Ok folks, I did it.
I spent the past 3 months looking at run down POS(piece of sh*t... I say this A LOT!) houses & properties, looking for the right fit, somewhere to establish roots with the kids and be as independent for as little $ as possible and this past weekend, I am hoping I found my new home (I am awaiting the offer reply.)
So, the house, 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, just over an acre (which is enough for us as it is close to my friend and she has 17 acres), nice patch of apple trees, small outbuilding that is very clean, mud rooms on the front and back of the house, lots of windows (fairly new), newer gutters, decent insulation. I looked at it and smiled, my friends who were with me were in shock that I found some place I might actually be able to move into by summer. I can see us there. I smiled the whole time. It had almost everything on my wish list except the land was less than I wanted but, nicer than I expected.
The catch? It doesn't have a heating source... in E.Ont, that makes for a LONG cold winter. Not even a woodstove inside.
I have limited funds, I am resourceful as hell though and am thinking maybe I could build my own outside wood furnace (to buy one I was quoted $15000 this morning and I almost fell over! That price did not include installation).
Has anyone done this?
Anyone know of somewhere I can buy a used one in Eastern Ont or Southern Que?
When I look at youtube videos and instructables I get overwhelmed. Is anyone good at (for lack of better terminology) "dumbing it down" for me?
The house is set up for this. It had one before a couple of years ago and has been space heated since (OMG the cost for that makes me cringe) I should have about $2500 to spend on this by September. Suggestions?
And hopefully (fingers and toes crossed) the seller takes the offer!!! i went as close to the asking price as I could without starving ourselves. It is gonna be tight for awhile but, I have to make this happen.
Thanks 🙂
15K ?
way too much
Propane furnaces with a 200-500gal tank
Wood stoves are a dime a dozen right now
My personal Fav, is Rocket Mass Heaters. build one yourself, then build another one, in the basement etc. Cost about $100-$300 each, take a couple of days to make them.
Another option might be the Jean Pain method of Bio Heating and Bio Fuel, I posted links before, do a search.
good luck
watch Kijiji.ca for deals on Wood Stoves, Fireplace inserts and propane furnaces there.
Mamaizzy - I've got my fingers and toes crossed for you. I hope all goes well and you get your little piece of paradise. 😀
Russell Coight....outback legend
Congrats. I will keep my fingers crossed for you.
I will have to think on the heating issue for a bit but like WildE said a wood stove would be a good start. Is the house one level (ranch type) or 2?
If it had one before, is there ductwork in place?
I have to further back up WildE on this...check kijiji as I have seen used wood cook stoves for under 1000.00. Add some stove pipe, chimeny and labour to that and you are still getting a bargain.
hope you get it mamaizzy.
Thanks all! I appreciate the info and the well wishes 🙂
It is a 2 storey house with 2 small additions. The one thing about woodstove that I worry about is the basement. Would the woodstove on the main floor keep the basement warm too?
What would you use the basement for? Is it tall enough to be finished living space, or just utility and storage. If it isn't used as living space, electric heat to keep it around 10 - 15 deg.C would not be too bad. A stove on the 1st floor would not do much for the basement as heat rises. Another question, does the house have a chimney? If so, you could use it for another smaller stove. When I grew up, we had forced air heat to the main floor only. There were a few registers in the floors leading up to the second floor and we had a small oil burning stove upstairs to help heat the bedrooms on colder nights. The basement was heated with the heat from the furnace only, but it was all storage and workshop space. I would install 2 stoves, 1 on the main floor and one smaller one upstairs. Have a new double wall chimney put in for one of them and use the existing chimney for the other, if it is there.
Denob's answer it perfect. 🙂
Since this isn't a temporary type situation (you're going for the long haul here) it would be worth doing it right the first time. WR is right, rocket mass heater.
Paul Wheaton has a good page on rocket mass heaters.
http://www.richsoil.com/rocket-stove-mass-heater.jsp
Hey I hope it's congrats Mamaizzy! I also live in Eastern Ontario. I heat with wood: bungalow with a wood cookstove upstairs and a pellet stove in the basement -zone heating. We use our basement for living too as it's half above ground, dry and now finished. If you are going to buy a used stove of any kind, make sure it has the UL/CSA sticker on the back or else your home insurance won't cover you. A double walled metal chimney can run up the side of your house and will likely cost more than the wood stove. Pellet stoves are interesting but I find the heat isn't as good as an airtight woodstove. But they are easier to run and the "PV vent"/chimney isn't as expensive and easier to install. Honestly, wood heat is alot of work, but well worth it - the heat is better, more even, and half the price of oil, etc.
Oh ya, if you decide to go with wood heat, order 10 cords of firewood the week you move in so it's ready to burn by the fall....
.......wait until summer and go pick up a cheap wood stove for main floor heating....then go buy on Kijiji an oil furnace/ oil tank/ oil boiler.....just picked all three up, 2008, for $300, used for two years. then find your local 'propane furnace installer' and offer him .50 cents on the dollar for furnace oil (pure 100% diesel). he has to dispose of it somehow when he installs propane furances. (he'll find you extra tanks for cheap as well) then start storing, pick up a new tank here and there, keep accepting deliveries....then get into biodiesel....then you can supply your own fuel for heat and for a diesel truck...
thats where im at currently. just got to put everything together now 😀
"I think that I am very reasonable therefore ......." ICRCC
oh, firewood....call your local tree service/ removal specialist....tell him/ her you will come and collect wood for free, and when he/ she cuts down a tree they'll call you to collect....IT's FREEEEEEEE. i only have a four winter supply of chopped wood, but have another 40 or so cords, not chopped...just havn't got around to it yet...
by the years end i will have a 10 year supply of heating oil, in the form of oil and vegatble oil....thats the goal... 😀
"I think that I am very reasonable therefore ......." ICRCC