Greater Hartford Real Estate Blog

The question I’m getting more and more these days is “Does this house run on gas or oil?” Buyers never seemed to care much about heating fuel type before, but now sky high oil prices are pushing it to the front of everyone’s mind. But this winter is going to be a rough one for heating costs, no matter what type of fuel you use.

The Courant recently had an interesting article regarding homeowners looking for alternate sources of heat.

Pellet stoves have been getting a lot of press lately. My in-laws have one that they love and my parents have one arriving in October (or so they’ve been told after putting down a deposit), so I thought I would share their experiences, as it might be a viable alternative for some people.

First, it must be said that my relatives are using a pellet stove as an additional heat source. They will still be using some oil heat, but plan on using pellet stoves as their primary means of heating their homes this winter.

This is a pellet stove. From the outside, it looks just like a regular wood stove.

It can be vented directly outside your home or into your existing chimney. There is a hopper on the back of the stove into which you feed pellets that look like rabbit food. The pellets are made out of compressed sawdust or other scrap wood. Ignition of the pellets is electric and it can be controlled via a thermostat. Thermostat heating is a nice benefit over a wood stove because it allows for easy regulation of the temperature.

The pellets come in 40 pound bags and are delivered by the ton. The going rate for a ton is around $225 right now. This is what 1.25 tons looks like…

And this is what 1.25 tons burns down to…



This ash pot is about 10 inches long, by 8 inches high, by 6 inches wide. The pellets burn very efficiently and create little waste.

One of the major drawbacks about a pellet stove is the actual schlepping and storage of pellets. Both my in-laws and parents had 6 tons of these things delivered to their homes. They take up a lot of space, in addition to the physical manpower it takes to move the bags to where you want them. You’ll also have to load a 40 pound bag into the pellet hopper every time you need more fuel.

For some people a pellet stove won’t be a reasonable option. But if you’re willing/able to do some physical labor, you might want to make your way to the nearest stove store to learn more. Get your name on the waiting list and you may be able to have your pellet stove ready for this winter.

Whenever my clients have a home inspection performed, I always recommend that they also have a radon test performed.

Radon is an odorless and tasteless gas that is released when uranium decays in soil and rocks. It is just about everywhere, at varying concentration levels. It can enter a home through cracks in the walls and floor of your foundation and collect indoors. It can also be released by building materials or well water. If people are repeatedly exposed to high levels of radon, it can lead to lung cancer. Radon is actually the second leading cause of lung cancer in the US and every year between 15,000 to 22,000 people die from lung cancer associated with radon. Scary stuff.

For some reason when I purchased my home, my agent never suggested a radon test, nor did the home inspector. Huh. So this past week I called up one of the inspection companies that I frequently recommend and asked that they perform a radon test on my own home.

Right now I have a continuous monitoring machine running in my basement, actively taking samples of the air every 5 minutes. After 48 hours, the inspector will come back and immediately give me the results.

The inspector could have alternatively performed a passive radon test with a charcoal canister. The cannister tests are somewhat less reliable and need to be shipped off to a lab for analysis. Also, these types of tests do not indicate if a homeowner left windows or doors open, interfering with the test results.

A continuous monitoring test alerts an inspector to interference. Not really an issue in my case for testing, but something to think about if you’re a homebuyer requesting one of these tests.

Tomorrow when the inspector drops by to pick up the machine and give me my results, I’ll be hoping they are below 4.0 picocuries per liter (pCi/L). Anything below 4.0 is deemed “safe” by the EPA. Anything 4.0 and over needs to be retested and, potentially, a radon mitigation system may need to be installed.

Keep your fingers crossed for a sub 4.0 reading, please…

UPDATE: Our radon test results came back at 2.1pCi/L, so no issues for the time being. Also, thanks to a loyal reader for a link to the Connecticut Department of Public Health’s list of radon mitigation professionals. The document also contains some good information on how radon mitigation systems work and a range of installation costs.

“Does the house have ample closet space? Is there additional storage room in the garage or basement?” I get this question all the time because, well, most of us have a lot of stuff.

But do you know how much your “stuff” is worth? What would happen if there was a fire and everything was destroyed? Would you have adequate replacement coverage with your insurance policy?

The New York Times recently published an article that has some good ideas to help you catalog your belongings so that you can ensure proper coverage in case of a disaster. All I know is that I have a lot of pictures to take…