Saturday, December 19, 2009

What a Difference.

It's old, but solid. It's ugly, but who cares. It was free.



I did have to spend $60 on new firebricks for the inside. The old bricks were pulverized by the hour trip from my parents' house to here on a trailer with no springs. Another $20 for an angle grinder to remove the old screws. $12 for the new stainless screws and bolts. The pan of water and clippings from the rosemary and eucalyptus tree were free. Inside, it's hot, hot, hot!



Upstairs, with no electric heat, the house is a comfortable 64 degrees. On the light rack, it's 72 and sunny.



I'll have to keep a closer eye on the watering needs of my brugs and pineapple sage cuttings. Who needs bottom heat when you've got a furnace in the opposite corner?

9:00pm - I've spent the evening sorting the 50 packs of seeds for the contest. In the basement, I've decided I really need to do something to that back corner where things have been tossed for "storage". I'm going to move my work table back there. All the crap left over from when I was building models will either be trashed, sold, given away, or burned Christmas Eve at my parents' house. We shoot fireworks every year. Don't know exactly why. Never bothered to ask when they started the tradition several years ago. Something about getting Santa's attention, I think. You would think the 50,000 twinkling lights and 30+ inflatables in the yard would be enough.

My work table is near the new wood heater. It's 83 degrees in that section of the basement. The back corner has an old leaky metal framed window so it's cooler at 76. Upstairs, it's 67 with no supplemental heat. Outside, 30 and clear.

I'll do some more work on the basement tomorrow. The goal is to get rid of all the stuff and bits of rubbish I've been thinking about possibly using to maybe build something. There seems to be a trip to the landfill in my future. Maybe Wednesday morning.

6 comments:

gld said...

Tom that looks like the type of wood stove we have in the living room. Ours is an Ashley - fire brick lined. It will hold coals overnight. We don't use it a lot because of wanting some heat for the pipes under the house where the duct work is for the furnace. I do love wood heat.

How does it heat the upstairs? Just curious.

Randy Emmitt said...

Tom,
64 degrees upstairs is doable when sleeping but a bit cold just to hang around. Bet once you get the fire going it'll be better.

Tom - 7th Street Cottage said...

Glenda, I have an intake vent in the basement that circulates the warmer air upstairs.

Randy, I'll supplement the basement heat with electric heat on really cold days, but for me, a long sleeve t-shirt and jogging pants are comfortable. I usually keep it around 62 at night. I'm very hot natured and love cooler temperatures in the house.

Jeff Vandiver said...

Great score on the wood heater. I grew up using one, and they sure do heat a house well. Man....you've got alot of stuff growing under lights right now!

Darla said...

Congrats on the heater...looks just fine to me...Your plants are looking good.

Tom - 7th Street Cottage said...

EG...yep. I grew up cutting wood every summer in between picking those long rows of butterbeans. Somewhere in there, I'm sure I had to walk to school in the snow uphill both ways. Most of those plants are tender perennials that won't survive out winters intact. I'm hoping some come back from the roots.

Thanks Darla. It puts out some heat. Be sure to check Monday night. I'll be sowing seeds around 4pm when I get home from work.