COLD.....FOR WUSSES?

I keep reading that ya don't need no stinking heat or air conditioning in the Lakeside area. That's hardier souls than we ex-Californians. Must be those Canadians or Ohioans or Massachusetts types. Fine for them. We, on the other hand know that when the goosebumps appear and your feet need fuzzy slippers.......dammit, it's COLD.

The Mexicans know when it's cold. Our regular firewood guy called a couple of weeks ago and asked when we wanted a delivery. We did, and he did. All stacked up now with the good stuff; you know, the kind that actually burns.
Walmart is full of sweaters, too.

So, in gleeful response to this, we chilled down some wine and set up a nice fire in our ancient fireplace. It's also the only heat in this old house. That fella who built it knew what he was doing: lots of fire; no smoke. Pulled up some chairs and AAAAAH. Lovely. What passes for winter has arrived.

We know we're not alone. Pancho at S/L has a stack of the phony fire logs in as of now. Chop 'em up, take a chunk and you've got a great fire starter.

Anybody else out there willing to admit that it's about time for a fire?

We've been firing up the fireplace since last Thursday. We will need more since our stash of seasoned wood from a couple tree removals is too low. Would you share the suppliers name please.

I just put a blanket over the leather couch and pull it over me when it gets wintertime. Covers me all over.

WOOD MAN: His name is: Saul and his phone number is: 766-4275. His place is on East Ocampo in Ajijic. You can pick up, or he will deliver and stack your wood for you.

I dunno, Joe. A blanket doesn't have quite the same ambiance. LOL.

temperature is temperature no matter where you are. some people are just normally over heated. good for them!! later it will be 38 or 42 degrees in early morning & late night. its not a beach club here.

gringal wrote:
Anybody else out there willing to admit that it's about time for a fire?

Our first was Saturday night. That day was practically arctic. And yesterday, made a giant vat of Chile. 'Tis the season!

Being a "fresh off the boat Canadian" I am having a hard time digesting this "it is too cold stuff" and talk about fires...........jajajaja.

Maybe after a couple of years I will have acclimatized or something????

CanuckBob wrote:Being a "fresh off the boat Canadian" I am having a hard time digesting this "it is too cold stuff" and talk about fires...........jajajaja.

Maybe after a couple of years I will have acclimatized or something????

You will..........but look what you're missing. All that Cozy stuff.

Just wait ... lots more winter weather to go yet. Bought my only heater when in Joco 2 years ago but only used it for a month. That was after spending 4 years on the beach

CanuckBob wrote:Being a "fresh off the boat Canadian" I am having a hard time digesting this "it is too cold stuff" and talk about fires...........jajajaja.

Maybe after a couple of years I will have acclimatized or something????

Took me about five years. Also took a few years to stop laughing when people in Ajijic
would say "What, I have to go all the way to Chapala?"

Do you mean East Ocampo or Constitucion? Ocampo changes to Constitucion at Colon.

I think this might be the guy around the corner from me. What did he charge you, delivered and stacked?

Mainecoons wrote:Do you mean East Ocampo or Constitucion? Ocampo changes to Constitucion at Colon.

I think this might be the guy around the corner from me. What did he charge you, delivered and stacked?

You're right on the street. I forgot that one. Esposo just asks for a thousand or two thousand pesos worth and they bring the mountain of wood and stack it where we want it. I know that sounds "loose", but it's a bigger stack than we'd get, loading it up ourselves in our pickup for the same price, before we found Saul. You can usually find Saul's place with the stack of wood out front.

Yep, guilty as charged. We had a wood fire in the living room sunday night. We buy from the same guy as Gringal. We also have that new ventless gas log set in the bedroom/den. In 15 minutes, it heats up the bricks which then radiate heat for ages afterwards. Nice and toasty. there is only one drawback, you can't leave it on all night really maybe 20 or 30 minutes max.

E-raq wrote:Yep, guilty as charged. We had a wood fire in the living room sunday night. We buy from the same guy as Gringal. We also have that new ventless gas log set in the bedroom/den. In 15 minutes, it heats up the bricks which then radiate heat for ages afterwards. Nice and toasty. there is only one drawback, you can't leave it on all night really maybe 20 or 30 minutes max.

We had a gas log set in San Miguel which was way too expensive, but it was safe to leave on and turned itself off if the oxygen was insufficient, but we didn't feel trusting enough to leave it on all night if we weren't awake.
We don't have any gas logs now. It's all primitive style.

gringal wrote:

E-raq wrote:Yep, guilty as charged. We had a wood fire in the living room sunday night. We buy from the same guy as Gringal. We also have that new ventless gas log set in the bedroom/den. In 15 minutes, it heats up the bricks which then radiate heat for ages afterwards. Nice and toasty. there is only one drawback, you can't leave it on all night really maybe 20 or 30 minutes max.

