Just so stressed out right now I need to vent so please forgive if I start to ramble and swear. Our wood pellet heater has been acting up, turning off suddenly in the middle of being used. Like we will leave it running during the night and wake up to the stove cold and the hopper still filled with pellets. Well last night I called the manufacturers tech support and they suggested two things: checking the setting on the controls and the tube on the vacuum sensor. Checking the settings was an easy fix however opening up the back and looking inside revealed a huge problem. Apparently the previous owners had tried to fix the tube by wrapping the fucker up in tinfoil, upon removing that I found the one end charred and frayed along with a small cut/crack about halfway along the tube, which was more than likely letting air out and tripping the sensor to shut the stove down. Pulled that sucker out and looked at the manufacturers website to see how much a replacement would be.... they want $12.07 for five feet of hose (which I'll have to cut to fit) and another $12-13 dollars for shipping! They want $25 for a fucking hose (and some small clamps whooppee-doo) well FUCK THAT!

So all day we drove around to various stores looking for a similar replacement tube, easy right? Tractor Supply Co didn't have anything but they pointed us to a place down the street that would. The guy at Aubuchon hardware got us a couple different sizes to try and it was pretty cheap. They weren't an exact size match but I could get one of them to fit. We even went all the way out to the nearest Home Depot (about 20 miles there and back) but they didn't have anything useful. After all that we finally get back home and after some struggling a bit to get one in place securely I give it a thorough cleaning (well as best I can manage) and start it up. While letting it warm up we make a quick run out to Walmart for some food and to get out of the house again. After about 30 min we come back to find the stove off again. Taking the back panel off again I glance back and instantly see the problem....the hose has literally melted in half! Luckily it was easy to get the remains of the tube off but it was clearly fucked. Apparently the pvc tube we got was not rated for high temps which it would be subjected to. Going back to another home depot (as the other stores were closed by then) they tell us that yeah it's not made for that kind of temps and that they don't have anything better. Well.....shit!

So plan B: buy some diesel fuel from the gas station across the street and use it to run our gas heater for the night. We had done it the night before which helped though it burned through the fuel fast. After buying two more tanks of gas (approx 5 gals) and pouring it into the fuel tank I head to the basement and go to fire it up....nothing. Okay that happened last night too, we haven't been using it in a while and the tank is pretty much empty so it will just take a few tries to get it running just like before. Two hours later and over a dozen tries, nothing....it won't start up no matter what I do. We put in even more fuel than last time so that shouldn't be the problem, I haven't fiddled with any settings on the thing, etc. The thing might need some cleaning out but again it ran just fine last night and for only a short time. Plan B: failure...

There is a fireplace in the spare room next to the kitchen but it barely heats the one room let alone the rest of the house. We could try running one of out space heaters downstairs in the living/dining room but they draw a lot of power and might trip a breaker if we try running too much at once. The wiring in this house is terrible too.

Honestly I'm nearing the breaking point here, so many times I've come close to breaking down crying at home and in public. I finally just did that, sitting down in front of the fireplace and cried. No matter what I do it is just one failure after another. This house was a ripoff, the area sucks for shopping and food, and the whole state is so much more expensive than I thought. We just can't seem to catch a break here.

*UPDATE* One hardware store happened to have exactly the hose we needed, the part itself was more expensive than direct from the manufacturer but cheaper without the added shipping costs and no wait for it to get here. Got it installed and the control settings adjusted where they should be and now its working great! The livingroom is over sixty now which feels so much better, plus it seems to be working more efficiently now too. We are still seriously considering finding a new place to live in the future (I had been trying to look the other way but this winter pushed me over the edge) but at least now we can survive through the winter. Thanks for all your support, it really helps! <3