# How Will You Stay Warm This Winter



## Randi (Apr 22, 2011)

We heat mostly with a wood stove. The thermostat is set at 62 and only comes on if the fire goes out in the middle of the night.


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## lissablack (Nov 30, 2009)

I have natural gas, the wood stove is only usable if it is cloudy because I have a lot of southern windows and it gets hot in here during the day. By the time I go to bed it is still hot. But when we have cloudy days it is terrific. I set the heat for 62 at night also, but I'm thinking about making it lower.

Jan


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## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

We have a really nice wood stove, which we mostly use. Every now and then we'll use electric.


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## peggy (Aug 11, 2010)

Woodstove only. We have lots of bug kill trees for our wood supply. The woodshed is full at the start of the winter and I haul wood with the dogsled during the winter just for the fun of it.


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## Breezy-Trail (Sep 16, 2011)

We heat with oil. It is VERY costly for an uninsulated 270 yr old house. We will most like switch to a coal combination stove that burns coal and wood. We have Amish neighbors that sell bagged coal by the ton for cheap.


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## Goat Song (May 4, 2011)

We use only a woodstove, and it usually goes out at night! I remember during the first two years that we lived here, half of the house (and of course it was the half with my bedroom!) had absolutely no insulation in the walls. It got SO cold during the winter!!!


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## Breezy-Trail (Sep 16, 2011)

Goat Song said:


> We use only a woodstove, and it usually goes out at night! I remember during the first two years that we lived here, half of the house (and of course it was the half with my bedroom!) had absolutely no insulation in the walls. It got SO cold during the winter!!!


My bedroom used to be the the north side of the house (bad idea). it got so cold with the wind (and no insulation) that it never got much warmer than 50. No one wanted to get out of bed when the oil tank ran out on X mas eve and the house was 35-40F (that happend...no one came to fill till 4 days later)


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## Jessaba (May 13, 2010)

Unfortunately our furnace uses gas....we have a electric heater to help when its super duper cold.


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

house is gas heated but I have an electric space heater for my room

Mom doesnt allow the thermostat above 64 (well sometimes dad can get it up to 66 for a bit before she notices!) and it goes down to 59 at night - needless to say I heat my own room a bit warmer  

Oh and I have an electric mattress heating pad for at night (my mom gave it to me haha)


I HATE BEING COLD!


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

We have a gas well on our property so, we use gas...no furnace, we have 3 wall mount plaque heaters...2 in basement and one upstairs as well as an antique stove with a thermostat and blower.....it really stinks though when the gas does go out because we don't have back up heat and it takes me or hubby going up on the hill to get the problem fixed and it usually happens in the coldest weather.


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

We have a large house and an oil forced-hot-air furnace. But this Tuesday we're getting a pellet stove as a supplement. Hopefully that will keep those oil deliveries to a minimum!


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## jaymerose (Oct 5, 2007)

We have a corn furnace. We used to heat the house with wood, but with both of us working and the goats it was getting hard to keep up on cutting and splitting. One thing nice about the corn furnace is I get the same quality of heat as I did when we burnt wood.


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## JessaLynn (Aug 30, 2009)

We have a wood burner in our front room and use it threw out the day.At night we use propane.Our cherry tree died this year  but we have plenty of wood to get us by this winter thank the lord! Love my wood burner...saves so much money!!


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## .:Linz:. (Aug 25, 2011)

Oil. We have radiant floor heat (oil furnace heats water, which circulates through pipes in the floors. The heat from the water radiates upward to heat the room) and a very well-insulated house - we only use about 380 gallons of oil per year for heat in the winter and hot water year-round. If it's super cold we'll turn on the gas fireplace/stove in the living room to take the chill off.


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## GotmygoatMTJ (Apr 25, 2009)

Have a gas furnace. Still doesn't really help with the temp in the house so we use electric space heaters and heating blankets. 

The animals are staying warm...well... the goats will just have to eat hay, the horses will have blankets and hay, and the rabbits are in an insulated room with 2 heat lamps and a water heater.


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## RMADairyGoats (Jun 20, 2011)

We have a gas stove in the kitchen an a fire place in the living room. We rarely ever use the gas stove though.


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

We have natural gas but our heating bill gets so high in the winter that we keep the thermostat pretty low and wrap up in down blankets.


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## Randi (Apr 22, 2011)

We don't have any heat at all in the kitchen. The wood stove heats the front of the house and the only vent for the oil burner is a huge grate in the middle of the living room floor. The house is about 175 years old, maybe more. ( It is hard to date things before all the county records burned up in 1883.) Things like heat and plumbing were squished in much later......


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## freedomstarfarm (Mar 25, 2011)

Currently the entire house is electric heat. We will be adding a wood stove in the basement next few weeks. No power and running on a generator for over a week with limited output we realized we needed a heat source not dependent on electricity!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Have a wonderful woodstove ...stay toasty warm......I love it........ :thumb: :greengrin:


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

We have a wonderful free-standing wood stove in our garage. We cannot install or use it in the Central Valley. If it had been our sole source of heat from the beginning we could have gotten a waiver. But it is too late now.
I remember when we had a wood stove in the 80's. I would put a pot of soup or stew or beans on the back of it in the morning and by evening; there was dinner with no additional energy. (sigh)


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## PznIvyFarm (Jul 25, 2010)

jesse-goats said:


> [quote="Goat Song":nlo406ge]We use only a woodstove, and it usually goes out at night! I remember during the first two years that we lived here, half of the house (and of course it was the half with my bedroom!) had absolutely no insulation in the walls. It got SO cold during the winter!!!


My bedroom used to be the the north side of the house (bad idea). it got so cold with the wind (and no insulation) that it never got much warmer than 50. No one wanted to get out of bed when the oil tank ran out on X mas eve and the house was 35-40F (that happend...no one came to fill till 4 days later)[/quote:nlo406ge]

We had that happen two years running b/c we switched from auto-delivery to 'will call' and would forget to call. The first time they came Christmas eve day around 4 pm to deliver and restart the furnace. Last year we forgot again and by the time we got home from midnight mass it was FREEZING! The emergency service told us we could pour kerosene into the pipe for the tank instead b/c no delivery until 2 days after Christmas, and told us how to restart the furnace. Just an FYI in case it happens again to you. (we went on budget plan this year, so we won't have that happen again :wink: ) I never knew kerosene could substitute for oil in a pinch.

We try to use the wood insert as much as possible, i turn the thermostat down to 60-62 esp when no one home during day but me, and I stay in the warm room if doing schoolwork and the rest of the time i'm moving around so i don't pay attention to cold. (same thing as someone else mentioned, very old house, very little insulation, except for attic and anywhere that we have torn the plaster/lathe down) Another fyi, old lathe makes the BEST firestarter - although since my house is full of it, it doesn't make me happy knowing what a firetrap i live in.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

We have electric, but I would LOVE to have a wood burning stove or fireplace to use once in a while. We keep our thermostat at 68, but this place seems a little drafty, especially when it gets cold out.


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