One of the many things we had to do was learn to survive Minnesota winters in that Old Farm House. It seemed that every year there was a new idea as to what we should do to keep it warmer for the next winter. Some years we would bank hay bales (because we had plenty of them around the farm) around the base of the house to act as an extra layer of insulation. One year we even nailed inch thick 8 feet tall by 4 feet wide Styrofoam sheets to the old white slate siding around the house. We even placed plastic film over each of the windows to act as an additional pane of window to insulate further. I even have early memories of the boys room upstairs having its own stove in it.
As far back as my memory serves me the main sources of heat were from the wood furnace that was plumbed right into the house's old chimney or the propane heater that would kick in at night when the fire went out. This wood furnace was in the basement and the only way to stoke it was to go down into the basement to light the fire. Easy right? Wrong. The only way to get into the basement were the steps that were outside (see the picture of the steps above)! So you get a little cold having to quickly run outside and run down the concrete stairs. Add to that that the stairs steps were typically iced over from the snow falling on them and the foot traffic packing the snow down. It seemed that every trip down those stairs you were slipping on those steps and landing on your back side resulting in a sore bum.
Being in such an Old Farm House, that chimney certainly got used. I can remember feeling that some times more smoke made it into the house then was being ventilated all the way up the chimney and out of the house. With that in mind the sound of the fire alarm going off was quite common to us and typically no one panicked when they heard it. One year, in the middle of the night, a chimney fire had started from the creosote being built up on the sides of the chimney over all the years. The neighbors were returning home from their trip to town that night and pulled in to tell us that the chimney was spewing flames several feet up into the air. Dad went down to the basement with the fire extinguisher to put the flames out. That caused the fire alarm to go off and I can remember Kayleen hysterically running into my bedroom in middle of the night telling me to get out of bed. I remember not getting out of bed because it was just more smoke and telling her I was going back to sleep...
Over all the experiences I believe Dad recognized it was time to stop heating the house using the chimney of the house. He devised a plan to build an exterior wood shed that would house a "water buffalo" insulated with yellow Styrofoam. The "water buffalo" had a tank of water surrounding the wood furnace chamber. The fire was to warm the water which would be circulated back to the house where it would radiate its heat up through the floor boards. Unfortunately, the "water buffalo" didn't seem to be able to keep the house as warm as what we used to have with the wood furnace in the basement. In fact I remember Mom commonly voicing her opinions of the "water buffalo."
I recall one night being told to stoke the fire very well before bed as it was to be an extremely cold night. We always had wood inside the newly constructed wood shed. You typically had your choice of poplar or red oak. I knew that poplar was better to start and burned hotter so I stoked the wood furnace chamber full of poplar. I saw to it that the fire was burning sufficiently well and left the fire to do its course through the night. Come morning - the fire certainly did its course. The fire got so hot through the night that the flames escaped the sides of the furnace chamber door and ignited the yellow Styrofoam that wrapped the "water buffalo." All that was left was a black charred "water buffalo" that stunk horribly from the burnt Styrofoam. I also believe that the temperature of the water got so hot through the night that it weakened the water chamber wall surrounding the fire chamber making the "water buffalo" inoperable. Many questions were asked of me as to what I did - and my response was, "I did exactly as you told me to!" I had stoked up the fire for an extremely cold night! The rest of that winter was fueled by propane and I don't think Mom had any complaints about the "water buffalo" meeting its death.
As far back as my memory serves me the main sources of heat were from the wood furnace that was plumbed right into the house's old chimney or the propane heater that would kick in at night when the fire went out. This wood furnace was in the basement and the only way to stoke it was to go down into the basement to light the fire. Easy right? Wrong. The only way to get into the basement were the steps that were outside (see the picture of the steps above)! So you get a little cold having to quickly run outside and run down the concrete stairs. Add to that that the stairs steps were typically iced over from the snow falling on them and the foot traffic packing the snow down. It seemed that every trip down those stairs you were slipping on those steps and landing on your back side resulting in a sore bum.
Being in such an Old Farm House, that chimney certainly got used. I can remember feeling that some times more smoke made it into the house then was being ventilated all the way up the chimney and out of the house. With that in mind the sound of the fire alarm going off was quite common to us and typically no one panicked when they heard it. One year, in the middle of the night, a chimney fire had started from the creosote being built up on the sides of the chimney over all the years. The neighbors were returning home from their trip to town that night and pulled in to tell us that the chimney was spewing flames several feet up into the air. Dad went down to the basement with the fire extinguisher to put the flames out. That caused the fire alarm to go off and I can remember Kayleen hysterically running into my bedroom in middle of the night telling me to get out of bed. I remember not getting out of bed because it was just more smoke and telling her I was going back to sleep...
Over all the experiences I believe Dad recognized it was time to stop heating the house using the chimney of the house. He devised a plan to build an exterior wood shed that would house a "water buffalo" insulated with yellow Styrofoam. The "water buffalo" had a tank of water surrounding the wood furnace chamber. The fire was to warm the water which would be circulated back to the house where it would radiate its heat up through the floor boards. Unfortunately, the "water buffalo" didn't seem to be able to keep the house as warm as what we used to have with the wood furnace in the basement. In fact I remember Mom commonly voicing her opinions of the "water buffalo."
I recall one night being told to stoke the fire very well before bed as it was to be an extremely cold night. We always had wood inside the newly constructed wood shed. You typically had your choice of poplar or red oak. I knew that poplar was better to start and burned hotter so I stoked the wood furnace chamber full of poplar. I saw to it that the fire was burning sufficiently well and left the fire to do its course through the night. Come morning - the fire certainly did its course. The fire got so hot through the night that the flames escaped the sides of the furnace chamber door and ignited the yellow Styrofoam that wrapped the "water buffalo." All that was left was a black charred "water buffalo" that stunk horribly from the burnt Styrofoam. I also believe that the temperature of the water got so hot through the night that it weakened the water chamber wall surrounding the fire chamber making the "water buffalo" inoperable. Many questions were asked of me as to what I did - and my response was, "I did exactly as you told me to!" I had stoked up the fire for an extremely cold night! The rest of that winter was fueled by propane and I don't think Mom had any complaints about the "water buffalo" meeting its death.
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