Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Temporary Propane Line and Cold Weather

Winter has finally arrived in Northern Alberta. It has been a very abnormally mild winter up until now. Now it is all of a sudden, real stupid cold. There don't seem to be such a thing as in between weather, which would be perfect for winter in my book. Me and my poor little dog almost froze to death last night. Actually I was pretty toasty under all those blankets, but the little dog woke up shaking pretty bad. For the first time since we been chumming together, I actually had to bring her in under the blankets with me, and keep her warm. I kinda felt like a mother hen there for awhile. But we survived. The thermometer on the wall read 8 celcius, but it is mounted high on the wall, pretty close to the ceiling. It was much colder than that down below. I have decieded that this is my last winter in this little shack. I don't mind the little, but that cold, just aint good.



A few days ago, I finally hooked the shack into the big 1000 gallon propane tank. And just in time too. The hundred pound bottles don't last long in this weather and are a pain to be changing all the time. It has been in the minus 30's all day today, and tonight is supposed to get right close to minus 40 plus a wind chill factor. I heard them saying on the radio wind chills of minus 50 or colder. That will defianately put the propane situation to the test. So far so good. Anyway, I got a piece of 30 foot pipe from a brother of mine. It costed me a 40 pounder of Gibsons Gold. I needed something to protect my propane line as it crossed the driveway.

I scraped some of the packed snow and ice off the driveway, with the backhoe, where the pipe was to be. Then I brought in a bucket or two of gravel that I have stored away for emergencies. I raked the gravel in there so all the pipe would be supported from movement when I drive over it.
Then about 3 buckets of gravel over top. The finished product. If you look close enough, you will see the propane hose coming out the end of the pipe, ready to be hooked up.
Then the hose coming out the other end and over to the wood pile.
Then from the wood pile to the tank. That is 150 feet of 3/4 inch propane line in all. (Three 50 footers). I went in to get a permit to do this, and it costed $150.oo. Did'nt really expect that to happen, but it did. Pleading and arguing did'nt change their minds. lol.
This is the only picture of this post that was taken today. After discovering how cold it was in the shack this morning, I decided to go to town and get some syrofoam insulation for the floor of my shack. I know it aint pretty, but it sure does feel better than that cold floor. I had a pop explode on the floor once this winter at about 3 in the morning one night. Scared the daylights outta me. Im not quite done with the floor yet, but it does make a little difference so far.
In the basement of the house, I have been trying to get my gas lines all done, but I hav'nt had a whole lot of time. This heater is one of two that will be down in the basement. I am hoping that these two heaters will keep things from freezing up when I am away for prolonged periods of time.
There's a glance at the wood stove that I am getting real eager to be stokeing up. I don't even care if I have to get up a couple times in the night to do that, as long as I am nice and toasty. I love the warm and I'm really starting to hate the cold. I'm not going to spend another winter in the shack, I just decided that. I will either be in the house or migrated south with the geese.


Disclaimer--IMPORTANT


This is a personal blog, mainly for my own use. I am building a house with my own two hands, but I am learning alot of things as I go. I do not claim to know what I am doing, or if anything I do is even close to being done correctly or safely. So please, if you are planning on using any of my ideas or methods for your own use, please get professional advice before actually following through with your actions. I will not be held responsible for any injuries or damages of any kind caused by information or comments from this blog.