Brrrrrr, Hope You're Prepped ....

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Brrrrrrr snuck back in on us here last night. Sat the stove thermometer for the usual 25* to 30* night and woke up to 15* this morning.

Don't tell anybody but the furnace may or may not have kicked on a couple times while I was drinking coffee and getting the stove temps up;sick
 
Admittedly, mine kicked on this morning as well. Had to. The wife was like, "Why is it so cold in the house?" Answer, "Because... weather...okay... I'll go put the heat on..."
 
mine turns on every morning at 7:15 for about 10 minutes to warm the upstairs to 66º and then shuts off for the rest of the day....
 
Our oil-fired boiler is making our hot water for showers, so between that and random calls for heat from six zones... I can't track exactly why it's running. But run, it does!

I can say the duration and frequency of boiler runs is much reduced with the Blaze Kings, vs. our old stoves.
 
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I thought it was cold here in Indiana but seeing some of the other posts in is a whole new level of chill.
Anything below 20 is getting cold, in my book. I spent 30 years in WI; Moving to southern IN was like going to the tropics. :ZZZ
Our weather setting is scheduled to go from 'Canada' to 'Florida' tomorrow. Whee!
Nice. It's fun to burn the stove and everything, but it's no help if ya wanna go outside and do something that requires you to move your fingers... <>
put some Vaseline on the car door seals so you aren't frozen out!
I normally use wd40 or silicone. Thank God for a big garage...and cars 20 degrees warmer in the morning.
I'd think petroleum jelly and WD would attack rubber...I'd stick with silicone. No garage here yet but there's not a winter goes by that I don't think about it...many times. Covering the windshield with a mat when the freezing rain comes gets tiresome and I'm getting too old to work on these antique cars outside when it's below 40. Could always be worse, I guess...
 
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I'd think petroleum jelly and WD would attack rubber...I'd stick with silicone. No garage here yet but there's not a winter goes by that I don't think about it...many times. Covering the windshield with a mat when the freezing rain comes gets tiresome and I'm getting too old to work on these antique cars outside when it's below 40. Could always be worse, I guess...

I miss my carport. I've been doing the Vaseline trick for years and never had an issue but never thought about it reacting with the rubber. It's just so simple to apply and lasts all season! Definitely not into putting straight WD though. Oh well, I've already applied the vaseline so I'll switch to silicone spray next time. Good call.
 
I miss my carport. I've been doing the Vaseline trick for years and never had an issue but never thought about it reacting with the rubber. It's just so simple to apply and lasts all season! Definitely not into putting straight WD though. Oh well, I've already applied the vaseline so I'll switch to silicone spray next time. Good call.
white lightning lithium grease, or a little bit of crisco works well toO!
 
I'd think petroleum jelly and WD would attack rubber...I'd stick with silicone. No garage here yet but there's not a winter goes by that I don't think about it...many times. Covering the windshield with a mat when the freezing rain comes gets tiresome and I'm getting too old to work on these antique cars outside when it's below 40. Could always be worse, I guess...

Most door seals are Neoprene, I believe, which is noted for its resistance to oils and all things petroleum. Antique cars may not fare as well, but I'd not expect it to be an issue on anything built in the last 30 years.
 
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I miss my carport.
At least I've got that going for me, but only one car can fit.
Most door seals are Neoprene, I believe...Antique cars may not fare as well, but I'd not expect it to be an issue on anything built in the last 30 years.
No worry then, with Neoprene. I should be OK then...oldest car is only 25. ;lol
 
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View attachment 190499 So this is where we stand atm . I keep this at far end of the house , so 75 F down there away from wood stove isn't to bad .

Lol , a "high" of -2 . Have not seen that in awhile .

That is a cool gadget, what is it and where can I get one?

We had some lows of -18.4F earlier this month. I had to feed the stove a lot to keep up but it worked.

We have run the heat twice this winter. Both times was when we were gone all day and did not put some oak in the stove before we left. 10 minute run of our oversized propane hvac is enough to take off the chill while the soap stone warms up.

My wife is happy with the stove untill I make it go over 80F in the house.

Since this is our first season I have to scrounge for dry enough wood to burn every other weekend. This weekend is a scrounging weekend so I will be busy during Christmas.
 
Since this is our first season I have to scrounge for dry enough wood to burn every other weekend. This weekend is a scrounging weekend so I will be busy during Christmas.

If you're not opposed to green wood, tree services around here put stuff on the curb at their jobsites all year. Some of them advertise their jobs on Craigslist. Some of them will bring you a truckload of whatever they just took down for free. Pretty much all of them will bring you as many free truckloads of wood chips as you will take! (Not suggesting wood chips as firewood, but they're good for other stuff.).

I scrounge wood out of the woods and on Craigslist. Still trying to figure out which one is easier. Craigslist wood is felled and limbed and usually bucked for me, but the woods are a lot closer. There's more wood available from either source than I could ever use.

