Wood Stove to Heat Our Home
Donation protected
Introduction:
Hi! We are Kelsey and Katrina Bacon, “Homestead” farmers on a hobby farm in southeast Idaho. We have four kids living at home right now aged two to 19 years old. Katrina is a project manager, and Kelsey is a stay at home dad whose responsibilities include caring for the kids, and all of the animals on the farm, including chickens, horses, llamas, a cow, 12 rabbits, two dogs, and two cats.
Our Situation:
Winter is upon us, and we are facing the most destabilizing aspect of living on a farm. High heating bills and winter feed for the animals always runs our expenses high at this point of the year. Our house was built around 1905, and has two heaters, one for each floor. Both of them run on Propane, which historically has cost from $600 to $1,200 a month to keep the house around 68 degrees in the daytimes. Animals are off the pasture in winter, but feed, we can handle. It’s those heating bills that throw us for a loop, coupled to the natural higher electric costs of winter. Last year we took steps to heat the house using passive solar heating, which is to say we kept the front door open to the glassed in front porch, and collected heat that way. But last year was very, very mild. Even with that, and using electric quartz heaters, our electric bills topped $400 a month. Still a difficult.
We would go out and get a small loan to accomplish our goal, but because Katrina has no established credit history, and Kelsey’s vanished while he lived in England for 8 years, we have troubles getting the banks to extend credit to us. Also, we try to do what we can without any debt, as making monthly payments on top of our other expenses would run us into the ground.
Our Goal:
We would like to get a wood stove for the dining room. This old house has an inefficient fireplace in the living room. It used to have wood stoves in the kitchen and dining room. I have opened the chimney and wall where the stove pipe used to be in the dining room. The chimney needs a bit of mortar work to get it ready. To install a wood stove, I have to have a non-combustible hearth, and a chimney liner to satisfy code and safety requirements. I also have to purchase the stove, which is best if it is non-catalytic so that it will be allowed to burn on higher pollution days. I have spoken to the code official to be sure I understand all aspects of installation, and I am allowed to do the installation myself, which would satisfy a part of our homesteading goal, which is to be able to do repairs and maintenance ourselves, rather than hiring out, like we need to do for one of the heaters, which is currently on the fritz. If we could switch over to one good high output stove, we could reduce out heating bills to the cost of buying wood permits ($50 for eight cords each year), and going and getting the wood. We are also happy, especially with the burns affecting the North West this year, that we are doing a little bit to help clear the forests of dead wood, which fuels fires. So, we would like to raise $1,500 to cover costs or a wood stove, chimney liner installation, and a hearth, as required by code. I will be doing the work myself to save a lot of money on the installation.
What You Can Do To Help:
We need to raise $1,500 preferably in time to have the parts bought and installed by the first of November. If you can contribute $10 or more to help us out, then share this with your friends and family, we should be there in no time at all!
What You’ll Be Helping Us Accomplish:
You’ll be helping us to stay on track financially this and every year. We are not able to receive assistance from Public Funds to raise our family due to the immigrant status of my wife, and two of our kids, and where possible we would never ask for welfare anyway. Here is a clearly stated goal and a clearly stated amount, and it would put us in a position to get past the biggest hump of getting our little farm going. Saving money every winter on heating will affect us all year round, allowing us to better prepare for those summer growing seasons. This is only our third year on the farm, and we are learning so much, from mixing our own detergents and making our own soap, to raising chickens for eggs, and llamas for wool, baking bread, and much more! We have already raised one steer, and have a second one standing in the field right now. We need to get another, but cannot till we surmount this heating problem. The cost of bull calves is just too high right now, and has been for about two years. Pitch in ten dollars or more, and help us round out our expenses, so we can get more done, and not face the prospect of financial ruin every time it gets cold, which is does every winter her in Southern Idaho.
Thanks You!
Thank you for taking the time to consider us. Your assistance is helpful and needed. Even if you cannot make a small contribution, just passing this along will help us to raise the money we need to warm our home, and spare us the outlandish costs of heating that this particular home otherwise requires. Once we take this step, we can do the rest ourselves, such as improving the insulation, and replacing windows, and so forth. So, again, thank you for your time and consideration!
