I have no natural gas in the mountains where I live. We are on a heat pump, and of course, it's almost useless at 15 degrees F. I'm forced to use portable kerosene heaters, which isn't all that bad. Actually, I enjoy the sitting in the warm glow when I'm reading or browsing. In the last month, all the kerosene I was able to get was full of water! This played havoc on my heating equipment, but I was finally able to get some good fuel, and just in time too. When my money gets better, I'm thinking about replacing the heat pump with a propane heater and having a tank put out.

Oh yeah, been there and done that. During my DoD years spent a few years in Va. and had a heat pump. Heck it was useless below around 35F. There was the magic "Emergency Heat" button on the thermostat. That button kicked in the electric heating elements. Heck that was over 30 maybe 35 years ago and I think it was VEPCO (Virginia Electric Power COmpany) that was Public Enemy #1. Thank God the place had a fireplace and we had a chainsaw. Gawd I hated that heat pump!

Ron

 

Have a hydraulic splitter. It's actually my mother in laws house, and do it for her and my wife who lives with her as her 'care giver'. Getting the wood gives me something to do.

I cut the wood about a mile from my house in Youngstown, haul it home and split it. Then load again and take it ~25 miles to Alliance, Oh and stack it again. I get the trees for free, cleaning a friends 55 acres of woods, taking dead ash trees mostly. Those emerald ash borers are going to clean out the ash trees in this area. Haul all this in a chevy s10 pickup. Right around 3/8 of a cord per trip. Around 1600 to 1800 pounds a load, way more than the trucks rated payload.

I hear my neighbors splitter fire up every Fall. We view the sound as a sign of impending doom and gloom of Winter. So I grab a few beers and walk back to BS with David.

My daughter in law is from the Youngstown area, some small village around there. Her and my son live down in the Columbus area now but they get up to Youngstown pretty often.

Ron

 

My niece just sent me this. Odd, it is dated about 14 months ago. Do you remember last year?

 

Hot Hot Hot....!
No snow these days...! Come to think of it....it never snows down here...No freakin Ever.

I have been wondering about you...haven't read much from you lately. Good to know you're still kicking.

 

I have been wondering about you...haven't read much from you lately. Good to know you're still kicking.

I was around but not that much though. Quite busy these past months.
I check around atleast a few times a week. I just wish I get more time to lurk around.

 

I am sorry to admit my knowledge of the Maldives was a little lacking!
Although a little behind the times, I just spotted and downloaded "The Island President" looks like an interesting watch.
Max.

 

Everyone's happier in Boston, today. The storm missed us and it's a balmy 28 degrees Fahrenheit (-2.2 degrees C).

 

speaking of chainsaws and wood burning stoves...EPA just made 90% or more of them against the law. a new law limiting particulate emissions renders them illegal. just read about it today. i think it was at Forbes.

 

speaking of chainsaws and wood burning stoves...EPA just made 90% or more of them against the law.

Lord Carnarvin won't like that. He just reduced the oil burning at Highclere Castle from 23,000 liters per year to 300 liters per year by burning, "waste" wood chips. Our EPA doesn't work in Scotland, but this kind of, "improvement" is contagious.

 

Getting the wood gives me something to do.

I cut the wood about a mile from my house in Youngstown, haul it home and split it. Then load again and take it ~25 miles to Alliance, Oh and stack it again. I get the trees for free, cleaning a friends 55 acres of woods, taking dead ash trees mostly.

Before long, that could turn into work. Not to mention the 5-6 gallons of gas that you use hauling each cord of wood.

 

Lord Carnarvin won't like that. He just reduced the oil burning at Highclere Castle from 23,000 liters per year to 300 liters per year by burning, "waste" wood chips. Our EPA doesn't work in Scotland, but this kind of, "improvement" is contagious.

I would have thought the residuals from Downton Abbey (PBS Highclere Castle) would have helped!

I remember initially wiring places such as that and removing the miles of steel wire/bellcrank operated servants quarters bells that travelled the place from one end to the other.
Max.

 

I remember initially wiring places such as that and removing the miles of steel wire/bellcrank operated servants quarters bells.

It seems a shame to destroy all that historic content.
How is a Lord to get his tea delivered when the electricity goes out?

 

speaking of chainsaws and wood burning stoves...EPA just made 90% or more of them against the law. a new law limiting particulate emissions renders them illegal. just read about it today. i think it was at Forbes.

Here's the link. http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrybe...-chilling-consequences-for-many-rural-people/

Enforcement in the rural south will be difficult. What it will likely do is drive up the price of existing stoves, and create a black market. On the bright side, it should stop some of the Chinese crap from coming in.

 

It seems a shame to destroy all that historic content.

I do remember making a nice side income from all the scrapped lead gas lighting pipe!.
Max.

 

it would be a sensable rule in large metropolitan areas with lots of auto exhuast problems. but this spplies to everyone everywhere. living in the wilds of Alaska? hope you have a kerosene heater.
and the fuel oil/kerosene is fossil origin, where the wood is carbon neutral...???

 

it would be a sensable rule in large metropolitan areas with lots of auto exhuast problems. but this spplies to everyone everywhere. living in the wilds of Alaska? hope you have a kerosene heater.
and the fuel oil/kerosene is fossil origin, where the wood is carbon neutral...???

Pretty soon, forest fires will be illegal. Volcanos too.

 

speaking of chainsaws and wood burning stoves...EPA just made 90% or more of them against the law. today. .

When chainsaws are outlawed, only outlaws will have chainsaws!

 

Here's the link. http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrybe...-chilling-consequences-for-many-rural-people/

Enforcement in the rural south will be difficult. What it will likely do is drive up the price of existing stoves, and create a black market. On the bright side, it should stop some of the Chinese crap from coming in.

it would be a sensable rule in large metropolitan areas with lots of auto exhuast problems. but this spplies to everyone everywhere. living in the wilds of Alaska? hope you have a kerosene heater.
and the fuel oil/kerosene is fossil origin, where the wood is carbon neutral...???

Don't panic. The EPA isn't coming after your wood burning stove. As with many, many other stories, this one is greatly exaggerated.

“The proposed rule would not affect existing woodstoves and other wood-burning heaters currently in use in people’s homes,” the EPA says. “The proposal also would not apply to new or existing heaters that are fueled solely by oil, gas or coal, and it would not apply to outdoor fireplaces, fire pits, pizza ovens or chimineas.”

Source: http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/02/24/3321941/epa-wood-stoves-2/

 

We're into the second day of an ice storm that wreaked havoc with trees falling into power lines. We (Rescue Squad) were out til 2am with chainsaws clearing roads. This was in addition to the county highway dept. and DOT. We were monitoring the radio and the fire depts had their hands full with chimney fires and falling limbs causing transformer explosions. I'd say that wood stoves that haven't been fired up yet this year are getting a workout now.
We're supposed to get more tonight...

 

What is the Rescue Squad? Is that a volunteer thing?