If you're looking for something to burn right away, the woods are definitely the better option, as you can find standing dead stuff that is already partly or mostly dry. Even if you don't have trees, maybe you know someone with a woodlot who would be pleased to let you haul off deadfall and standing deadwood?
 
If you're not opposed to green wood, tree services around here put stuff on the curb at their jobsites all year. Some of them advertise their jobs on Craigslist. Some of them will bring you a truckload of whatever they just took down for free. Pretty much all of them will bring you as many free truckloads of wood chips as you will take! (Not suggesting wood chips as firewood, but they're good for other stuff.).

I scrounge wood out of the woods and on Craigslist. Still trying to figure out which one is easier. Craigslist wood is felled and limbed and usually bucked for me, but the woods are a lot closer. There's more wood available from either source than I could ever use.

If you're looking for something to burn right away, the woods are definitely the better option, as you can find standing dead stuff that is already partly or mostly dry. Even if you don't have trees, maybe you know someone with a woodlot who would be pleased to let you haul off deadfall and standing deadwood?
20161113_143145.jpg 20161113_143215.jpg

I have a good amount of green wood sourced from a tree removal company located down the hill in the flatlands. I scrounge for dry stuff in the meadows above our community. There is a dead tree up there looks like it has been gone for years. It is so big some of the branches look like small trees. Wife and I might work on taking it down soon. I think it will take three pick up loads. One pick-up load lasts just over two weeks.
 
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Not quite. This handsome guy is my life and my partner.

View attachment 190477

Sent from my SM-G920R4 using Tapatalk

That boy needs to be in the house all the time Countybrown, GSD's, as I'm sure you know are very social and want to be by their people. A GSD should never be left outside, they need to be able to watch over their pack (you) and it will stress them greatly if they can't.

Sodbuster
30 year GSD owner
RIP - Max, Anka, Dutch
 
Temps have slacked off here. Back in the 40s. We'll be sending it your way shortly.
 
Anything below 20 is getting cold, in my book. I spent 30 years in WI; Moving to southern IN was like going to the tropics. :ZZZ

Nice. It's fun to burn the stove and everything, but it's no help if ya wanna go outside and do something that requires you to move your fingers... <>

I'd think petroleum jelly and WD would attack rubber...

WD40 does not attack rubber. It is the preferred cleaner of motorcycle O-Ring chains...which are rubber.
 
View attachment 190959 View attachment 190960

I have a good amount of green wood sourced from a tree removal company located down the hill in the flatlands. I scrounge for dry stuff in the meadows above our community. There is a dead tree up there looks like it has been gone for years. It is so big some of the branches look like small trees. Wife and I might work on taking it down soon. I think it will take three pick up loads. One pick-up load lasts just over two weeks.


Ha ha, that looks like my woodpiles. Scrounged cinder blocks and scrounged old pallets below, blue tarp up top. :). I've actually started buying the heavier brown ones this year though, wind seems to tear them up less.

I keep thinking that I should build woodsheds out of 4x4 and Palram roofing, but I have so much wood, and I'm not sure any of the piles are staying where they are long term.
 
Temps have slacked off here. Back in the 40s. We'll be sending it your way shortly.

Same here, hit 45 today. Let the stove go out today so I could inspect the chimney to see how I've been doing after burning for 3 weeks and I was pleasantly surprised, I think. I figured I'd have a fair bit of creosote being my first time burning and the fact I damp down hard for overnight burns (with an EPA exempt stove). 53 is our Christmas forecast!!
 
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We warmed up late Monday. We found out that we had a slow leak where a pvc elbow blew out its side. This was at the end of the line out from the greenhouse. There was a valve before it but the @#$%! valve was leaky, at about a gal./minute. Now the whole line is shut off.
 
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That sucks. My well would've shut down in 20 minutes with that...my recharge is laughable.
 
Gonna be a warm Christmas, this year. Not as warm as last year, but after teens last week, we're going to be close to 50F for Christmas.
 
Reports are the temps at the North Pole are just under freezing. Only about 50º off from normal at this time of the year.
 
It's things like that that make me wonder (out loud, in the presence of my wife) whether living on an island is really the best possible plan.

On the other hand, seems we're moving towards a deal where we will all be snowblowing our way out of blizzards wearing shorts and t-shirts, which sounds kind of pleasant (if you repress all your memories of how great snowblowing icy slush is).
 
Our oil-fired boiler is making our hot water for showers, so between that and random calls for heat from six zones... I can't track exactly why it's running. But run, it does!

I can say the duration and frequency of boiler runs is much reduced with the Blaze Kings, vs. our old stoves.

Good. About time.
 
On that note, has anyone ever been in a position to lay hydronic pex under asphalt and see how it holds up over the years? What a great application for an extra outdoor wood stove!