Wood Stove and Furniture

We ran out of propane shortly after moving to our house.  We had a guy come out and fill it.  He said our 250 gallon tank was way too small for our house.  He suggested that we get a 500 tank and use it with the 250 one, or to get a 1,000 gallon tank.  We made arrangements for him to bring out a 500 gallon tank.  We had the 500 gallon tank delivered November 1st.  We set our thermostat to a whopping 57 degrees in an effort to conserve and experiment.
We used over 200 gallons of propane in less than a month!
Um....  This is NOT the way to go!
(However, I was told if you have to pay for wood, it comes out about the same.)

The house had a wood burning furnace in the utility room.  It was disconnected, and we were told it increases homeowners insurance significantly when hooked up.  The furnace itself was on its way to be recycled before being installed in the house.  We are not familiar with these things and decided not to mess with it.
Eric and I looked online for a used wood burning stove.  Everything we called on was already taken and the majority listed were too small to heat a house of our size.  We bought a new stove.

We had not planned on relying on wood this winter.  However, that is our plan now.  Burning green or wet wood is potentially dangerous and contributes greatly to 3rd degree creosote build up. (The nasty black stuff in chimneys that can catch on fire.  Click here for an explanation if you are interested.)

Thankfully we have lots of standing dead trees and Elanor marked around 20 with pink spray paint so we could tell them apart from the healthy trees when all the leaves had fallen.  Standing dead trees are much further along in the curing process than green wood, and cures super fast if split and stacked, rather than stacking the whole log and splitting just before burning.  Yay!  We can make this work.

We went to collect wood before the stove arrived..

Is anyone else thinking we should have a truck by now?  Right?  We have been looking.  But good trucks get passed along in families around here.  They are really hard to come by.  And we just want an old beat up farm truck that runs, nothing fancy; a cheap truck.  4 doors, long bed.  We haven't found one yet.

We managed to get the wood burning furnace OUT. 

The furnace is roughly the size of a small refrigerator and several hundred pounds heavy.  Eric removed the outer panels so we could get it through the door.  We got it out, but just barely.  It sits right next to the door it came out of.

Then came the challenge of cleaning the soot out of the chimney.

And checking to verify that it was clear.

WE HAVE A WOOD STOVE!

The stove arrived and was dropped off in the front of our house.  The stove needed to come in through the back of the house. Elanor started off helping Eric.  They got two sheets of 4' x 8' plywood and two moving dollies.  They got the 400 pound stove out of the box and onto the dollies.  Then the leap frogged the plywood pieces and rolled the stove around the house.  I went out to offer help and completely forgot to get a visual record.  It took 4 of us to get it in over the threshold.

Once in, the wood frame was disassembled.   And we placed it according to the specifications in the owners manual.

Click here to watch the video.

The stove required 3 initial burns to cure the paint/coating on the stove.  The off gasses were gross, but were contained in the utility room.

Eric purchased the thermometers so that we could monitor the temperature and ensure the initial burns were carried out with the temperatures required do cure our wood stove according to the instructions.

We even had a little fun boiling water.

The plan is to burn wood in the stove in the utility room and blow the warm air into the main part of the house and use the furnace fan to circulate the air.  The only air return was in the ceiling of the second floor.  That's not going to work. 

Eric installed an air intake vent on the main level.

The circle in a rectangle!  Eric got it situated properly and blocked off the corners.

Our neighbors, the next road over, are hosting Christmas activities - hay ride to meet Santa, scavenger hunt, popcorn, hot chocolate, games and a bonfire.  They are a wonderful family. We had a great time!

Reindeer Ring Toss

OUR COUCHES ARRIVED! 

This was a celebrated event.  12+ weeks of no no comfortable cozy seats, and the previous 4-5 months in an RV.  I was almost in tears grateful!

The floor in the living room is clean.  It still concerned some to see the couches ON the floor, but I have faith in my steamer/sanitizer.

beautiful!

The onions said they never go in the living room and asked why the couches were going in there.  

Where there are comfy seats, there are my children!

No more camp chair lounging...

We purchased a wood splitter.  Elanor has claimed it and no one else has a desire to split wood. Win win.  She has filled several wheel barrow fulls of the standing dead tree that my dad cut down in September.

Seth wanted some seeds that came in to Bakersville - an heirloom seed store with thousands of seeds.

We stopped for ice cream and sherbet on the way back. (A very rare occasion.)

We went to the Temple in St. Louis on Saturday.  It was wonderful to be in the temple!  We started off the Christmas season by helping to do the work for people that did not have that opportunity in their life time.  I vicariously performed ordinances for sisters from Slovakia.  I love the temple!