Well it's been almost a year since I last updated. We have done a lot, so I'll update you with some but not all that we have done.
At Work & Worship we put spray foam insulation in the crawlspace at Cabin 7. The old insulation was destroyed by critters, and the little that was left was falling down. Only 10% of the crawlspace was insulated. Two of my volunteers from Kansas, Gerald and Ben, came up and scraped all the old stuff off and sprayed foam insulation.
Prior to all this,
the pipes under here froze twice during our cold and windy winters, costing time and money to fix all the damage. Thanks to the new insulation, this won't be happening again! We will also save some money in heating costs. I was able to get this spray foam thanks to my donors who support the Cut 90 Project. Here is a link that shows how the foam works: http://www.sprayfoamkit.com/videos-a-how-tos/hgtvs-jeff-wilson-with-foam-it-green
New boiler at Chief's Head Peak: The old boiler was a 40% efficiency and the new is 95% efficiency. We will be seeing some savings this winter! We put in new windows and a new slider door (single pane to double pane).
Wood Burner update!
You might ask, “Why did we not see
the savings, and why were we over-budget for 2013?”
Here are some variables:
1. The
price of propane went up 40% from 2012 (it’s going up more in 2014).
2. We
got charged taxes somehow. I’m working now to get that refunded: $2,566.63!
3. At
the Dining Hall we added two new gas dryers (previously electric), and they get
used everyday.
4. We
had a 1.5% decrease in guest groups from 2012.
We still need to get the rest of
the Dining Hall and two more cabins hooked up to the wood burner. I can’t wait
to see the savings in 2014! We will have a whole year of savings, while in 2013
we didn’t start until October. We did hook up the cabin at the beginning of 2013.
For the time it takes – 15 minutes a day to fill and check, and an hour a month
to do PMs – it is WELL worth the investment for the return we are getting. For
the most part we have volunteer groups coming up to cut and stack wood for us.
Just in the last month we have been cutting wood for 4 hours every week to keep
up our supply. This summer I’m planning on having a lot more wood stacked up
for the winter so we don’t have to get out in the snow as much. Some of you
have asked how much wood we go through. We use about a cord in a week and a
half.
We saved over 2,590 gallons of
propane from Jan.-Aug. this year compared to last year. Gas prices were very
high at $4.57 per gallon. Based on current market values, how much propane we
use, and past supplier’s prices that was gouging us. We have switched to a new
company called Hygiene propane. I feel good about this move because they have
been around for 30+ years, and I’ve talked with different people and other camps
that have worked with them and they are all happy with their service. I like
that the owner is the one who delivers, so now I don’t have to call a 1-800 number
and talk to someone in AZ. We can now lock-in gas at $1.99 for the peak time
from Dec. 31 to Feb. 24 so we won’t have to pay $4.25 per gallon. We use 23,000
gallons per year.
The Dining Hall is 100% on the
wood burner for heat and hot water now.
We are currently hooking up the
new Office to the wood burner.
This summer we had a lot of volunteers
cutting trees and chopping and stacking logs to get ready for winter. We have
been blessed to have three men that are trained pro tree guys that have been spending
a lot of time helping at camp. We still have a lot of fire mitigation to do. We
are looking for high school youth groups and other willing hands.
Are you interested in helping? Call Jesse to find out how to donate money or other resources, or call Mike to find out how to get involved with volunteering!
970-586-2900.
