I'm thinking of retiring

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posted 6 years ago

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I'm thinking of retiring in a few years. I have a 200 acre site in Northeast Kentucky that I've been using as a hunting camp for the past 18 years. It has a small house on it. I hope to build an addition and do most of my living in the new space, using the old house for guest rooms, etc. What I'm looking to y'all for is advice on how best to keep it heated.

Imagine if you will a 40X40 space, built like a large pole barn. It'll be a big open room with an interior balcony going around the second floor and an open ceiling beyond that. The front door will be in the SW corner along with the access to the old house. The SE corner will be a living area with lots of windows to look out at the view. The east and central area will be more living/family room with a stone fireplace on the east wall. There will be stairs going to the 2nd floor balcony in the NE corner. On the NW corner there will be a kitchen. There will be a walk-thru pantry along the west wall leading back to the SE corner and the old house.

In the dead center of all this, extending from the basement all the way to the roof, I figured I'd dedicate to heating the place. I've set aside 8X8' and told myself, that whatever I use for winter heat will be there. Additionally, I was figuring on a large thermal mass that would act as a heat sink in the summer.

Electricity is very expensive out there in the sticks. Right now, I'm running a wood stove for deer camp and supplementing with small electric oil immersion heaters. It keeps things nice and toasty, but the extrapolating the heating bill to all this extra square footage means I have to do something significant to keep the cost down.

I have an endless supply of wood.
I have access to coal if need be.
I'm starting with a clean slate.
I've got 2 years or more to plan.

What I'm thinking is as follows:

First off, I think I'll put some kind of Heatilator-style rig in the fireplace on the east wall. When I need supplemental heat or need to warm the place up in a hurry, I'll burn in there.

I would think that the 8X8 center pillar would make a good spot for a masonry heater-- build a fire with a bundle of [small sticks tied with string-- SHEESH!] and keep the place warm for hours at a time.

I might even add a second smaller heater, woodstove or whatever for the master bedroom area that will be next to this pillar up on the second floor.

I've also got the basement I can put whatever I want down there-- I thought about a supplemental wood/coal furnace just pumping out heat below the main living area. I could also use forced air or radiators to pump that to the older section.

I've thought about geo-thermal to heat/cool the place since I've got all the land I'd ever want or need. If need be, I can dig a pond next to the house.

My wife is a massage therapist. We're planning on an additional annex building for her to work, along with and additional guest room for when the family comes to visit as well as an office for me. We'll have to heat and cool all that as well, but that's another project.

I've got all these ideas, but I need guidance. This looks like the right place to start.

Thanks

Chris Kott

pollinator

Posts: 3847

Location: Marmora, Ontario

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