Old Dummy
Who am I? Why am I here?
- Location
- In the backwoods of NYS
I had a farmer uncle when I was a kid, and he heated their house with wood*. They kept it VERY warm; I can recall laying in bed, in the middle of winter, with even the sheets thrown off cuz it was hot. Not sure if that spoiled me or not, but I think I'm just naturally cold-blooded anyway (in the figurative sense).
When I bought my first house in 1975, I made sure I had a wood heater* installed before winter came. Same thing when I bought this house in 1981. I started using coal during the coldest 3-4 months of winter in 1990 and still am. I use wood in the fall and spring after the worst is over. AND I KEEP MY HOUSE WARM! MY BEDROOM TOO! But it would cost an arm and a leg to keep it this warm with anything other than wood/coal.
I've asked random people I know if they like warm or cold bedrooms, and only one or two of them said they like them warm. So there are only maybe four of us on the planet out of 7(?) billion peeps who like warm bedrooms. I hate wearing a long-sleeved top to bed, although sometimes in a real bad, extended cold spell in the winter I have to. I also hate piles of covers on top of me.
My living room needs to be 72 at a minimum (it is 77 right now) which means the kitchen, where the heater is, 6-8 degrees warmer. I have to be able to sit around in the evening in the LR with just a t-shirt or I get upset. This winter was very easy.
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* My aunt even cooked with a "wood stove," although I just barely remember that, so they probably got rid of it by the late 1950s and went with a propane cook stove. Can you women here imagine cooking 3 squares a day for a hungry farmer and numerous kids, in the middle of July with a woodstove in the kitchen?
Being dairy farmers they had their own milk, kept chickens for eggs mostly, and had a huge garden. They hunted deer for meat (even my girl cousin!) made their own maple syrup, and picked wild berries. They had very little money but were great people and were happy. This was just a normal life for them.
Misused, mostly forgotten terms from yesteryear: A "wood stove" was something you used to cook meals with. To heat your house, you used a "wood heater", wood furnace, or "coal heater/furnace."
Nobody cooks with wood stoves anymore, so the term now applies to what are actually heaters.
Wow, sorry. I didn't mean to write a book.
When I bought my first house in 1975, I made sure I had a wood heater* installed before winter came. Same thing when I bought this house in 1981. I started using coal during the coldest 3-4 months of winter in 1990 and still am. I use wood in the fall and spring after the worst is over. AND I KEEP MY HOUSE WARM! MY BEDROOM TOO! But it would cost an arm and a leg to keep it this warm with anything other than wood/coal.
I've asked random people I know if they like warm or cold bedrooms, and only one or two of them said they like them warm. So there are only maybe four of us on the planet out of 7(?) billion peeps who like warm bedrooms. I hate wearing a long-sleeved top to bed, although sometimes in a real bad, extended cold spell in the winter I have to. I also hate piles of covers on top of me.
My living room needs to be 72 at a minimum (it is 77 right now) which means the kitchen, where the heater is, 6-8 degrees warmer. I have to be able to sit around in the evening in the LR with just a t-shirt or I get upset. This winter was very easy.
-------------------------------------------------------
* My aunt even cooked with a "wood stove," although I just barely remember that, so they probably got rid of it by the late 1950s and went with a propane cook stove. Can you women here imagine cooking 3 squares a day for a hungry farmer and numerous kids, in the middle of July with a woodstove in the kitchen?
Being dairy farmers they had their own milk, kept chickens for eggs mostly, and had a huge garden. They hunted deer for meat (even my girl cousin!) made their own maple syrup, and picked wild berries. They had very little money but were great people and were happy. This was just a normal life for them.
Misused, mostly forgotten terms from yesteryear: A "wood stove" was something you used to cook meals with. To heat your house, you used a "wood heater", wood furnace, or "coal heater/furnace."
Nobody cooks with wood stoves anymore, so the term now applies to what are actually heaters.
Wow, sorry. I didn't mean to write a book.
