Jan
24
2013

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Heat

by Tyler

It's 4 AM and the camper is freezing. Tara and I are cuddled together under our down comforter, a minuscule bundle of tenuous warmth atop a freezing hill, flanked on either side by the frigid Green and Taconic Mountains. Our camper furnace is running, but it's blasting a subzero wind directly into our bedroom. Tara whimpers quietly as I groggily extract myself from the safety of our bed, trying not to compromise the pocket of warm air we've created.

Stumbling to the camper door, I slip on a pair of shoes, grab a flashlight, and glance at our interior thermometer. It reads 18° F. Outside, the clarity of the night sky is striking—there isn't a speck of light pollution for miles in any direction. Smiling at how lucky I feel to call this place home, I crunch over a thin layer of snow to the pair of 20lb propane tanks mounted near the hitch of our camper.

After our last fill-up, I only re-connected one of them. I wanted to know how long a single tank would last during a cold snap. Now that the verdict is in, and the first tank has successfully been emptied, I realize that I have no basis of reference upon which to glean anything from the information. All I really know is that approximately four gallons of propane will fuel a 10,000 BTU furnace for two days in single digit temperatures, heating a very poorly insulated 16-foot camper to roughly 60° F. Is that good? Is that bad? I have no idea.

Shivering, I open the valve on our second tank, listening intently for a quiet hiss. My flashlight is superfluous for the task at hand; the moon provides more than enough light for this procedure. With a telltale ssssshhh, the propane begins to flow. Now chilled to the bone, I pad my way back to the camper. Inside, as I pry off my freezing boots and drop them to the floor, I take note of our thermometer once more. It now reads 14° F.

It's only a few steps to our bed. Seconds later, my freezing hands are wrapped around Tara and the furnace is blowing hot air again. Laying down, now wide awake after completing my chilly chore, I think about how Tara and I came to this land with a desire to learn about being self-sufficient. Ironically, I've never felt more dependent on fossil fuels in my entire life.

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5 comments

Glad you're updating regularly again- we've missed you! Any chance of getting some straw bales to encase your camper as a short-term means of adding some insulation? Stay warm and safe!
Posted by Ali on February 8th, 2013 at 6:50 PM
Thanks, Ali! You know, we actually planned on getting strawbales to at least block off the perimeter of our camper. We just haven't done it yet! Hopefully we'll get around to it one of these days before spring comes. ;-)
Posted by Tara on February 9th, 2013 at 3:00 PM
When we lived in the camper at my dad's, we used to get the really tall tanks of gas - they last much longer! I even think we were getting the tanks delivered / refilled, even though we were in the middle of nowhere. It might help until spring comes!
Posted by Magalie on February 22nd, 2013 at 12:38 AM
Thanks Magalie! We actually did buy a much larger tank, so now we don't have to refill it as often. We also looked into having propane delivered, but it didn't work out-- there's no way the company could get their ginormous truck up our driveway!
Posted by Tara on February 22nd, 2013 at 8:39 AM
You've always been that dependent on fossil fuels but the relationship was usually hidden. You saw a plug rather than the coal plant that created the electricity. A furnace rather than the gas lines, pipelines, and extraction that fueled the heat. It was always there but now you're more aware of it. Being aware is GOOD it means you'll be more conscientious about how you use these things.
Posted by Angie on May 26th, 2013 at 6:36 PM