5 ms·

Just make sure you don't get sick.

by AndrewOMartin 1y ago

SoftTalker 1y ago
Do like your great grandfather did, eat some hot chicken soup and go to bed.
- mrguyorama 1y ago
  Just a couple generations back my family members were dying of preventable illness. Like I'm not joking, we have the records.
Goronmon 1y ago
Also, you just need to continually scavenge for "free" water and heat. Don't forget the free fishing rod/equipment.
- jocaal 1y ago
  In the article he mentions there is a well at the house. Also blankets and wood fires are free heat.
  - Goronmon 1y ago
    In the article he mentions there is a well at the house. Wells are not "free water" unless you never have to worry about any sort of repair or maintenance.
  - jeffbee 1y ago
    In what way is wood free? To heat even a tiny home purpose-built for high efficiency you'd need several acres of woods to sustainably harvest. For a falling-apart $30k hovel in upstate NY you'd probably need more like 15 acres, and you don't get a 15-acre stand of woods in the deal for that price.
    - aaronbaugher 1y ago
      I heat my two-story, not-very-efficient house with wood. I'm not in upstate NY, but not much further south in the Midwest, where we get some sub-zero weather. For firewood, I cut dead or fallen trees that need to be removed on a neighboring farm, so they're "free" (not counting the cost of saw, chains, gas, oil...). So yeah, you do have to have some timber available. But if you live in the kind of place he's talking about, there's more than enough to go around. Most of the land where I live is in crops, but there are enough trees along the creeks and in rough areas that all the people burning wood don't make a dent in them.
    - michpoch 1y ago
      At these electricity prices bothering with wood might not be worth it. If you get some, that’s nice, but otherwise just insulate the house well and you’re golden.
    - justinrubek 1y ago
      Who said anything about sustainability? My parents would heat their home this way. Actually, I think they still do. They'd gather all sorts of wood from fallen trees on other peoples' land as a sort of "service" aka- they haul it away and you don't deal with it. Is it worth the cost savings? I highly doubt it. They're just not good with managing time/money.
      - BenjiWiebe 1y ago
        There's a guy around here (central Kansas) that charges money to clean up unwanted trees or hedge rows (tree row between fields). He then turns around and sells the firewood. From what I can tell both of his services are pretty popular.
    - dmurray 1y ago
      15 acres? It should take far less than an acre. The house isn't well insulated, but it's also small. A few big trees, say 40-year Sitka spruce, should last the whole winter, and you can plant a thousand of those on an acre. Of course it depends on the land and the house. But here's some Reddit comments also estimating the need at < 1 acre https://www.reddit.com/r/homestead/comments/1jnpbug/how_much_woodland_do_you_need_to_comfortably_to/ https://www.reddit.com/r/homestead/comments/1jnpbug/how_much...
  - hotmeals 1y ago
    > Wood fires are free heat. In Minecraft perhaps. Wood costs money to get, process and adequately use, the well also has maintenance costs.
- hollerith 1y ago
  The OP says that electricity there "presently sells for just $0.04/kwh". If it were just me living there, I'd heat one room with electricity just for the sheer convenience (and lack of toxicity from combustion products) and keep the rest of the house unheated. (Yes, I'd probably have to make alterations to make sure the pipes don't freeze.) And I'd use a heated vest.
  - johnisgood 1y ago
    Just dress up well, cozily.
exhilaration 1y ago
At that income level and in a blue state, there might actually be pretty good health coverage. I've got a relative who lost his job last year, his wife gave birth in Long Island soon after and they paid pretty close to nothing.
- AngryData 1y ago
  "Pretty close to nothing" can still an absolutely massive expense when you are living on 1/4 the pay as others in more urban and prosperous areas though.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]

Just make sure you don't get sick.

SoftTalker 1y ago

Do like your great grandfather did, eat some hot chicken soup and go to bed.

mrguyorama 1y ago
Just a couple generations back my family members were dying of preventable illness. Like I'm not joking, we have the records.

Goronmon 1y ago

Also, you just need to continually scavenge for "free" water and heat. Don't forget the free fishing rod/equipment.

jocaal 1y ago
In the article he mentions there is a well at the house. Also blankets and wood fires are free heat.
- Goronmon 1y ago
  In the article he mentions there is a well at the house. Wells are not "free water" unless you never have to worry about any sort of repair or maintenance.
- jeffbee 1y ago
  In what way is wood free? To heat even a tiny home purpose-built for high efficiency you'd need several acres of woods to sustainably harvest. For a falling-apart $30k hovel in upstate NY you'd probably need more like 15 acres, and you don't get a 15-acre stand of woods in the deal for that price.
  - aaronbaugher 1y ago
    I heat my two-story, not-very-efficient house with wood. I'm not in upstate NY, but not much further south in the Midwest, where we get some sub-zero weather. For firewood, I cut dead or fallen trees that need to be removed on a neighboring farm, so they're "free" (not counting the cost of saw, chains, gas, oil...). So yeah, you do have to have some timber available. But if you live in the kind of place he's talking about, there's more than enough to go around. Most of the land where I live is in crops, but there are enough trees along the creeks and in rough areas that all the people burning wood don't make a dent in them.
  - michpoch 1y ago
    At these electricity prices bothering with wood might not be worth it. If you get some, that’s nice, but otherwise just insulate the house well and you’re golden.
  - justinrubek 1y ago
    Who said anything about sustainability? My parents would heat their home this way. Actually, I think they still do. They'd gather all sorts of wood from fallen trees on other peoples' land as a sort of "service" aka- they haul it away and you don't deal with it. Is it worth the cost savings? I highly doubt it. They're just not good with managing time/money.
    - BenjiWiebe 1y ago
      There's a guy around here (central Kansas) that charges money to clean up unwanted trees or hedge rows (tree row between fields). He then turns around and sells the firewood. From what I can tell both of his services are pretty popular.
  - dmurray 1y ago
    15 acres? It should take far less than an acre. The house isn't well insulated, but it's also small. A few big trees, say 40-year Sitka spruce, should last the whole winter, and you can plant a thousand of those on an acre. Of course it depends on the land and the house. But here's some Reddit comments also estimating the need at < 1 acre https://www.reddit.com/r/homestead/comments/1jnpbug/how_much_woodland_do_you_need_to_comfortably_to/ https://www.reddit.com/r/homestead/comments/1jnpbug/how_much...
- hotmeals 1y ago
  > Wood fires are free heat. In Minecraft perhaps. Wood costs money to get, process and adequately use, the well also has maintenance costs.
hollerith 1y ago
The OP says that electricity there "presently sells for just $0.04/kwh". If it were just me living there, I'd heat one room with electricity just for the sheer convenience (and lack of toxicity from combustion products) and keep the rest of the house unheated. (Yes, I'd probably have to make alterations to make sure the pipes don't freeze.) And I'd use a heated vest.
- johnisgood 1y ago
  Just dress up well, cozily.

exhilaration 1y ago

At that income level and in a blue state, there might actually be pretty good health coverage. I've got a relative who lost his job last year, his wife gave birth in Long Island soon after and they paid pretty close to nothing.

AngryData 1y ago
"Pretty close to nothing" can still an absolutely massive expense when you are living on 1/4 the pay as others in more urban and prosperous areas though.

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]