At first glance, the photo accompanying this post might lead you to believe that I am going to write about the teddy bear, but no, that's just a coincidence. The bear is there because I wanted to capture the glow of the heater in the background. I wanted to focus on the warmth and comfort that it brings to our home. But, let's talk about the heater itself.
You see, we don't use central heating in our home. It's not that we don't have it, it's just that our central heating is not connected to the main gas network in Holland. This means that if we want to use it, we have to make sure that our propane gas tank is filled, and then we can use the central heating. But here's the thing, getting that tank filled is not cheap. And it's not energy-efficient either. One tank fill-up costs around 1000 euros (maybe more with current prices, I'm not sure), and to just get through one winter keeping the temperature at 18 degrees during the day and 15 degrees at night, we would have to fill the tank at least twice. So, it's not energy-efficient at all.
When we moved into this house, we couldn't afford to use central heating. I had just lost my job and our finances had gone down by 1100 euros per month. We were in a situation where we had to make do with less income and twice as many expenses. That required some rethinking. We had to say goodbye to many things that were normal for us. Like going to our boat every weekend with our dogs and enjoying the freedom of life on the water. We couldn't afford that anymore. Driving our big car became too expensive and we couldn't afford the maintenance and mooring fees of our boat. Especially not with the rising cost of living.
That's when we decided to use this heater. It's an old petroleum heater that was originally bought to keep a sailboat warm in the winter. It's a small, robust device that runs on heating oil, and it doesn't require electricity. It's easy to use and maintain, and it's perfect for use in a home. When we had to sell our boat, and took all our belongings home, there was also this small heater. And we decided that we would start using the heater for our home to save us money.
Since then, the heater has been a valuable addition to our home. It keeps our home warm and the cost of heating is much lower than if we were to use gas heating. It's also much more efficient than modern heating systems on the market, and it doesn't require electricity, making it energy-efficient as well. The heater is a unique piece of history in our home and a valuable addition to our lifestyle. It reminds us of the time we spent on our boat and the many adventures we had, and it also helps us save money and keep our home warm.
But, there are some disadvantages too. Of course, we had to adjust to a lower temperature in the house over all. There are some things you have to be aware of, never leave on the heater when you're leaving the house. Not even for 5 minutes. And always have a window open when the heater is on. No matter how cold it is outside, leave a window open for ventilation. Yes, we definitely had to adjust to a more minimalist way of living. We had to say goodbye to some of the luxuries.
