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Heating With Pellets

Lately I’ve been kept busy with our latest purchase: a new wood pellet stove. Previously we heated with wood. Which, sure, is quaint and all. But wood has serious drawbacks, while pellets have numerous advantages as a highly efficient biofuel. (I tried to Google for a quick and easy primer but couldn’t find anything too great, so I foresee a future post topic!)

stove

We bought the England’s Stove Works 1,500 sq ft / 42,000 BTU model. ESW is one of the most widely available brands of pellet stoves, available at Lowes’, Home Depot, ACE, etc. We should have it up and running tomorrow.

Pellets are hard to come by this time of the year as supply and distribution is still catching up to demand. Most hardware or feed stores in the northeast carry pellets these days, but they typically only get a few pallets in at a time, which are then quickly snapped up. It’s smart to buy over the summer as prices are lower and you’re ensured a supply before it ever gets cold. But I placed an order on PelletSales.com a few days ago and will be calling tomorrow to get an estimated time of arrival. They deliver to your door and prices are competitive with the chain stores.

Until they deliver, however, we’re stuck scrounging for any 40 pound bags we come across. (Pellets typically come in 40lb bags, with 50 bags to a pallet. We’ve yet to experiment, but expect to burn somewhere in the range of one bag a day.) Regardless, I’m excited and will probably post more about it as we log time with this new “heat source of the future.” (har har har)

And Now, Ladies & Gentlemen

Since we last spoke, a list…

• I’ve put 800 miles on the MINI since my last post (crazy!)
• My speeding ticket has been resolved (85 in a 55 pleaded down to 64 in a 55, in return I’m taking a defensive driving course. And not speeding anymore.)
• I’ve worked entirely too many hours at Lowe’s (3rd paycheck this Fri.)
• I’ve had nearly two weeks of my photography class at ACC (it’s a lot of fun.)
• My Canon Rebel Ti door latch broke (I ordered a new one, fixing myself.)
• Netflix has continued to pay for itself (new fave: “Weeds”, a comedy on Showtime.)
• It’s hotter than hell (truly.)

Life has been too busy to be miserable; I don’t know whether this is a good thing or not. I suppose it is.

Oh Woe (Etc.)

So on Saturday, after working the usual [PITA] 2p-11p shift at Lowe’s, I get home and check my e-mail. First time in a few days, and lo and behold, there is an e-mail from my sales advisor at Keeler MINI, saying that my car has come in. The e-mail is from Friday morning.

They’re not open on Sundays, so I wait till Monday. Call the insurance company, get it insured. Call the car dealer. No, can’t pick it up early, they just got a larger (~13 car) shipment in. Later today, fine. Wait, you need to finance? Woh! So we need to get right on that. Oh, and the insurance company never faxed the insurance cards over. Call them back.

Run to Vermont to cash a large check, so that I can get a large down payment for the car. It’d take a few days for our check to clear. We run to Saratoga, to the bank that issued our check, give it to them in exchange for a cashier’s check (they couldn’t cash it, didn’t have that sort of money on hand – jeez). Run back to our bank in Vermont. No, they still need to wait for this one to clear!

Not getting the car Monday.

Tuesday morning, get a call from my sales advisor. Trouble with the insurance. Trouble with the loan. Insurance company has the wrong VIN and wrong person on the title. Loan needs a co-signer.

ETC. ETC. ETC.

After twenty or thirty calls, I’m finally ready to pick up the MINI. Everything fell into place by 4pm on Tuesday, but I had to work at 6 and didn’t have enough time to pick it up. I’ll be heading down to Keeler sometime after noon.

It would have been neat to take delivery of the MINI on 6/6/06. But c’est la vie. It would have been even better to get it last Friday or Saturday.

Updates to follow. With picshures