Last night Juergen looked at the over all costs of buying a new heating system vs. keeping our oil heater. It cost so much to buy and install most systems, you would not actually see a difference in cost for 15 to 20 years. This includes an increase in the price of oil by 6% a year. An the sad news is natural gas has actually gone up more then oil this year. Most new heating systems run on natural gas. I'm thinking we should insulate the attic, and keep the oil for now. It would be cheaper to just supplement our oil with solar and pellet stoves. I found out today a pellet stove has a fan that blows the smoke out of the house. You don't actually need a chimney, so you can place a pellet stove in almost any room. We could buy 2 or 3 of them, and light them to help supplement the oil. This would quickly pay for it's self with out a giant investment. We could see a return on our investment in just one year, vs. the 20 years it would take with almost every other option. And yes, I know it would not be so convent to have to fill a pellet oven 2 times per day, but I think it would be worth the effort. I think we should keep our oil for now, and just supplement it to bring down the costs.
Why not start with an IBC and cut a hole for the door? You could build closed laying boxes into it, and something for the chickens to roost on. Put some straw or saw dust on the floor. You could add vents to the side for air. If it sat inside a chicken run that you can walk into, the chickens could be safe, dry and happy. I have an extra IBC. Maybe this could be my chicken house? I bet I could even plant the outside of it with mud and grass for extra insulation and good looks.
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