Advise on Mid-Coast Move (Rockland: vs., moving, oil)

[slyfox2]

You might want to consider Ellsworth. This is the fastest growing area in Maine. You can still be out in the woods, but have decent hospital and medical services almost at your door. And if you want to be further out toward Brooklin or Dear Isle or MDI, you will still get some of the things you could not get like stores and restaurants. Its a great place to live!

But when you look for a house, consider how you might heat it with a wood stove, and where you would put the wood stove.

[jadefox]

Originally Posted by maureenb

I owned a home for five years in the "south end" of Rockland. I loved living right in town. Walk to dinner & the movies? My reasons for leaving Rockland (I'm in Owls Head now) were the (for my exchequer) high property tax rate, and my interest in living in a slightly less urban area.

I have been in the area since 1992-ish. I've lived (rented and owned) in Rockport, Camden, Appleton, and Rockland, and now Owls Head. I've worked all over the area, down the immediate peninsulas, etc. As I said earlier (I think), if you are so inclined, this is an easy community to become involved in, and it is a wonderfully diverse community to become involved in.

I consider myself fortunate to live here...but that's just my opinion!

As far as heating goes - woe is me to think of heating a home only with oil. I have always had a wood stove as a secondary source of heat, though always considered it my primary! You are wise to be placing the importance of heating at the top of the list.

Best wishes to you!

Thanks so much! We are looking down the Peninsula, and we quite liked one home in particular way down the peninsula. Since we both work from home, the commute is not as much a concern, however, we have, at least for the moment, ended up really falling in love with a couple of opportunities within the Rockland city limits. Rest assured, wood heating is paramount in our minds! Each home we are focused on has both wood heating systems (fireplace(s) and/or woodstove(s)) and oil heating systems (we've looked at home with both steam and hot water/radiators and baseboards). All the homes we are looking at seriously are c. 1890 or earlier.

Other people have mentioned the disproportionally high taxes in Rockland, and that is a concern. What about power outages? Are they relatively rare events or somewhat common with storms?

Thanks again!

[jadefox]

Originally Posted by slyfox2

You might want to consider Ellsworth. This is the fastest growing area in Maine. You can still be out in the woods, but have decent hospital and medical services almost at your door. And if you want to be further out toward Brooklin or Dear Isle or MDI, you will still get some of the things you could not get like stores and restaurants. Its a great place to live!

But when you look for a house, consider how you might heat it with a wood stove, and where you would put the wood stove.

Thanks! We do like it out that way, but our search is zeroing in closer to Rockland at this point. Nonetheless, I'm quite certain we will be venturing out that way on a regular basis! :-)

...and yes, heating with wood is paramount to us, but all of the homes on our short-short list also have oil heat, so we want to make sure those systems are also in good shape.

Thanks again!

[maureenb]

Power outages are a rarity in town.

One note: when I lived in Rockland, GWI.net was my internet provider. On occasion, I had connectivity issues in damp weather - the foggy, misty stuff. After a couple of phone in's to GWI tech support, I learned that all I had to do was shut down the 'puter, pull the plugs on the back of the tower; then plug back in, and I was good to go. Quirky. I was told that the problem was at the connection on the pole - whatever; it was 100% manageable.

I'm excited for you. You sound as if the area has made a favorable impression on you, and that's easy for me, at least, to understand. Living down the peninsula, especially working from home, would be excellent. I have acquaintance who do just that. And in my mind, there's nothing finer than an 1890's Cape. Well, maybe an 1890's farmhouse...

[slyfox2]

Originally Posted by jadefox

Thanks! We do like it out that way, but our search is zeroing in closer to Rockland at this point. Nonetheless, I'm quite certain we will be venturing out that way on a regular basis! :-)

You probably won't be. Its a 90-120 minute drive in the summer.

[jadefox]

Originally Posted by maureenb

Power outages are a rarity in town.

One note: when I lived in Rockland, GWI.net was my internet provider. On occasion, I had connectivity issues in damp weather - the foggy, misty stuff. After a couple of phone in's to GWI tech support, I learned that all I had to do was shut down the 'puter, pull the plugs on the back of the tower; then plug back in, and I was good to go. Quirky. I was told that the problem was at the connection on the pole - whatever; it was 100% manageable.

I'm excited for you. You sound as if the area has made a favorable impression on you, and that's easy for me, at least, to understand. Living down the peninsula, especially working from home, would be excellent. I have acquaintance who do just that. And in my mind, there's nothing finer than an 1890's Cape. Well, maybe an 1890's farmhouse...

A very favorable impression indeed! ...and the first choice is currently a farmhouse, but a cape is also on the short list :-)

[jadefox]

Originally Posted by slyfox2

You probably won't be. Its a 90-120 minute drive in the summer.

For the recreational and aesthetic value a two hour drive is chump change :-)

[jadefox]

Well we pulled the trigger and bought a nineteenth century farmhouse in Rockland. We are looking forward to the move very much! Before moving we want/need to install a new heating system, and I was hoping to solicit some advice here. Since we'll be starting pretty much from scratch, we are considering whether or not we want to switch from oil to bottled gas. Any thoughts? In addition to the oil vs. bottle gas decision, we need to decide if we are going to stick with steam or go with a hot water system. If we go to steam, we lose six of the vintage radiators (the rest can be converted) and have to do a lot of pipe work, but would we be better off in the long run?

[AustinB]

Originally Posted by jadefox

Well we pulled the trigger and bought a nineteenth century farmhouse in Rockland. We are looking forward to the move very much! Before moving we want/need to install a new heating system, and I was hoping to solicit some advice here. Since we'll be starting pretty much from scratch, we are considering whether or not we want to switch from oil to bottled gas. Any thoughts? In addition to the oil vs. bottle gas decision, we need to decide if we are going to stick with hot water or go with a steam system. If we go to steam, we lose six of the vintage radiators (the rest can be converted) and have to do a lot of pipe work, but would we be better off in the long run?

Propane is expensive, even the bulk rates you would get for having it as a heating source. At least it has always been more expensive, I don't know about now. Yes it's more efficient, but you still use a lot of it.
Why change from hot water to steam? The hot water pipes seem to already be there...

[jadefox]

Originally Posted by AustinB

Propane is expensive, even the bulk rates you would get for having it as a heating source. At least it has always been more expensive, I don't know about now. Yes it's more efficient, but you still use a lot of it.
Why change from hot water to steam? The hot water pipes seem to already be there...

Thanks. We will need to replace some piping already, and several people have suggested we may make out better in the long run with a gas condensing boiler and hot water, and this would be the time to do it. One other aspect is that we'd really like to do a through the wall/sill vent to free up some of the chimney in that part of the house. We're just trying to keep all options on the table at this point and be as informed as possible before this major investment.