Recent comments in /f/vermont

jesreson t1_j74mk14 wrote

Reply to How is your heat pump holding up in this weather? by Vermontess

Heating mostly with natural gas and supplement with a wood stove mostly for ambiance out in Underhill. We keep the heat at ~70 and I haven't had a bill over $120 / month yet. 1800 sf home - reasonably well insulated with dual pane windows.

I think a heat pump is good for folks that live where you can't get VGS. But otherwise LNG is far more cost efficient in this state. If anything, the heat pumps best usage for me would be for air conditioning.

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Desperate_Ring_8933 t1_j74mdr8 wrote

Reply to Winter Barn by Outrageous-Outside61

Looks like a bunch of happy girls very nice looking barn wish there where more post like this far too many people this day in age have forgotten why God made a farmer especially here in Vermont where dairy farming is part of ower land scape and heritage but I do remember many cold winter nights occasionally we would stop by my buddies Forest farm around the time they would be finishing up chores we would have a beer or two it was always warm in the barn

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hotpieismyking t1_j74m9m4 wrote

Reply to Public money for public schools. by LetterGrouchy6053

I went to an independent academy in Vermont, under the voucher system, and purposely bought a house in the same district so my kids can go to the same school.

Compare that academy to the largest/closest public schools, it's night and day better

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patonbike t1_j74k6ny wrote

Reply to How is your heat pump holding up in this weather? by Vermontess

We have a adorable little 11k btu Rinnai in the basement and a single Fujitsu 15RLS3H (if I remember right) on first floor. It heats fine. This is a well insulated 1800 sq ft house. We do have a wood stove I don’t NEED to use but it’s good to have.

I would say I wouldn’t want just the heat pump. I’d want at least a gas backup or wood stove.

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Legitimate_Proof t1_j74g7nf wrote

Reply to comment by [deleted] in As homelessness crisis deepens, rural children pay the price by FearandLoathinginBTV

We could allow more, but people love to say NIMBY is the problem. In this case, how did people blocking new construction make more people homeless?

Those people were housed somewhere that they aren't any more. They weren't housed in housing that wasn't built. Converting apartments to AirBNBs or jacking the rent because fewer apartments are available is a more likely cause of this increase.

That people have no other options and that rent can be so high can be blamed on NIMBY, but I don't believe building more will help without other changes. Why wouldn't owners of new housing change high rent and make some AirBNBs too? More money for owners but no change for people who need lower cost housing.

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GoodsVT t1_j74ejz9 wrote

Reply to How is your heat pump holding up in this weather? by Vermontess

My wife keeps saying we should get a heat pump. I had no idea it was $20k installed. Seems like with the increased electricity cost and the purchase/install costs, it would take a long time to make your money back in not using oil or propane heat?

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Necessary_Cat_4801 t1_j74eatr wrote

Reply to comment by TheTowerBard in As homelessness crisis deepens, rural children pay the price by FearandLoathinginBTV

The issue the advocate was talking about was how ending homelessness in vermont is daunting. It's much tougher to end homelessness in NH, NY and MA as well. He has a point. My understanding is a lot of the homeless in california are from red states. Many places criminalize homelessness like towns in florida are doing. So when a state offers any sort of benefits or is warm or is warm and offers benefits like california they are flooded with homeless people. More than they can reasonably be expected to deal with. It does seem that vermont is experiencing that to some degree and it does make ultimately finding housing for all of these people much more difficult.

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