Be Prepared when the Weather Turns Cold

John Tucker Rowan Public Library

                When the weather turns cold and conditions call for snow and ice, the functionality of your home heating device comes into play.  What will you do if the power goes out?  How will you heat your home?  If you do not have a good back-up plan, it might be worth your while to stop by the library investigate a few books on the subject.

                The text “Book of Successful Fireplaces” by R.J. Lytle and Marie-Jeanne Lytle explores ideas for both heat and fuel savings in different fireplace settings.  Fireplaces offer all the occupants of a room the warmth of direct radiation.  In this way the entire room could be warmed from one central fire.  Historically speaking, wood burns cleaner than coal which produces sooty conditions in the home.   The fireplace has been a central fixture in homes since the first days of human history.  This book will help provide ideas to builders and remodels of fireplace structures. 

                Another resource for home heat is called “the Book of Heat: a Four Season Guide to Wood and Coal Heating” by William Busha and Stephen Morris.  This book is a collective effort from the Vermont Castings Company in the state of Vermont.  The book tackles every matter dealing with fireplaces, woodstoves, and fireplace inserts from how to tune your chainsaw so that you can cut wood for the fireplace to making repairs on any part of the fireplace structure.  The book tells the history of fireplace structures used in America and how to care for them.  If you have an existing fireplace, this is the book that can help you to make repairs to make it usable once again.

                Another book on the subject of repairs and improvements to fireplaces is the Time Life Book: “Fireplaces and Wood Stoves.”  This text recommends that you check your home insurance policy and local building code to see if your repairs require a licensed professional.  If not, this text is a step-by-step manual for repairs.  Had I know about this book, I could have been educated to make a needed repair to my chimney and saved over a thousand dollars.  I should have known better.  So, here is hoping you won’t make my mistake.

                A final suggestion for your consideration is directed to those home owners who want to invest in earth’s free energy for heating and cooling.  A source book to consider is titled “The Smart Guide to Geothermal” by Donal Blaise Lloyd.  The book explains the premise that it is more efficient to transfer energy than it is to burn anything.  This book will require a re-do of your home heating system to accommodate a new plan for extracting heat from the ground in winter, and cooling in the summer.  Don’t take my word for it, check out this book and learn what companies and individuals in our county can assist you.

                Living in the south requires residents to have a black up plan for many weather related incidents.  Emergency heating sources is just one of these situations that each of us should be ready to deploy our plan B.  The Rowan Public Library resources can help you investigate and design your back up plan to keep warm.   Happy Reading!