I know. Yes. I did it again. Sorry. But let me catch you up…
Okay – actually not a lot has been going on. But there was one big (BIG) development just yesterday. But first:
A Generous Reader, familiar with my kink for good coffee, sent me a gourmet gift! I’m already well into the first one, and it’s goood. Thanks!
Day before yesterday we got our first snow…
Gone by today, of course. Didn’t even leave much mud. But a symbolic official start to winter. And significant because…
As November came and went and I still hadn’t set up the woodstove’s support system I came to a really serious conclusion. People, I hate my woodstove. I mean an older, cobbled-together woodstove system tried to burn me out at the end of my very first winter in the cabin and I’ve been paranoid ever since but it’s not that. It’s the work, and the hassle. I never got around to cutting wood this autumn. Still have lots in the woodshed but that’s not the point: I always cut wood, whether I think I need it or not, and I just didn’t. I hate the hassle. I hate the mess. I hate the fact that it’s feed it every fifteen minutes (and overheat the cabin) or it goes out, so feast or famine. Did I mention I hate the work. I hate how much space it takes up. I hate – everything about my woodstove. I’m literally getting too old for this shit. And yet winter is here, and the bedroom propane heater can only do so much. So heavy sigh, right? I knew the job was dangerous when I took it.
Well, here’s the thing: I could afford to heat with propane now. Couldn’t in earlier years but I could now. I thought about getting a propane stove this summer but the problem is logistic: There’s noplace around here to buy a real propane room stove. And this summer I got sick and didn’t do anything, so winter came and I was stuck with my woodstove.
Except…Remember this?
D&L replaced their wood pellet stove with a propane model a few months ago, to the sound of rejoicing. But it had a problem: It wouldn’t stay lit with the fan on. Ran perfectly fine if you unplugged the fan, but with the fan on the pilot kept going out. Numerous service calls later, the company she bought it from gave up and offered her a discount on a higher-end model. And she asked what would become of the old one. And they said they’d take the fan off of it for service calls and scrap the stove. And she asked how much if a neighbor wanted to buy it?
You know where I’m going with this.
$100. Yeah, right now the gas plumbing is temporary – I mean scary temporary but good enough to test it. And it works great. I was really afraid it would drive me right out of the cabin but on the lowest setting it’s not quite enough to heat the cabin – but on the second-to-lowest it’s great.
NO MORE WOODSTOVE! WOODSTOVE IS GONE! I’m going to haul it over to Ian’s, where it can replace the unuseably small woodstove that nobody ever bothers to light because you can’t build a fire in it big enough to heat up the stovepipe and sustain fire. I’VE GOT A PROPANE STOVE FOR THE MAIN CABIN!
Me happy. That is all.
Here’s a pretty picture.
I can’t wait to hear Joel complain about hauling heavy propane tanks! 😀
However: Welcome to the current century.
Wahhoo! Having the resources to be able to move up to a propane stove at our age is wonderful. Now to improve the propane tank transportation system.
I’m so happy for you!
Hot damn! Sometimes the gods smile on us.
Congratulations!
Packrat scores a win. And my wife wonders why I rarely discard stuff…
Now to figure out how to trailer a 150 gallon propane tank in and out of the gulch once a year. 😉
That was really nice of your neighbour to think of you and do what she did. I hope that the stove works well, and that you have enough propane to get you through the winter. Just remember to do a proper hookup in the spring. That whole gas explosion thing is fine for the movies, but not so much for a desert hermit. 😊
Joel: On the other end of the spectrum, I’ve given up trying to move my woodstove from the outbuilding and into the house.
What is the purpose of the (now unplugged) fan?
Will your thermo-electric fan stay with the woodstove or earn its keep on top of the new stove?
May we expect a grumbly post about the need for a woodstove backup to the malfunctioning new-to-you propane stove?
A Mr. Heater Buddy might be an acceptable temporary non-wood backup; using those costly fat 1-lb tanks would be a way to have heat while troubleshooting valves/piping.
I suggest looking carefully at the parts diagram for the stove to see if it might be missing a baffle. Maybe look at the parts diagram for a later model to see if they added a baffle near the pilot. Just a thought…
The Mr. Heater people offer adapters for the heaters to take the standard 25 pound tanks. They recommend a filter (guess who sells that?:) ) in line with the adapter.
I bought one for backup when our propane heater’s control valve died, in time for a 7 hour power outage. Seems the solenoid that the pilot powers shorted to the case. After 24 years, it’s understandable, but now I try to check the heater every so often.
Nice Joel!
Woohoo! Here’s to a happy, warm, and comfortable winter.
Im really curious to hear about the propane logistics and usage that will be entailed.
Congrats! I like the ambiance and emergency result potential of wood. However using it as a primary heating system is a major hassle. Propane is a lot easier to deal with.
Were it me, I’d use the woodstove as a backup to the propane stove.
You know how it works, and ti doesn’t cost all that much to feed should you need it.
YMMV