Alternate Heat - Winter Months Part II

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[Part I]

With a heavy reliance of heating oil in large areas of New England many are looking elsewhere for heat sources. Wood and pellet stoves are often the first to come to mind or even the ability to switch to natural gas and be hooked up to the grid. Originally when we bought our house in southern New Hampshire we thought that may be a choice, but soon found out that natural gas lines didn't even run under our street. Scratch that idea. I grew up in a small, coastal town a couple states away that was almost entirely heated by natural gas lines and I didn't have much experience with oil heating. The only exception to that was visiting relatives far out in the boonies in Cape Cod, MA.

You have to get deliveries of fuel? 

It isn't just in your house from a gas line? 

Preposterous!

Original 50-year old boiler in our home

Well I soon learned how that worked. Last winter we had filled our old tank three times and once before that after we initially bought the house. After moving in I had a brand new boiler installed and mid winter at the beginning of 2014 we also replaced our oil tank with a brand new one. So at least going into this winter everything is new and as efficient as it can be - for oil, that is. I believe the oil boiler is in the high 80's for percentage of efficiency - whatever that really means in the grand scheme of things. The new tank is a Roth double-walled 275 gallon unit that has a proper line running along the basement ceiling to the new boiler as well.

But with the house being over 150 years old it isn't like we can keep all that heat in. Sure we can tear apart the walls of the original horsehair plaster and try re-insulating the entire house, but I'm no masochist. Instead we are looking towards alternatives to heating. Granted we are doing insulation bits here and there to help keep heat in, but mostly we're shying away from a reliance on that deliverable fuel everybody requires to survive in the winter and keep their pipes from freezing.

New oil boiler and water heater system

In August I talked about picking up the wood stove to heat the main living room, but I know considering all the projects I'm trying to complete I will not be able to utilize it until next year at the earliest. As it will require cutting a hole through an exterior wall and installing a rather expensive chimney system up the side of the house. But what I can do is install a wood stove insert in our den's fireplace and re-line the existing brick chimney for it. With an included electric blower I can heat at least two (maybe even three) rooms quite well with just wood.

On top of the addition of a wood stove fireplace insert I have bought an efficient electric infrared stove for the bedroom as well. For my attached home office, which is just shy of 200 sq. feet, I will be utilizing a portable kerosene heater.

Not only do I have alternatives, but I have different types of options. If we lose power at any point this winter we can still use the wood stove insert and take the kerosene heater to whatever room we need it in.






Review of the above KeroHeat Kerosene Heater by TacticalIntelligence