Switched from oil to a wood stove last November thinking we'd save big... but after burning through $400 in seasoned oak and still running the oil backup on those single-digit nights, I'm wondering if the romantic idea of a wood stove is better than the reality. Anyone else find their supposed 'savings' actually cost more in time and money than they expected?
Last March I cut down a big maple near my place in Worcester, split it all, and stacked it in my backyard. After three rainy months it was still reading 35% moisture on my meter. I tried covering the top with a tarp but left the sides open, and it dried way faster than my neighbor's stack that gets full sun. Anyone have luck with other methods for seasoning wood in this climate?
I live in southern NH where the soil is basically rocks and clay. Last spring I drilled holes in a bucket, filled it with straw and compost, and threw in some seed potatoes. By August I dumped it out and got 8 pounds of spuds off one bucket. Never had that kind of yield from my actual garden plot. Anyone else use containers for stuff that normally goes in the ground?
I was driving through the Northeast Kingdom last week and saw this little stand with a lockbox for cash. Their eggs were $4 a dozen but you could leave less if you needed to. Has anyone else seen something like that around here?
Guy was maybe 80, hauling scrap metal in a rusted F-150. He saw me tossing a broken snowblower and asked if I tried fixing the carb first. I said no, figured it was dead. He pulled a wrench from his pocket, spent 10 minutes cleaning the jet, and it fired right up. Said "most stuff dies because we quit on it." Now I check everything twice before I scrap it. Anybody else got a random lesson from a stranger like that?
Bought a cheap propane stove from Walmart for fishing trips. Lightweight sure. But that thing couldn't boil water in a breeze. Switched back to my old Coleman white gas stove for a trip up near Lake Winnipesaukee last month. Boiled my coffee in 4 minutes flat. Propane canisters are also $6 a pop now. White gas is cheaper per gallon. Anyone else ditch the fancy new stuff for the old gear?
Figured I could swap out the old submersible pump in my well near Keene, NH over a Saturday. No way, that thing was buried under 80 feet of rusted pipe and mud. Had to borrow a pulley rig from a guy on Route 9 and practically lost a knuckle getting the coupling off. Anyone else ever tackle a well pump solo and totally misjudge the time?
Living off-grid-ish and still got slammed, mostly from a busted well pump heater I forgot to unplug. Anyone else get caught off guard by a random appliance spiking their bill this winter?
My buddy Mike from Worcester kept telling me to get a catalytic wood stove instead of a cheap box stove. I thought he was just trying to sell me on something fancy. After 3 winters of burning through 5 cords a season in my old Jotul, I finally swapped to a Blaze King last fall and cut my wood usage by almost half. Has anyone else made a similar switch and noticed a big difference?
I wired up a 200-watt Renogy kit at my place near Plymouth back in March. Worked fine for 3 days, then a heavy rain shorted out the charge controller because the weatherproof seal on the junction box was just a sticker, not a gasket. Had to drive 45 minutes to the nearest solar supply shop for a replacement. Anyone else run into this with the cheaper off-grid gear?
I always bought the $250 pre-split kiln-dried stuff from the guy off Route 9. Overheard a neighbor say he pays a logger $80 for a green cord of oak and just lets it season a year in his shed. Has anyone else tried buying green and waiting?
Had a section of my double wall pipe come apart right in the middle of that ice storm we got back in January. The whole thing just slid down and left a gap near the ceiling, smoke started filling the living room before I even knew what happened. I was up on the roof at 3am in freezing rain trying to shove it back together with zip ties and a prayer. Called a chimney guy the next morning and he said the screws had vibrated loose over time, something I NEVER would have thought to check. Now I go up every fall with a screwdriver and tighten EVERY connection point, takes maybe 20 minutes. Anyone else had a wood stove part fail in the middle of a storm? What did you do?
So last May I had a cord of split wood get soaked because my tarp blew off during a storm in southern NH. I was ready to just buy kiln dried but then I remembered an old post about stacking wood in a single row facing south. Figured why not try it with just a cheap pallet and some scrap metal roofing I found on Craigslist. After 3 months of that setup my moisture meter was reading 18% vs the 30%+ I had before. Has anyone else used just sun and wind to dry wood faster without a shed?
I was going through about 3 cords of wood each winter in my cabin up near Conway. A neighbor suggested I get a stove top thermometer for $30 on Amazon. Turns out I was running my stove way too hot most of the time, wasting heat up the chimney. Now I keep it in the 400-500 degree range and my wood usage dropped to just over 2 cords last season. Anyone else tried one of these and seen a big difference in fuel use?
I used to blow every single leaf off my property in Burlington, thinking it was the only way to keep the yard tidy. Phil, who's been living off the grid up in the hills for 15 years, told me I was wasting gas and killing the soil life. He showed me how his garden mulched leaves into free compost over winter, and the worms did the work for him. This year I just mowed over the leaves and let them lay on the beds, and my spring garden came in better than ever. Anyone else made the switch from blowing to mulching their leaves?
Honestly I was dead set against using those cheap plastic lids from the dollar store, thought they'd never seal right. But after 3 days of ruining jars and losing 20 pounds of Roma tomatoes from my garden in Brockton, I tried them out of desperation. Turns out they work just fine if you boil them for 5 minutes first, same as the metal ones. Saved me like 40 bucks on lids for the season. Has anyone else had good luck with the off brand canning supplies?
I had my barrel right next to the foundation in Berlin, NH and a heavy October rain backed it up through a crack I never noticed. Now I rerouted the overflow 10 feet away with a cheap garden hose and a PVC elbow. Anyone else deal with foundation water issues from their catchment system?
I was honestly just hoping to shave a few hundred bucks off my heating bill but the thing cranks out so much heat I barely touched the furnace after December, has anyone else in old New England houses had their propane or oil bills drop by half or more after adding a secondary heat source?
Ordered from a fancy online catalog and out of 12 packets, maybe 3 came up after 2 weeks in the ground. Whole garden bed sat empty while I waited - anyone else stick to local seed swaps now?
Been using the store bought stuff for years and slipped twice last winter. He said the ash gives traction and won't kill my lawn, so I tried it after that big storm last week. Works way better than I thought, anyone else use this or got another cheap trick for icy steps?
I was out in my shed last weekend pulling wood for the stove and noticed the bottom rows were all rotting. Turns out I had the stacks flat against the wall with no airflow underneath. My neighbor Bob from down the road in Littleton pointed out I needed to stack it off the ground on pallets with the bark facing up. Has anyone else dealt with rotten wood from a simple stacking mistake?
I used to grab that overpriced sourdough at the co-op in Brattleboro every week, but after my electric bill hit $320 in January I started baking my own in this clunky old oven my neighbor gave me. First loaf came out like a hockey puck, second one caught on fire a little, but by the fifth try I actually had something edible and my wallet felt a lot lighter. Anyone else get way too into DIY projects out of pure spite against the cost of living?
I live up in central Maine where winter heating bills can cripple you if you're not careful. Three years ago I was paying nearly $400 a month for oil and couldn't figure out why my house felt drafty all the time. Then an older guy at the transfer station told me to check my attic hatch. Turns out mine had zero insulation on it and was basically letting heat pour out like an open window. Last month I spent $12 on some rigid foam board and weatherstripping from Aubuchon Hardware, cut it to size, and taped it to the back of the attic door. My oil usage dropped by almost a quarter right away. Has anyone else found weird spots in their house that bleed heat without you noticing?