty blog), it was decided to expand the wood stove. use. Indeed, we have a wood stove, but mostly being lazy and all, I’d rather get used to the cold than try to fight it and that means lifting tons of pig iron – hey, it’s a good way to get buff at the beach. .
Fortunately, firewood can be collected for free on craigslist . However, free firewood comes with some caveats attached. Unless you’ve been lucky enough to find dips in someone else’s wood first because they’ve just switched to another fireplace, free wood usually means scrap wood or rounds from someone else’s yard. The giver’s main motive is to make ends meet. The main motivation of the collector is free heat.Scrap wood like 2x4s, boards, etc. is often a risky proposition. It will usually be painted or treated with a fire retardant that makes it useless in the heat.
We have gone on many goose chases to find free firewood where most of it turned out to be unsuitable for burning. . On the other hand, clean wood is dry and burns well. After realizing the significant cost of petrol to pick it up we don’t go out of our way to get it. The problem is that we have a compact hatchback and there is a limit to what plan will fit in the back. Maybe a 10 day heat. So it’s not worth spending more than $10 on gas to get it. In fact, I think we will lower this limit due to our limited upload capacity. Just talking, we’ve been talking about getting a truck the next time we buy a car oh say 10 years.Unlike rounds which are usually cut in chains to a suitable length, scrap wood comes in odd lengths. DW initially suggested we get a power saw. No no no no! Like electric screwdrivers, automatic egg boilers, and bread machines, chainsaws are another sign that the world has gone mad. Sawing, like rolling (ahem!), boiling eggs, and baking bread can be done by hand. To cut wood of this size “by hand”, you need a bow saw or a frame saw. Now, it turns out that It is NOT possible to buy a bow saw or at least not possible here. We tried three different hardware stores and all they had were chainsaws and… chainsaws. So I had to bite the bullet (ie. shipping costs) and get it online. I got this bow saw. It just arrived today and I was immediately out cutting some of our tall wood. They are like their toys. It was a bit expensive, but I’ve known Bahco since I was a kid. My dad got a set of Bahco screws that last forever unlike the 14 piece sets one usually gets at hardware stores.
Buying quality is usually much cheaper in the long run. Plus, it’s a lot of fun to use a good tool or anything good for that matter. This saw goes through the wood like butter, I mean, I used my grandfather’s saws, but this one is like magic. And replacing pushups. I just have to remember to use my left arm like my right arm. Now all I have to do is train DW to use a crossbow and his skills will be perfect (he’s not a jedi yet).Another free wood choice is round
. Cycles are a better option. They are always on fire. They usually come from untreated (freshly cut) wood and thus are not good for this season. So this is an investment for next winter. Fire-sized rounds with a diameter of two meters are also quite heavy. Getting them into the car without scratching anything is good cross training. As well as dividing the rounds. I already had a hammer so instead of getting a $30 dollar splitting maul, I got a $7 splitting wedge. . The link is just to show you what a split wedge looks like. Don’t buy this online – at 4lbs, shipping costs are brutal. We found our own Home Depot. A splitting wedge is not much lighter than a mallet, but it is more versatile because it allows me to split much larger rounds. Never get a special tool, when a set of different tools can do the same job. It didn’t take me long to get the chance to use the sledgehammer to its full potential and actually hit my target. Later it was discovered that small pieces of wood could be broken in half by hitting them hard with a sledge hammer. Now I understand why hammers have been used as weapons. Don’t forget safety glasses. There will be large and sharp pieces of wood flying everywhere. Now
the real question is whether we really saved anything
since we bought a saw, a space heater and a wedge on top of the fuel. The answer is a resounding yes for next year, but the jury is still out on this year. I think we’ve spent about $100 so far to avoid spending money on AC heating. It is clear that this is an investment but it remains to be seen if this will be a good investment.
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