We had a gas log set in San Miguel which was way too expensive, but it was safe to leave on and turned itself off if the oxygen was insufficient, but we didn't feel trusting enough to leave it on all night if we weren't awake.
We don't have any gas logs now. It's all primitive style.

Absolutely. The new ones are very efficient, we crack open a window a bit while it's on. However there is NO way we'd leave it on all night. Really truly in only 15 to 20 minutes you are cooking. We moved the older style open vent ones to the guest room. Only good for appearance really. They don't throw off a lot of heat.

Not sure about Mexico but thermostats and remote controls are available for gas logs:
http://www.gaslogsfireplacesandmore.com/ambientremote.htm

It gets frackin COLD in San Miguel. Much more so than here, so we blew the bank on the fireplace set (seems it was over $500 U.S.) but it put out 30,000 btu's and it made a huge difference in comfort. How cold? The neighbors in the barrio were all outside in the morning trying to catch some sun so they'd thaw out. So were we.

It's been cold here but we're OK with a gas fireplace...unfortunately it's not vent free...on the other hand, I sealed all cracks around windows and beams a few months ago and that has helped tremendously.
San Miguel?...I still remember the winter of '97 when San Miguel looked like a town with a million fountains. The pipes all froze and split everywhere in town and the plumbers made out like bandits. I just shivered thinking about it.
Cozy is cozy whether it's a fire or a blankie...guess it depends on who you're sharing the blankie with :)...a sheepskin rug in front of a roaring wood fire is really romantic too.

Tell me how much extra in gas that gas hog costs you to run when it puts out betwween 30 K to 50 K BTU'S. By gas hog I meant just that, either a gas log or propane heater.

Wrong again, the unvented one's are not gas hogs. I've got two of them. Love 'em.

Even if they were gas hogs its ridiculous to think you shouldn't have comfort. I don't pay for AC, I don't pay for Central heat, I don't pay $10K property tax and innumerable levies so I am happy, happy, happy to pay my electric and my gas bill. And to keep myself comfortable because that is what it is all about weatherwise here.

I have been known a couple winters ago (the really damp cold one) to go sit in the car in the early morning and turn on the heated seats and the heater.

bennie#2 wrote:temperature is temperature no matter where you are. some people are just normally over heated. good for them!! later it will be 38 or 42 degrees in early morning & late night. its not a beach club here.

In 7 years I've never seen 30 anything. Last years low was 42, most likely at 5 or 6 in the AM. This year's was 46. Never the less when your house temp dips towards 65 it feels cold! A little gas or electric heater brings welcome local relief, a good fireplace will warm the entire living space.

Wuss input:

I get a kick out of reading these occasional forum discussions on energy costs so thought I would relate our experiences here at Lake Chapala and in Highland Chiapas over the past decade plus. We were quite uncomfortable in Ajijic for the first few years we were here during the winter despite the fact that we had a large (decorative but inefficient) fireplace in our living room. We learned our lesson and installed wall propane heaters throughout our house here in about 2003 and in San Cristóbal de Las Casas when we built there in 2006. Keep in mind that San Cristóbal is at 7,000 feet and it can get damn cold there in the winter so the propane heaters and a truly professionally built and highly efficient fireplace in the living room down there were priorities for us even though most houses in San Cristóbal are cold with no or very little heating. We love the comfort we have achieved in both houses during the often chilly winter mornings and evenings at 5,000 and 7,000 feet respectively using our wall propane heaters and, on occasion, our fireplaces. The propane heaters usually need to be turned on for just a short time in the mornings or evenings to take the chill off the air during the fall and winter months so the cost is quite reasonable. I can´t believe the discomfort we experienced in a chilly houses until we wised up and put in adequate heating.

This past spring we installed solar energy electricity generating panels we purchased at e-Sun Energy in Ajijic on the roof of our Lake Chapala home and the savings for electricity has been very significant. We had been on DAC here and were finding it burdensome and very expensive. Since the installation of the solar panels, we are now off of DAC and our bi-monthly CFE bills are down from over $3,000MXN to under $200MXN and that is our experience in the fall only so we are very pleased with this investment and the return on our investment this represents so far. We think very highly of the products and services we have received from e-Sun and recommend them without reservation. The solar panel supplemental electrical generating idea is less practical in Highland Chiapas but our CFE bills there are miniscule anyway so that is not an issue.

Dawg and those others are right: We have the sun going full blast most days here; let's use it. The only problem is: Are any of those systems movable from one house to another? (That question is for the benefit of renters.)
And....if you can move an installation, does it create expensive-to-repair damage to the roof?

We have looked into the portability. The solar panels for the pool are portable. We have decided that the energy panels are portable if installed on a flat concrete roof. The hot water panels are also portable if installed.

Granted it takes a bit of ingenuity and the right roof and willingness to do it. We will do the water first for a remodeled bath.