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My wife and I have been thinking for the past few years about possibly living in a different part of the country. We're dreaming "big" in a getting back to the basics, living simply, sort of way. We're young, have two small children and share a HUGE desire to "get out of the rat race" in state we currently live in. I can telecommute to work from anywhere in the country and I'd like to stretch my meager salary further. My wife is a school teacher, but she'd like to take a few years off to focus on the kids. I have a few basic questions that I couldn't readily find answers to:
1. For those of you who made the move to NH from far away, did you do the typical "pack everything on a large moving van" thing, or have you tried other options like renting a storage container, packing at your leisure, then having it shipped whenever it's ready? We saw a business advertised on TV that offers this type of service, though we have no idea if that is an insanely expensive option or not. We're coming from across the country so I'm definitely wondering what the least expensive option is?
2. I see that because of the long, cold winters most residences typically use fuel oil to heat the house. Is that the least expensive option? Is propane simply not readily available and therefore really expensive? What about backup heating systems in case of emergency? Is it a common occurrence for your fuel oil system to fail due to the snow and cold weather? I'm assuming it would be smart to get a solid, redundant heating system in case the power goes out or am I being overly paranoid?
3. Do pipes that bring water into your house freeze in winter? Coming from a place where this is something we'd never encounter, how common is this? What do you do when it happens? I suppose I should probably ask my grandmother who grew up on the south side of Chicago too!
4. Lastly, are there any other basic household running logistics or things related to the weather that somebody coming from a milder winter climate zone should expect?
We fully expect to encounter a certain amount of unknowns once we get there. Having said that, one of the main reasons for the move is to live somewhere that has four actual seasons (with more rain), lots of year round outdoors activities, lower overall taxes, better gun laws and an area that embraces a "back to the land" self-sufficiency lifestyle. We'd love nothing more than to purchase 1.5 to 5 acres someday for self-reliant farming of fruits, vegetables and small livestock.
My wife has always dreamed of visiting the New England area and we both want to spend time in the Maritime provinces of Canada (a very expensive vacation from where we currently live!)
Thanks in advance for your advice. I've been enjoying reading this forum immensely for the past few weeks!!
We recently moved back to N.H. from Florida. We found the most ecomomical way for us move back was to sell off the "Florida" type things that wouldn't really fit in a log cabin in N.H. and keep only what would fit in a 26' U-Haul and a 6x14 enclosed trailer behind my p/u. We looked into the container deal also. The prices were pretty close but they would only bring them as far north as Manchester and i would have to haul it from there. Fuel oil is commonly used as a fuel for heat. I'm really not sure what is the most economical. We use wood now because there is an abundance of it where i live. No matter what the primary heat source is its a good idea to have a back-up.( not paranoid thinking at all) I don't think snow or cold weather would make a oil heating system fail, but lack of electricity would. Water pipes don't usually freeze unless its un protected pipes under a mobil home or pipes run in a poorly insulated exterior wall or in a house with no heat at all. I think a lot of what it would take to make the move is just common sense. You've definatly come to the right place for info. I'm sure you'll get a ton of good information here. There's a awful lot of places that you can get "back to basics" here. Good Luck
Last edited by Ken E; 12-12-2011 at 06:42 PM..
Reason: spelling
We recently moved back to N.H. from Florida. We found the most ecomomical way for us move back was to sell off the "Florida" type things that wouldn't really fit in a log cabin in N.H. and keep only what would fit in a 26' U-Haul and a 6x14 enclosed trailer behind my p/u. We looked into the container deal also. The prices were pretty close but they would only bring them as far north as Manchester and i would have to haul it from there. Fuel oil is commonly used as a fuel for heat. I'm really not sure what is the most economical. We use wood now because there is an abundance of it where i live. No matter what the primary heat source is its a good idea to have a back-up.( not paranoid thinking at all) I don't think snow or cold weather would make a oil heating system fail, but lack of electricity would. Water pipes don't usually freeze unless its un protected pipes under a mobil home or pipes run in a poorly insulated exterior wall or in a house with no heat at all. I think a lot of what it would take to make the move is just common sense. You've definatly come to the right place for info. I'm sure you'll get a ton of good information here. There's a awful lot of places that you can get "back to basics" here. Good Luck
Great information! I appreciate the tips...
