No chimney!

[Little Lou]

(12 May 2013, 19:35)Tarrel Wrote: Personally, I'd save up and go for a wood burning stove outletting to a new dedicated flue through the wall. That way, you can put it where you want it. Meanwhile, as a hedge against SHTF tomorrow, perhaps invest in a portable calor gas heater and a couple of cylinders. At least that way you have off-grid heat.

Thanks, Tarrel - that's exactly the plan now, and I'm halfway there with talking my husband into it! The calor gas heater is an interesting short term solution, though - I hadn't realized you could use them indoors. I've been looking at battery heaters so far, but without much luck.

(12 May 2013, 19:35)Tarrel Wrote: You might be surprised how much an open fire or stove ADDs to the value of your house, rather than detracting from it. We found that when we sold a year ago. I think there are those that believe a stove will make them more resilient in the event of a crisis, and those who just think it's cool. Either way, open fires and stoves tend to be seen positively by buyers.

Yes, absolutely. It's the location of our existing chimney that would be the drawback, but if we have a purpose-built flue (and maybe a fake chimney breast to take the visual curse off the pipe) then I think it'll be a real selling point, especially in a village like ours. Prospective buyers won't find many other houses with real fires within a fifteen mile radius.

(12 May 2013, 19:35)Tarrel Wrote: By the way, FWIW, you already seem to have an excellent handle on the sort of preps needed for WTSHTF.

It's worth a lot, Tarrel - thank you. I know I've tons still to learn (and even more to do!!) but at least if the mindset's in vaguely the right place then that's really encouraging.

Interesting archaeological discussion too, Mortlake. As a historian, I'd say it's more than a few generations ago - even the Romans had a chimney system of pipes. Britain was slower, but we've had modern type chimneys since the 12th century, and by the 1650s they were almost universal. The problem with the old system was the lack of 'draw' to suck the smoke upwards, which may be why respiratory diseases were such big killers in medieval times, and life expectancy was so very short.

On the other hand, it was certainly an economical system. In the 13th and 14th centuries it wasn't uncommon for the hole to lead only to the upper storey, which was used to smoke and preserve meat. Those were real Prepper Ancestors.