The “Neighbors” Stop By For A Lesson In Sustainable Living

December 11, 2012

As you can see all the “neighbors” had to stop by to watch Dave replace our water furnace recently. A “water furnace” may sound like a contradiction in terms, but actually it’s an excellent geothermal aid to heating and cooling any house near a large body of water as well as one more way to be environmentally conscious.

Connected to a loop sunk deep in the lake, the water furnace circulates steady temperatures to our heating and cooling system coils, so less energy is required both in the summer and winter to keep the house comfortable. In an area as pristine as Ontario, using the water furnace complements the Nestor Falls Fly-In Outposts philosophy of “treading lightly” while enjoying living in this remarkable wilderness area.

It’s a pretty tight squeeze in the crawl space beneath our home, so it took two days to replace our old system, which had served us well for 20 years. Luckily the weather held, enabling us to do without heating or cooling for a while. The doe and her fawns seemed to approve and, after kindly trimming the grass near our sign, ambled off to explore other wonders of the Ontario lifestyle.