We were cleaning and doing some work in the bedroom and decided we were tired of shivering. So, we decided to drag in some wood and start a fire in the beautifully ornate woodburning stove in the corner.

Well, we discovered there was no flue, so all the heat went up the pipe. Then we discovered something even worse. The stove was cracked and had spots we hadn’t noticed that were holes. So we could see the light from the flames through the cracks, and there were some small flames coming out the sides! Gadzooks, we panicked and put out the fire as quickly as we could! Time for strategizing a solution.

Took a little thought, but we decided to bring in one of our small potbelly stoves and replace the one in the bedroom. It took some grunt work and redoing the pipes, but the replacement is now in place and it works great!

It doesn’t have all the ornate scroll work, but it fits larger pieces of wood, Jim installed a flue, and fired it up. Wow, it heated the bedroom and the dining room.

We also installed a propane heater in the bathroom. Its a wall-mounted propane heater. Jim spliced into the propane line that goes to the dryer in order to connect to the propane.

When we fire up the heater in the bathroom, it makes a real cozy environment for taking a shower or bath. If we keep the door open, it heats both the bathroom and kitchen. I’m loving this!

Now we can work in the house without having to limit ourselves to 1-2 hours because of the cold. We can work all day and really get things done. I’m so excited about all the little steps of progress!