Well… our first big set back. The furnace is dead.

Really dead.

Not worth it to fix, dead.

The combustion motor is dead, the control board, sensors, etc. Apparently at some point it was flooded and most of the stuff was rusted out and yucky. I am beginning to think that it was ruined back when the area flooded 4 or 5 years ago. I am also thinking that the people living here were not really here long, as renters. I’m not sure how they were heating the house in the winter, and I’m just not even sure they were in the place last winter. It’s all fine, but it’s puzzling.

We’re not discouraged at all, just have to figure out what to do now. It’s too cold to work in the house today, only about 40 degrees. Can’t paint. It’s supposed to be at least 50 degree for the paint to properly cure. Tomorrow, it’s suppose to SNOW. Who knows what is wrong with this weird weather.

Our problem is pretty simple, yet complex. We have 14 days until we need to renew our lot rent for the moby. And by a lot of the reports and such, it’s not going to get warm enough at night for us to sleep at the farm without some sort of supplemental heat. A whole new furnace is just not something we can pull off right now. We can get one, brand new, installed for $2,200. We can save that up and make it happen in the fall, but right now, we’re pretty tapped after buying the place for cash. So… I see it that we need to get by about a month, maybe a bit less.

We can stay in the moby for another month. That works, but we sure would love to be at the farm for good. Cost: $350 for rent.
Benefits: We can take more time to move plants, etc from the moby and we can more of the moving of our stuff and take more time to really get the house ready. Disadvantages: The cost of gas back and forth to the farm is getting expensive. And well, we just so want to be at the farm for good!

We can use supplemental heat, such as propane or kerosene heaters and heat up the core of the house so we can at least sleep there and stay warm in the night time. Cost: $100 for the heaters, and then the cost of fuel for a couple weeks. Benefits: Pretty little initial cost, and having the equipment for any power outages in the future. Disadvantages: Potentially hazardous, needs careful attention all the time.

We can get a wood stove, and use the OVER abundance of dead wood we have at the homestead to heat up the house at night, for sleeping. Cost: $300-$400 for stove, piping, etc. Benefits: We’d love to have one anyways, and planned for it. Very economical way to supplement the house year after year. Disadvantages: Don’t have a good place yet for it, not sure how to place it, and the cost for venting, etc. We have a chimney, but it’s buried in the walls and we’re not sure of it’s condition…

Those are our three big options. We have one last little chance… we have this little gas wall heater in the living room that for some reason is not getting gas. I have to call a local gas supplier and see if they can come out and do a safety check for all the house’s connections. Lance, our heating fellow, said that the regulator might not be working. If we can get that sorted out, it might be very helpful. Apparently it will heat a great amount of the house, if it works. Lance said it looks like it should work, it’s just not getting any gas right now. Will call about that tomorrow. Fingers are crossed!

Well.. in the end, it will work out and we’ll be able to move in eventually! It’s got to get warmer sooner… right?

Anyone have any other ideas???

Thanks!!!

Sherri, Jessy and Maggie

P.S…. We do have hot water now! Yeah Steve!!! Heat is our only problem right now…