Come...Warm ya' bones....

Good evening everyone,

Just wanted to give an update:

The coal stove has been installed, beautifully i might add, and is crackling away as we speak. A nice warm home and happy inhabitants to show for it. Currently the temperature in the stove room is reading 80F with our outdoor temp reading at 32.0F, I'll take that any old day.

Taking care of the daily duties with the coal stove, is considerably more than the oil furnace, but it is considerably less expensive and warmer than the oil as well. And the duties are suitably reminiscent of the 1800's when our home was built, so in i way i feel we have revived this old home a bit by bringing it back.

For anyone who is interested, our home was built in 1882 as a one room, one floor, stone school house.  It was the 3rd school house in Ephrata, referred to as the "East Ephrata School". In 1884 a second floor of brick was built for secondary school classrooms, and the school remained in function until the 1890's.

My family moved into it in 1976 when my parents purchased half of it. We lived there until 1993, when we moved to a newer home a few blocks away. Afterwards, my parents rented it out until my wife and were engaged in 2009 and asked to purchase it from them, and my wife moved in, in 2009, and then I moved in after we were married in 2010.

Its an old building that needs lots of care, but its home and we love it :)