During much of February I was focused on replacing the oil-guzzling, expensive, hot water heater in the farmhouse with a 'tankless' electric system. After considerable research I chose to go with a Hubbell 280-3 unit. It's very intelligently designed. Among other features, it has 16-inch spacing for the mounting holes. Totally logical to anyone who's done work on a house (because that's the distance between wall studs) but not one of the other manufacturers seems to realise this!

As with every reno it took longer than expected, but I replaced all the plumbing as well. I'm happy with the results. And because we have fairly cheap hydro electricity here in B.C. it is not only a lot more environmentally-friendly, but saving money too!

Another project for Feb was trying to find a source of straw bales in B.C. Turned out to be harder than I expected. So far I haven't found any sources on Vancouver Island, but I have located three potential suppliers who can offer me timothy straw from southern B.C., and wheat / barley straw from up near Fort St. John. All should work well and at least I don't have to get it trucked in from Alberta or Saskatchewan. I estimate I'll need about 600 bales and the going price seems to be about $3.00 CAD a bale, plus shipping.

If anyone in Southern B.C. or Vancouver Island is looking for bales and wants to share the shipping costs, please contact me!

I also launched this website at the end of the month. An on-going design process, but at least there's something on the internet that people can go to!