HEATING HUNTING SHACKS or FARMHOUSES!!!

[DCF]

What do you use to heat your hunting shacks or old farm houses. We have an old but big farmhouse that we use from Oct.1 till Jan 1. Furnace is shot. Wondering what to buy that is relatively cheap to keep some heat in it so we don't have to drain the water after every use. We have a fireplace that we use when we are there,but need something for the times we aren't there. This is located in SW minn. Just looking for ideas. Thanks

[Eric Wettschreck]

Try to contact your local plumbing and heating dudes.

Many times when they replace a furnace in a home it's not cuz the old one was shot. It's cuz it wasn't as efficient or here in SW MN it was under a small cities grant and had to be done. I believe work done under a SMOC type thing requires new furnace also. Not too sure on that one though.

Many times they have furnaces that work just fine they will sell for very little.

[96trigger]

Alot depends on what you have the house. Do you have ductwork for forced air? Natural gas can get expensive and chopping wood can be laborous work. I personally would look into electric baseboard heat. You would really only need to heat bedrooms, and rooms that you frequent often or have water. It is relatively inexpensive compared to gas or fuel oil and can often be installed yourself. You might have to look into what kind of electric you have going into the house, they might take up some juice. I know that it probably goes without saying, but I'd stay away from any space heaters that burn any type of gas. We don't need to read about any hunters dying of carbon monoxide poisoning. Good luck.

[MOBY RICHARD*]

If you have a good Gas Stove/Oven, with preferably cast iron burners, turn it on and crack a window, experiment a little...up, down, wide open door , partly closed, to get your temps for various outside temps...just be sure where the hottest air, or in the case of top burners open flame, won't melt or burn something...

If you are running water pipes...then it has to heat the basement too...remember heat rises till it fills...in that case put 'er in the cellar...the heat will filter through the floors, or if you remove the ducts from the old furnace you will have a Gravity system, no electric necessary...

The Stove/Oven is the old-fashioned version of an unvented heater...

We should always have Carbon Monoxide, Gas, Smoke, and Heat Alarms, even with vented units.