Hey Horkn, We bought a Pacific Energy Super 27 pedestal on sale in the spring. Where do I post photos of my setup!
Ha, yeah, the photo is me but I'm actually just partway into my self-sufficient transition. Coming from living in a subdivision for the longest time to out in the country is teaching me quite a few things. One thing I definitely need is a pickup. Can't do much in a civic!
It is an absolutely amazing place. It's all about the lifestyle and the ocean. Yeah, the ocean really moderates everything. We're so close to it that if it snows, often it's mostly melted by the afternoon. We financed 28,000btu Mitsubishi heat pump through Nova Scotia Power and pay $140/month for I believe it's 4 years. It has a 10-year warranty and it really did ok last winter. Our power bills through the coldest winter months which include the heat pump payment were about $700 so with the woodstove going, I think I can get them down to $300. We were running the heat pump non-stop and an oil-filled radiator as well. The house is 1900 square feet. It used to be an old schoolhouse that was turned into a duplex. We tore out half of it to make one big kitchen/living area and raised the ceilings back to the original 11'7" ceilings which added 1300 cubic feet of air to heat but in my opinion, it was so worth it. We've not done anything with the other half yet but it's essentially my office, my wife's craft room, and our bedroom. We're running a Pacific Energy Super 27, will post pics of the setup in the hearth pics section a bit later today. The wood we received was a mixture of maple, birch, beech, and ash. I don't know what types of each of those they are but will try to identify the (subspecies?) when I find the time. I'll be ordering a couple more cords to sit over the winter and then stack in the spring as well.
Wow...n we b&€¡h n complain about a 200.00 electric bill....we hope ur electric is even lower than ur projected 300.00..
Welcome to this friendly side of the woods! Enjoy yourself here. Hope you find a good Toyota or something 4x4 for the hoarding while you battle weather out there. Eager to see you collect and gather your wood and any other projects you want done! Lots of ideas here and we’re still in full swing...Stay warm!
Welcome shik, glad you found us. Believe it or not you'll see a lot of people manage hoarding without a pickup just fine. But I'm with you I need my pickup.
"It's all about the lifestyle and the ocean." - I'm pretty sure I'd spend as much time on & under the water as not, if I lived there. Wow! $700/month (?), with the wood stove going? I'm guessing an old school building means masonry construction with not much insulation value? Heat pumps can be great until your temps get below 40˚, then the system usually switches from the heat pump to an electric backup coil in the air handler. Electric heating via forced air is probably as bad as it gets and with high ceilings, even worse. Would be much better using electric for radiant at that point. Good you have access to hardwoods. I guess the oceans moderating effect is helping there too.
We didn't have the woodstove installed last winter so that was with no wood stove. It was installed in May. There were some floor issues where cold air was coming up from the basement and the vapor barrier was not sealed in a few places as we weren't done the construction. That's all since been fixed and we have R50 in the ceiling and R24 in the walls. Really interested to see how things go this winter.
If, by some chance you do, post pics in "the car hoarding thread". Lots of folks on here hoard wood even though they dont have a truck or trailer.
Welcome to the forum shik. Good luck with your stove this coming winter. I'm sure it will cut a lot of dollars from the cost of keeping warm and you'll no doubt be warmer too. For sure I'd hate those big electric bills. Our last one was less than $41 and I can live with that. In winter, we also keep our home around 80 degrees and love it. I like your wood stacks a lot, especially where you put that small stuff. That is neat. I'm sure it is a difficult time covering your wood in that area but with all the wind, perhaps you need not worry unless that wind is a really wet wind and lots of fog and rain. Perhaps one of these days you can put up a shed.
Thanks Savage. High electric bills seem par for the course here in Canada, it's real shakedown. I've not even attempted to cover the stacks. These chairs are about 20' in front of our stack. The wind comes in from the southwest mostly and the chairs are facing pretty northwest. We get fog mostly in the summer but this summer was very dry for the most part. When it's raining, the rain is often coming in sideways so I have no idea what to do about that. I have a shed now but it's a regular wood shed and not ventilated. Would hate bugs to get into it and it's also full of shed things, like the mower etc. I have to wonder how long it would take wood that was rained on to dry in the house close(ish) to the stove? I don't think tarps will work as we have no windbreak at all, unfortunately.
As long as there is wind, the wood should dry fast after a rain even though it comes sideways. The only way the wood will soak up much moisture is if it is punky to start with. Otherwise it is just surface moisture which dries fast. And for sure I can see why you get wind!
That’s interesting, here in the Fredericton,New Brunswick area you can’t get much cheaper than $300/cord split and delivered and everyone I talked to that sold firewood said this year the demand was higher than ever. A few guys even ran out of wood to sell! Of course higher demand=higher price so I’m interested to see how much it will be next year.
Im in the same boat, id love a truck but just can’t afford the gas. I had a truck when I was younger living in the city without a need for a truck. Now I live in the country and heat with wood and I drive a Prius.
Sweet view! You made a good move in my opinion. If the wall and ceiling insulation is new it should be a game changer. Keep us informed. Curious. If you get on the water post pics.....
