15 Responses
RSS feed for comments on this post | TrackBack this post

1. 10-20
   7:08
   am

   Be sure that you know how to connect!!!!!
   WHEN EVERYTHING FAILS “read the instructions” keep a good flashlight and tools close-by. Good Luck

   MMHONEY
   Flag this comment
2. 10-20
   7:11
   am

   I sooooo wish gas was my backup heat source and not my main one!

   CindyP
   Flag this comment
3. 10-20
   7:19
   am

   Us too. We use the woodstove mainly but always have oil in the tank for back up. Sometimes I warm up the house in the frozen morning with the oil for about 10 mins, while I get the fire going. Then turn the oil off.

   Are you using the wood stove these days? Is it cold enough yet?

   Runningtrails - Sheryl
   Flag this comment
4. 10-20
   8:35
   am

   We heat with wood for our main heat source. We havent had to fill our gas tank in two years! We also have a generator. I love that thing! Nothing like being able to flush when the lights are out!!!!

   Angela P
   Flag this comment
5. 10-20
   9:04
   am

   Our house had an electric stove when we moved in. We put in a gas tank and gas stove. Our main heat source is wood. Our winter prep is: Wood,full propane tank so we can always cook. A full pantry and freezer. All the goodies that have been canned during the summer. Hay for our horse. Last having gas and the generator ready to go. It gives us a good feeling that we are ready for winter!

   Bev in CA
   Flag this comment
6. 10-20
   9:49
   am

   Whew!! I thought the propane truck had driven off your crooked little road!! Also, early fill means prices are usually still low.

   Yep, wood is main, furnace is geo-thermal, stove is gas so we can cook. A generator for the well is in the works……

   rileysmom
   Flag this comment
7. 10-20
   10:13
   am

   We have electric and propane heat and cooking sources. Did not put in a fireplace for heat. Highly allergic to poisen ivy and it never fails if I fool with fire wood, I have it for weeks.

   Having propane was a life savor after Katrina. Even though we are in South-Central area of Mississippi. We lost power for 13 1/2 days….

   Ramona
   Flag this comment
8. 10-20
   10:33
   am

   I wish we had a woodstove. We live in town, though, and in a rental to boot. We’re saving up for a little farm, so hopefully we can do things our way soon!

   Kristen E
   Flag this comment
9. 10-20
   11:45
   am

   Had ours filled up a couple of weeks ago.

   KentuckyFarmGirl
   Flag this comment
10. 10-20
    12:14
    pm

    I can’t help but feel angry every time I see an LP truck as it reminds me of a horrible time in my life. I was a single parent and got behind on my LP payments. I managed to get caught up and scrape up $300 for a minimum fill on April 1st of that year. I called the LP company and they refused to sell me any LP because of my history of falling behind. I explained that I had CASH and they still refused. I called the only other company in the area and couldn’t pass their credit check, so I was out of luck. My 3 children and I spent the next few weeks huddled around a small wood fireplace that wasn’t vented properly, which aggrevated my allergies.

    I tried to sell the house, but no buyers. Fortunately, by the next fall I was dating an electrician who installed baseboard electric heaters and fixed the wood burning stove in the basement. Heat bills were cut in half! The next year I married him and now we heat almost totally with wood.

    Deb
    Flag this comment
11. 10-20
    12:19
    pm

    I know what you mean. We still have propane in the tank from last year, but will be having it topped off soon. We spent most of last weekend splitting and stacking wood in the wood shed. I love seeing a full wood shed and knowing that I never have to worry about being warm. We actually started a fire in the stove the last couple of nights to take the chill out of the house. Love, love, love my woodstove.

    MMT
    Flag this comment
12. 10-20
    12:57
    pm

    I have helped cut many a cord of wood.
    They say that a person who cuts their own fire wood is warmed by it twice. Once when they cut it. And again when they burn it.

    Now we have a fire place. and I have to buy my wood. And put up with wood burning bands here in Denver. But still, it is nice to have other means of staying warm.

    Jim in Colorado
    Flag this comment
13. 10-20
    2:20
    pm

    If I may be nosy, can any of y’all tell me what you’ve paid for propane recently? Last December we paid over $4/gallon which I thought was outrageous. A couple of weeks ago I was told by our propane company that we would be charged $5/gallon. I called another local company and they would give us our initial 100 gallons for $2.25/gal, and lock in the price for a year at $2.75. My husband told this to the guy that runs the place we’ve been using (he’s known him for years) and they dropped our price to $3/gal. Why such a big difference in the same county?? BTW, we’re in north central Florida.

    Normie
    Flag this comment
14. 10-20
    8:11
    pm

    We installed an outdoor wood boiler last year, as we were getting our propane tank filled every month at about $600 a month. We just filled it after 1 year, and we only use propane for our gas stove now. Paid $1.89/gal in Minnesota. The wood we get for free, as we have a total of 160 acres, about half wooded. We used about 6 cords total last year, heating our house and detached garage, and also use it for heating our water. We stop the wood burning in May and use propane then to heat water. We restarted the stove about a week ago, as nights are in the 30s-40s. I love going into the woods to cut our wood, besides being beautiful out there, it feels good to provide for yourself.

    Valerie
    Flag this comment
15. 10-21
    11:24
    am

    52 and Valerie – thanks for the replies. I had a suspicion that there was some monopolization going on around here! It certainly pays to shop around.

    Last year we switched from electric to a tankless (gas) water heater and you would not believe the drop in our electricity usage! Of course, it would be wonderful if we could eventually go solar and get off the grid for good.

    Normie
    Flag this comment