Kelsey J Bacon
Hi! We are Kelsey and Katrina Bacon, “Homestead” farmers on a hobby farm in southeast Idaho. We have four kids living at home right now aged two to 19 years old. Katrina is a project manager, and Kelsey is a stay at home dad whose responsibilities include caring for the kids, and all of the animals on the farm, including chickens, horses, llamas, a cow, 12 rabbits, two dogs, and two cats.
Our Situation:
Winter is upon us, and we are facing the most destabilizing aspect of living on a farm. High heating bills and winter feed for the animals always runs our expenses high at this point of the year. Our house was built around 1905, and has two heaters, one for each floor. Both of them run on Propane, which historically has cost from $600 to $1,200 a month to keep the house around 68 degrees in the daytimes. Animals are off the pasture in winter, but feed, we can handle. It’s those heating bills that throw us for a loop, coupled to the natural higher electric costs of winter. Last year we took steps to heat the house using passive solar heating, which is to say we kept the front door open to the glassed in front porch, and collected heat that way. But last year was very, very mild. Even with that, and using electric quartz heaters, our electric bills topped $400 a month. Still a difficult.
We would go out and get a small loan to accomplish our goal, but because Katrina has no established credit history, and Kelsey’s vanished while he lived in England for 8 years, we have troubles getting the banks to extend credit to us. Also, we try to do what we can without any debt, as making monthly payments on top of our other expenses would run us into the ground.
Our Goal:
We would like to get a wood stove for the dining room. This old house has an inefficient fireplace in the living room. It used to have wood stoves in the kitchen and dining room. I have opened the chimney and wall where the stove pipe used to be in the dining room. The chimney needs a bit of mortar work to get it ready. To install a wood stove, I have to have a non-combustible hearth, and a chimney liner to satisfy code and safety requirements. I also have to purchase the stove, which is best if it is non-catalytic so that it will be allowed to burn on higher pollution days. I have spoken to the code official to be sure I understand all aspects of installation, and I am allowed to do the installation myself, which would satisfy a part of our homesteading goal, which is to be able to do repairs and maintenance ourselves, rather than hiring out, like we need to do for one of the heaters, which is currently on the fritz. If we could switch over to one good high output stove, we could reduce out heating bills to the cost of buying wood permits ($50 for eight cords each year), and going and getting the wood. We are also happy, especially with the burns affecting the North West this year, that we are doing a little bit to help clear the forests of dead wood, which fuels fires. So, we would like to raise $1,500 to cover costs or a wood stove, chimney liner installation, and a hearth, as required by code. I will be doing the work myself to save a lot of money on the installation.
What You Can Do To Help:
We need to raise $1,500 preferably in time to have the parts bought and installed by the first of November. If you can contribute $10 or more to help us out, then share this with your friends and family, we should be there in no time at all!
What You’ll Be Helping Us Accomplish:
You’ll be helping us to stay on track financially this and every year. We are not able to receive assistance from Public Funds to raise our family due to the immigrant status of my wife, and two of our kids, and where possible we would never ask for welfare anyway. Here is a clearly stated goal and a clearly stated amount, and it would put us in a position to get past the biggest hump of getting our little farm going. Saving money every winter on heating will affect us all year round, allowing us to better prepare for those summer growing seasons. This is only our third year on the farm, and we are learning so much, from mixing our own detergents and making our own soap, to raising chickens for eggs, and llamas for wool, baking bread, and much more! We have already raised one steer, and have a second one standing in the field right now. We need to get another, but cannot till we surmount this heating problem. The cost of bull calves is just too high right now, and has been for about two years. Pitch in ten dollars or more, and help us round out our expenses, so we can get more done, and not face the prospect of financial ruin every time it gets cold, which is does every winter her in Southern Idaho.
Thanks You!
Thank you for taking the time to consider us. Your assistance is helpful and needed. Even if you cannot make a small contribution, just passing this along will help us to raise the money we need to warm our home, and spare us the outlandish costs of heating that this particular home otherwise requires. Once we take this step, we can do the rest ourselves, such as improving the insulation, and replacing windows, and so forth. So, again, thank you for your time and consideration!
Kelsey J Bacon
Organizer
Kelsey Bacon
Organizer
Preston, ID