KEEPING WARM 
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your initials engraved for the final prestige touch Slim YU" x 
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House Warming 
How an old farmhouse was insulated 
and heated to stay warm in cold weather 
by Edwin Kessler 
Eight years ago, my wife and I de- 
cided to leave the small city of Norman, 
Oklahoma, where I work, and move to 
the country, where we could be close to 
the land. In September 1973 we bought 
a farm in Purcell, about sixteen miles 
southwest of Norman. Situated on 215 
acres, the original house, built in 1904, 
was uninsulated, had no central heating 
system, and consisted of three rooms — a 
bedroom, a kitchen, and a dining-living 
room. Successive owners had added 
kitchen plumbing, a bathroom, a laun- 
dry area adjacent to the kitchen, a small 
room that served as a bedroom, and a 
porch. When we moved in in 1974, the 
dining room, kitchen, and bathroom had 
propane stoves. 
Siding of composition board and as- 
phalt tile had been added to the outside 
over the years and the interior walls had 
been finished with Sheetrock and wall- 
paper. Nevertheless, there were many 
openings through which winter winds 
made their presence known. To main- 
tain a comfortable temperature on cold, 
windy days, it was necessary to turn all 
three stoves up high. 
During the early summer of 1974, 
Herbert Prater, a local Baptist preacher 
and carpenter, examined the house at 
my request and pronounced it basically 
sound. I then asked him to renovate the 
interior and insulate the house. The 
original ceilings were more than eight 
and a half feet high, one-half to one foot 
higher than is standard in modem con- 
struction. Their height allowed us to 
make alterations with unusual insulation 
qualities. 
Prater placed studs around the room 
perimeters and laid ceiling joists, as is 
customary with new construction, but 
below the old ceiling. Fiberglass insula- 
tion was then installed in the walls and 
ceilings. The result was double walls and 
double ceilings with insulation exceed- 
ing that common in new construction. 
During the remodeling, most of the 
original window dimensions, 2'/2 / by 4', 
were retained, but the traditional win- 
dow sashes were replaced with storm 
windows, and storm doors were installed 
at the front and rear entrances. 
We moved in when the remodeling 
was finished and found during the fol- 
lowing winter of 1974-75 that sufficient 
heat was provided by just one propane 
stove — the one in the dining room. Ac- 
cordingly, we removed the other two 
stoves, thereby gaining additional floor 
space, saving some money, and enhanc- 
ing our safety and convenience. 
In 1975, we contracted with Prater to 
make further changes. Six hundred and 
fifty additional square feet were added 
to the house, to include a second bath- 
room, a study, and a living room, all 
insulated, of course, and equipped with 
storm windows. A beautiful brick comer 
fireplace was built in the new living 
room with a fan-driven Heatilator to 
circulate room air around the firebox 
and back into the room again. 
Storm windows bear directly on en- 
ergy efficiency, costs, and comfort. 
Edwin Kessler 
M0 
A wood-burning cast-iron stove, 
which replaced the brick fireplace 
in the living room, uses less wood 
and is more heat efficient. 
104 