I think the biggest factor for us is not wanting to play the "What if..." game when we're older. We'll both be 33 next year and while we're young we've been dreaming out loud for a few years about living as close to a stress free life as possible. Her cousins moved out to Arizona years ago, have 3 acres and I've never seen them so mellowed out and truly happy. We're both reading a book called "5 Acres and Independence" (written in 1864!) about a successful businessman who gave it up, bought acreage in New Jersey with his wife, and through hard work, created the simpler life they truly wanted in their hearts. VERY inspiring stuff, even 100 years later!
Our current thought is we'll possibly head that way in June/July next year, rent a house for a year, see if we survive the winter and then reassess whether we want to purchase some NH acreage or head somewhere else. We had originally considered TN/KY and the Pacific Northwest, but it seems to be upon closer examination that NH would have many more advantages as compared with those places.
"My wife and I have been thinking for the past few years about possibly living in a different part of the country. We're dreaming "big" in a getting back to the basics, living simply, sort of way. We're young, have two small children and share a HUGE desire to "get out of the rat race" in state we currently live in... "
1. For those of you who made the move to NH from far away, did you do the typical "pack everything on a large moving van" thing, or have you tried other options like renting a storage container, packing at your leisure, then having it shipped whenever it's ready? We saw a business advertised on TV that offers this type of service, though we have no idea if that is an insanely expensive option or not. We're coming from across the country so I'm definitely wondering what the least expensive option is?
Came from New Jerkey to NH, packed and moved ourselves.
2. I see that because of the long, cold winters most residences typically use fuel oil to heat the house. Is that the least expensive option? Is propane simply not readily available and therefore really expensive? What about backup heating systems in case of emergency? Is it a common occurrence for your fuel oil system to fail due to the snow and cold weather? I'm assuming it would be smart to get a solid, redundant heating system in case the power goes out or am I being overly paranoid?
Propane is everywhere.
Wood stoves are everywhere.
Pellet stoves work well too.
Paranoid, no...prepared, yes!
3. Do pipes that bring water into your house freeze in winter? Coming from a place where this is something we'd never encounter, how common is this? What do you do when it happens? I suppose I should probably ask my grandmother who grew up on the south side of Chicago too!
"City" water sources RARELY freeze, it's the pipes IN your home that can if the temp drops and there is no heat.
A majority of homes also have wells, and can suffer the same fate if not heated.
4. Lastly, are there any other basic household running logistics or things related to the weather that somebody coming from a milder winter climate zone should expect?
Make sure the home you intend to purchase is well insulated, windows newer and draft free. Newer roofs last longer, metal roofs even better...[da snow won't stick as hard as on asphalt roofs]
Make arrangements to be plowed, or have equipment to plow snow out of your driveway. Get heavy deep snow off your roof.
Get a back-up Generator in case of power loss....cannot fire a boiler or start a furnace with no electric. Can't run a hot water heater [if it's electric], nor can you run a well pump. We fully expect to encounter a certain amount of unknowns once we get there. Having said that, one of the main reasons for the move is to live somewhere that has four actual seasons (with more rain), lots of year round outdoors activities, lower overall taxes, better gun laws and an area that embraces a "back to the land" self-sufficiency lifestyle. We'd love nothing more than to purchase 1.5 to 5 acres someday for self-reliant farming of fruits, vegetables and small livestock.
Plenty of opportunities here.
Thanks in advance for your advice. I've been enjoying reading this forum immensely for the past few weeks!!
I strongly suggest you plan a vacation to New Hampshire in the winter. There are plenty of accommodations available in the southern and seacoast parts of the state but the North Country gets booked up by the ski trade. Flying directly into Manchester and booking a local, but not on airport hotel, and renting a car for a couple of weeks, from an off airport office, would be an ideal way to see what NH is like during the "toughest", and some think, most spectacular, time of year. You can purchase warm clothing in one of the local L.L. Bean discount outlets.
I think the best housing bargains are in the small towns between Manchester and Concord. This area is too far north to commute into Massachusetts yet is close enough to the major shopping around Manchester. From what I hear the schools are quite good and property taxes reasonably exorbitant. I suggest an in-town house because the streets of most towns are cleared of snow sooner than out in the boonies and there are some local stores available. Although New Hampshire has no state income of sales taxes the property taxes are relatively high. One way to avoid huge taxes is to own a small old house and drive well used cars. For instance my repair costs on my 2002 Buick are less than the property and road use taxes on a new car.
