Before buying our home, we rented it. The first winter living there, I had forgotten to call and get a propane fill-up. When I checked the tank level, it showed 1%. I called the propane company, explained that I needed a fill-up, and was told they could not service me for another week or more. The only exception was if I agreed to be placed “on route”, which meant they would fill my tank when they were in our area, every two weeks. We needed propane to stay warm since our only heat was an HVAC system, so I agreed to be “on route”. If you are a “will-call” customer, the propane company will not fill your tank unless it is below thirty percent. Being “on route” means the propane truck will top off your tank regardless of the tanks propane level. Our tank was filled the following day after a credit check and agreeing to be placed on route. As I said, these “top-offs” were every two weeks and began to get expensive. It was about two to three hundred dollars each time we were refilled. As soon as we didn’t need to run the heater, I called the propane company and changed our service to will call.
One day during a fill-up, the propane delivery driver told me the cost was .47 cents a gallon more than my neighbors because my tank was smaller than 200 gallons. He told me not to say a word about it, but since I no longer use that company, I believe it is acceptable to warn you that you might currently be taken advantage of. At the time, our house only had a 150-gallon tank. My wife and I planned to put a 500-gallon tank in, but the costs skyrocketed right before we bought our house. A 500-gallon tank ran about $500 a few years prior. Over the past few years, I have seen them reaching as much as $3,500 in some neighboring counties. We shopped around for almost three years until we finally found one.
On a spur of the moment trip, my wife and I visited an old friend who has a small mountain resort and store. Like many similar venues, there are barns and storage containers filled with every odd and end one might need to fix one of the many buildings on the property. Our friend was extremely overwhelmed with the quantity of stuff she had, and it showed. Things were starting to get stolen. Other items were getting damaged in the snow. It seemed overwhelming for us, and we were just visiting for the day. While we were at her place, I asked if she knew of anyone who was getting rid of a 500-gallon propane tank. She replied with, “I’ve got several, take one.” At first, I didn’t believe her. She must have seen the doubt in my eyes, because the next thing I knew, she was walking me to the back of her property where there were several large propane tanks. She told me to look around and let her know what I found. She reassured me I could just take one.
The first propane tank I looked at, sure enough, was a 499-gallon tank, built in 1969. The gauge read 0%, so I opened the valve and was relieved when a little pressure came out. The tank was sealed tightly. I hurriedly ran back to my wife and told her what I found. She promptly went to look at the tank with me and liked what she saw. We went back and talked to our friend. My pride does not allow for me to take something for nothing. After some debating, we agreed on me splitting roughly two cords of firewood and doing a few other odds and ends around the property to help out. Sold!
A couple of weekends later, I brought the tank home on a trailer, I sanded and repainted it, had all new gauges and fittings installed and then filled it. My family does not go through much propane, especially since we rarely/never use the house furnace any longer. As long as no unforeseen events occur, this filled tank should realistically last my family about three to four years.
The day after we bought our house, my wife and I bought a Blazeking woodstove from a local dealer. Our goal was to produce our own heat and not rely on a power, nor a propane company to ensure we could heat our home. The Blazeking we bought is an EPA-certified stove, which uses a catalyst system, creating a secondary “afterburn” effect making a cleaner, more efficient burn. The salesman told us the woodstove could take up to three months to arrive, so in the meantime, I started designing the hearth. For the base, I used two by six lumber. I tend to overbuild everything. If a project requires a two by four piece of lumber, I tend to go with a two-by-six or a four-by-four.
One top of the base, I installed a large piece of granite. Going up the wall, between the sheetrock and on the backside of the hearth, I used one-inch ceramic spacers to create an “air gap.” This is not necessary to be up to code, however, an air gap ensures the wall, insulation, etc. do not get overheated. These spacers have a mounting hole in the center. Opposite of the drywall, on the other side of the spacers, I used cement board. There was a lot of math involved to ensure that all holes were drilled in the right place to line up where the air gap spacers needed to be placed to not only look symmetrical, but to also be centered with the wall studs. Because of the anticipated weight of the rock we planned to mortar to the cement board, I doubled the amount of air gap spacers and the length and size of the screws holding securing them (remember me overbuilding everything). After the cement board was secured, I mortared rock on siding and called it complete! It is the main focal point inside our home and a constant topic of discussion.
When the stove arrived, I allowed the company I bought it from to install it. I had never installed a woodstove, and didn’t want to screw it up, especially when cutting a hole in my roof. After a couple of hours, the installers were finished, and we had our first fire going. To date, the only issue(s) we have had with the stove, was a bizarre odor that started during the second winter of use. On occasion, we would get a very toxic, caustic, chemical smell in our house. On two occasions, the smoke alarm went off, but there was no visible smoke. The smell was so terrible, we would have to open all our windows and doors, in the middle of winter, to try and purge the air.
We were getting to the point of being afraid to use the stove because we were concerned about what was creating the smell. I started looking online for other owners of the same stove and asked if they had any similar stories. There were a lot of theories, but no resolutions. It took several visits to the store I bought the stove from for the technicians to finally come out and completely dismantle the stove to look for any issue(s). They tore the stove apart in my living room and found nothing. When the technician took apart the thermostat housing, they found some high-heat silicone that had been used to hold a placard in place. The silicone had begun cooking and boiling when the stove reached a certain temperature, and that is what we had been smelling. After scraping all the crusty, cooked silicone off, they replaced the placard using a high-heat cement. Since that service call, we have not had “the smell” come back. Hallelujah!
The only complaint I have about this particular wood stove, is the loading door needs to be adjusted/tightened about once a season. It’s not a big deal, but there is some effort involved. Other than that, we couldn’t be happier heating our house and our souls with a woodstove.
I am fortunate to live in an area, where firewood is easy to come by. I am surrounded by multiple varieties of deciduous trees, and if I drive a little way, I have forests full of different conifers. My folks live a short drive away and they have several acres of forest. I harvest most of our firewood from their property.
(To be continued tomorrow, in Part 2.)