Category Archives: Home and Homestead

That’s it – we need a real sump.

This morning we woke up to a flooded basement.  Luckily only 1″ of water at that point (although with much more on it’s way) and the sump wouldn’t stay running.  I messed with it for half an hour, then had … Continue reading

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The right wood stove

I’ve done lots of research on wood stoves and have finally decided on one for us.  We have a unique situation in that we need a stove that fits in a 43″ wide 27″ deep alcove with an 84″ ceiling … Continue reading

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Fire safety

As I’ve been thinking about adding a wood stove in our home, I have also been talking with my wife about fire safety.  She has a very healthy fear of fire and is concerned about the dangerous aspects of a … Continue reading

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Energy Dreams

We currently use about 700 gallons of #2 oil to heat our home and supply our domestic hot water.  We have an oil fired boiler and it runs our baseboard for heat and a coil for our hot water.  Our … Continue reading

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Need a bilge pump for my basement…

I woke up this morning to 3″ of water in my basement, lapping at the bottom of my oil fired boiler.  We hadn’t plugged in our sump pump last night and I had to trudge through the water to do … Continue reading

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