One downfall of this property- the heating system. Or shall I say, "systems". We have some rooms with propane, others with electric and then there are 2 wood stoves. It almost feels like each room has a different flavor. Thankfully, when we raised the ceilings in the master bedroom the contractor got ride of the electric and opened up a duct for forced heat. Back to the heating systems. Propane. Let's just say, we had no idea how expensive it is. Last winter, it was a cold one. The entire month of January was in the single digits, and sometimes below zero. We'll just say that was the coldest winter this area has had in a long time. With that said, we tried to save money by heating with wood. We ran out of our first load of wood (1 full cord) in mid-January. Then ran out of our 2nd full cord by April. We kept our thermostat at 55 most of the time, as we were trying to heat with wood and save the propane. And our propane bills were still $200 a month! We couldn't believe it. And a good portion of this time, we didn't even have out kitchen range hooked up. We don't understand it, but that was our reality last winter. Bottom line- propane is extremely expensive.
We live on a rural road, in a suburban town. Though we only have a few neighbors, with lots of space between each house; there is a housing development within a half mile. We dreamed and longed for gas to be brought to our house. Then one day we noticed workers tearing up our road, not far from our house. We thought, maybe they were bringing gas to our road. But then the Laird began to doubt, as he assumed the yellow conduit was for cable lines. The Laird works for a construction company about 5 minutes from Redwoodshire. The company has a housing project located on our road. He saw that same yellow conduit, and inquired about it's purpose. GAS! We were thrilled.
Though it cost more money- as they had to dig up our driveway and bring the gas lines from the main road to the house, and then convert everything from propane to gas, the long term savings will be huge. Mid-summer the contractors dug up our driveway and got the gas to the house. Soon after we hired heating and cooling to convert some connections and install a new water heater (ours was ancient). We've been officially on gas for about a month- can't wait to get that bill (seriously). And today was the final step- Suburban Propane came to pick up their huge tank! That eyesore magically disappeared! First thing you see coming down the driveway- and directly outside our dining room window. So long propane tank- we won't miss you.
No comments:
Post a Comment