In any case check the net for hotels when planning your vacation/recon trip and buy (Amazon carries them) a copy of the New Hampshire Atlas from Delorme maps and check the State website for tourist information. Send me a PM for more information.
Stress free living? Do you realize a lot of people *leave* New England in search of that? NE winters can be stressful even for people who have lived here their entire lives.
We also have two small kids (3 & 5). Understand this time of year it gets dark around 5:00. In the summer we like to take after-dinner walks or play in the yard or local park. That just doesn't happen in the winter. It takes forever to get two kids bundled-up in pants, boots, coats, hats, mittens, etc. If your kids are anything like mine, everything has to match or they want what each other is wearing (hats, boots, mittens, etc). This may sound trite, but there's a BIG difference (in stress) between getting kids prepped to play outside in winter (in pitch dark) and just going out in shorts and tees and sandals in the summer. Then there's ice/snow to slip around on. People that don't shovel their sidewalks, forcing you to walk in the street. These are just some of the reasons (or excuses) for staying indoors. Around January/February cabin fever sets in.
Just walking across a store parking lot on a sub-freezing windy day and getting in a cold car: the novelty of winter wears off.
If you have 1-5 acres you're probably not going to be in a city setting. You'll have private water well, private septic, a fuel tank, and maybe DIY trash removal to contend with. Not to mention having to drive everywhere for stores, kids activities, & restaurants. You'll have a big driveway to clear snow and ice.
Everyone is different, but for me these things all add to my stress. I prefer to live in the city to mitigate some of this. The roads are cleared and well lit. I live close to everything. Water, fuel, sewer is all piped-in/out without worries. I've lived here my whole life, love the 4 seasons, rain, snow, cold, (I hate the summer heat= stress). Stress-free living? No way! Just the opposite- but the stress builds CHARACTER!
1. For those of you who made the move to NH from far away, did you do the typical "pack everything on a large moving van" thing, or have you tried other options like renting a storage container, packing at your leisure, then having it shipped whenever it's ready? We saw a business advertised on TV that offers this type of service, though we have no idea if that is an insanely expensive option or not. We're coming from across the country so I'm definitely wondering what the least expensive option is?
we have a few years before our move to prep, so we already have our house and have been taking trips up moving a van of stuff at a time (and occasionally a pod) as we get things packed. We'll eventually need to use a moving van at the end, but this lets us clear and thin things out.
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2. I see that because of the long, cold winters most residences typically use fuel oil to heat the house. Is that the least expensive option? Is propane simply not readily available and therefore really expensive? What about backup heating systems in case of emergency? Is it a common occurrence for your fuel oil system to fail due to the snow and cold weather? I'm assuming it would be smart to get a solid, redundant heating system in case the power goes out or am I being overly paranoid?
oil & propane are the 2 most common fuels. electricity is seldom advocated unless there's no other way. Natural gas is not common. stoves are common add-ons and generators are becoming more and more common.
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3. Do pipes that bring water into your house freeze in winter? Coming from a place where this is something we'd never encounter, how common is this? What do you do when it happens? I suppose I should probably ask my grandmother who grew up on the south side of Chicago too!
they can and do. Yes, in general it's mostly exposed pipes (poorly insulated), or if the power has gone off. However.. it's also empty houses for sale that were badly drained during winterization!!! The result, if the pipes aren't thawed out carefully, is that you have a burst pipe and water spurting out in gallons. Then, after you hurriedly turn the water off, you will either need to learn how to sweat pipes yourself and replace the burst section, or hire a plumber to do it.
All the houses we looked at had been winterized, and both that we had put offers on had also had burst pipes from not being winterized properly. One had been flowing for most of a week - and resulted in a lot of ceiling damage. The other was minimal because people were in the house when the water was turned on for the housing inspection - so we were able to quickly turn the water back off.. and got a plumber to fix it before we began moving in.
renting for a year first is a great idea, and so is coming up for an extended vacation during the later winter.
To clarify, the pipes that bring water into the house (water main) are typically buried below the frost line and therefore don't freeze. At least I've never heard of it happening.
The pipe-bursting the people are talking about here happens to pipes INSIDE the house when they freeze due to loss of heat.
To clarify, the pipes that bring water into the house (water main) are typically buried below the frost line and therefore don't freeze. At least I've never heard of it happening.
The pipe-bursting the people are talking about here happens to pipes INSIDE the house when they freeze due to loss of heat.
Lets not leave out the fact that this is not a common event or concern.
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