Howefamily

dunno, I have a heat pump though. Gives off nice AC in the summer too :-)

Howefamily

Gas changes every Thursday as its regulated, I think its $1.35 for the expensive stuff currently.....

Magawish

Hey

We are in Vancouver too, we feel your pain. We looked into NS but decided on ON just because of work. We move out there in May. Your right Vancouver is just too expensive

flower19

talking about heat pumps, you do have central heating in ns??

I am just quietly having a panic as we spent 10 years in nz with no heating just a wood burner downstairs and plug in radiators in the kids rooms that cost a fortune !!!

I said I would never live anywhere without central heating ever again, freezing your butt off going to the loo in the middle of the night is not an option !!

I just love skipping to the thermostat and turning it up at the slightest nip in the air !!!!!

Howefamily

I cant imagine not having heating here.
Your choices are -
wood stove (cheapest)
Heat pump (cheapest elec option), doubles up as AC in the summer.
Oil
Elec baseboard (avoid at all costs)
Some have propane but not many.

flower19

thank God for that !!!

Howefamily

If you arent keen on heating with wood then go to the NS Power website and check out heat pump info:
https://www.nspower.ca/en/home/for-m.../default.aspx\

flower19

ì


when you say wood burner, is it just the wood burner and nothing else? so its in one room and just convection heats the rest of the house ?
or does the wood burner heat water that then heats the house?

Howefamily

Its actually a wood insert and its in our front room, the configuration of the house means it heats it all except the family room and the basement.
It doesnt heat water.

scilly

......... and many houses in NS seem to have something that is not common here ............... hot water "on call".

Depends on how recently the hot water heater was updated ............ but you don't have that wait for the water to heat up between showers

My daughter had it in their first house built some time in the 1960s, and has it now in her 1930s late Arts & Crafts.

I do find that heating the house is more expensive in NS, based on what she tells me they have to pay vs what we pay here for a house of about the same size though different configuration.

Note also that the cold weather lasts longer over there than here ........ I've had the heating off on several days already as the temperature gets to double digits, there's just been another blizzard in the Halifax area! So that increases the cost.

Howefamily

[QUOTE=scilly;12478835]......... and many houses in NS seem to have something that is not common here ............... hot water "on call".

Depends on how recently the hot water heater was updated ............ but you don't have that wait for the water to heat up between showers

My daughter had it in their first house built some time in the 1960s, and has it now in her 1930s late Arts & Crafts.

I do find that heating the house is more expensive in NS, based on what she tells me they have to pay vs what we pay here for a house of about the same size though different configuration.

Note also that the cold weather lasts longer over there than here ........ I've had the heating off on several days already as the temperature gets to double digits, there's just been another blizzard in the Halifax area! So that increases the cost.[/QUOTE]

Indeed it does. I actually lit the fire in the front room and used about 10 logs all told. I dont think that compares to the mortgage difference between locations... but maybe I am way off base. I only have "Love it or list it Vancouver" as my comparable

woodworm

It's kind of interesting to read this thread, because I just did the opposite move and went from rural NS to Vancouver (well, New Westminster), but I am in a different situation age-wise and I don't have children.


But my thoughts are> skiing: if you are a beginner , NS will be ok for you for a year or two, then you will be bored with the skiing , if that's a priority for you (sounded like it).


If you need yoga, coffee shops and a variety of shops all within walking distance , well that's very limited in NS, and you won't get that in a rural area. I had to drive 35 km to go to a yoga class or to buy a carton of milk.


we sold our rural ocean front home to a young under 30 couple from BC last summer.. they got hit with some surprises... they hadn't realized how bad the storms can be here... lost a lot of trees, the wharf floated away... a few power outages, roughing it for a while.. I havent dared to ask them if they regretted the move, but I certainly was happy to not have to worry about those things any more..
power costs are the 2nd highest in the country after Ontario.. google price per MwH in Canada.. BC is cheaper per unit - that must be about the only thing cheaper in comparison... But they have lots of wood in NS and most rural houses are heated with wood. But you have to realize that it is a lot of work to handle it and a lot of dirt in the house.


Don't get starry-eyed about the size of the houses.... it still costs a lot to heat a 4000 sqft home if your heating period lasts until May.
Another thing that comes to mind when I compare the 2 places> how green it is in BC... you wont see leaves on trees in NS until late April, sometimes late May, depending on location... that is something that bothered me...
Don't want to sound too negative... I have enjoyed my 14 years in NS with all their ups and downs, but I was ready for a change.. not to say I am never going back there though.. I kept a rural property over there, close to a town , just in case....

Howefamily

[QUOTE=woodworm;12480385]

If you need yoga, coffee shops and a variety of shops all within walking distance , well that's very limited in NS, and you won't get that in a rural area. I had to drive 35 km to go to a yoga class or to buy a carton of milk.


But they have lots of wood in NS and most rural houses are heated with wood. But you have to realize that it is a lot of work to handle it and a lot of dirt in the house.


Another thing that comes to mind when I compare the 2 places> how green it is in BC... you wont see leaves on trees in NS until late April, sometimes late May, depending on location... that is something that bothered me...
QUOTE]

Check out the areas you are interested in, in Elmsdale for example we have choice of yoga classes, coffee shops and milk purchases.... but thats not everywhere by anymeans. We are the fastest growing rural community which is a blessing and curse.


We heat with wood, the workload isnt tiresome, we have heat in storms when the power goes out and its not dirty frankly, apart from around the hearth which we sweep.
The lack of green till late April early May always gets me down... every single year.

dbd33

We are not in NS but do heat with wood. Even if you have someone else convert trees to logs and deliver those logs to your driveway, three cords is still three cords, two people lifting for a day. It's proper work.

The upside, of course, is that you do not then need yoga, you've exercised.

woodworm

I was talking from a perspective of single 5'2" woman on a remote property.
If you have strong guys around lugging the wood for you it is great.
But just before I made my move to BC, I lived in an off-the-grid house for 6 weeks and with dragging in wood from the wood shed while the wind is driving snowdrifts past you at 80km/h wasn't so much fun and showed me the limits of country living as a woman. And yes, yoga wasn't a priority after that.