Sounds like a no-brainer to me - replace the compressor! Your system should have a reciprocating compressor with R-22. I would recommend that you stick with exactly what you have now. Do not attempt to replace with R-410a and scroll compressor! Replace contactor relay, starting capacitor or relay, clean heat exchanger to ground loop since this is an open loop system. The compressor burnt for a reason. Try to find the reason and correct the problem! Just verify that your well still yields the required gpm. SR

I know there are fans out there of coal stokers, which no one will argue make use of a cheap and plentiful fuel. Unfortunately, coal probably just isn't the best choice for many homeowners, unless they're willing to deal with the extra chores that a coal heating system entails. Someone will have to haul the ash and cinder out of the basement and dispose of it, and someone still has to operate the clean-out lever on a regular basis, and then, of course, there's the occasional stoppages in the the stoker to be cleared. There's also a space consideration. you're either going to need a silo or you'll need to have a basement with sufficient square footage and head room for coal storage. A ton of rice anthracite takes up about 40 cubic feet of space. Then you need room for the feed mechanism and the furnace/boiler -- plus sufficient space around them for servicing. And finally, let's not forget a place for the delivery truck to back up to a coal chute. Die-hard coal-stokers will think this is all worthwhile, but let's face it, most homeowners don't want the bother. Oil or natural gas may cost more....but they're so much simpler. The original poster said that she burned nearly 1,500 gallons of oil last year while keeping her house at a less than comfortable (at least for most people) temperature of 65F during evening hours. While the numbers she mentioned for upgrading her present system sounded rather daunting (and perhaps on the high side) , if she can reduce her heating costs significantly and raise the thermostat a few degrees with a modern gas condensing boiler and she plans to stay in the house for the foreseeable future, I'd say it's worth looking into, especially if her state or local utilities are offering any incentives or rebates. If she's owned the home for many years, there could be some tax benefit as well. It's possible that all or some portion of the cost of a new boiler could be treated as a capital improvement, effectively raising her cost basis on the house. If she were to ever sell the house at a significant gain (exceeding her exclusion), she might recoup some of her investment through savings on capital gains tax. Then, of course, there's that good feeling you get every time you open the gas bill -- and it's about half of what your old oil bill used to be!

What would happen if your son said, fine, dad, I'm all in favor of forgiveness & putting the past behind us; let's just get the business part of it out of the way first; you just pay mom what the court says you owe her & I'm your boy, okay? Your situation reminds me of something my old roommate Laurie told me: Her mom, Fran, divorced her dad & didn't take one cent in settlement; Fran had been a homemaker her whole adult life; she didn't have the funds to fight her ex in court, & she knew she couldn't help her daughters financially, so she agreed to waive her rights if Laurie's father would pay for college for both their daughters. Laurie talked to her dad at least once a week, & he knew she was paying for her college with loans & grants, & he never offered to help. There were weeks when she ate ramen noodles, & he never offered to help. Laurie's younger sister was living with their mother, Fran, in their home country, where Fran had returned to take care of her mother & to get a job with a relative. At that time, international phone bills were prohibitively expensive, so Laurie hardly ever got to talk to her mother. When the younger sister graduated from high school, she came to Texas & got in touch with Laurie, & Laurie helped her get a scholarship. About 6 months later, Fran came to Texas to visit her daughters; when she found out that the girls had had *no* help whatsoever, she blew a gasket & called their father. made no difference; The father claimed that he would have helped the girls if they had *needed* it, but that they were doing fine on thier own. so Fran got no settlement, her daughters got no help, & her ex kept all the money.

Gardengirl12 - I am 48 and expanding my garden so don't hesitate to move forward. We all have our good days and better days. The only bad days are those days on which we allow ourselves to second guess our dreams, our plans and our ability to carry those out! I come from many generations of market gardeners (different styles, different relatives) so it is definitely in my blood lol. My parents are currently aged 72 and 74 and they continue to successfully operate a CSA and market garden, subsidized with specialty jams, jellies and baked goods. Figuring out what specifically are good sellers in your area is very vital, however; this takes time and so just plan for that. Keep your expectations low enough that you won't be discouraged and can maintain a positive view as your business grows. Write down achievable goals for each of the next 3 seasons. Keep DETAILED notes on both successes and failures so that you can build from them each year. Every gardener is unique in their technique, needs, abilities and market area so having a bunch of folks looking over a business plan which is developed specifically for you is not worth bothering with. Only you truly know what you are capable of doing physically, mentally and emotionally to bring your dreams to reality. Most populated areas have some sort of farmers market already established. If you have not already done so, take the time to visit EVERY TIME it is open to study what others are successfully selling. Make notes on what types sell the best, what seems to just sit there and get tossed out at the end of the day. Also take note if the majority of the sellers seem to carry "value added" products such as soaps, jams, wool, eggs etc to make up a portion of their sales. If there is a well established specialty vendor such as "Tomato Lady", I would plan to grow and sell something different as my main source of income. You can always introduce a specialty item similar down the road but focus on developing your own following and avoid disappointment from trying to directly compete with someone who is already well established. As you are developing your sales plan, keep in mind that the majority of your first customers are going to be those whom you already know. Just putting yourself and your product out there is not enough to sell the amount you will need to earn a profit. I am not a big believer in local chambers etc and I refuse to pay dues to be a "part of the community business network" in which I live. Consider ways to effectively advertise for yourself at either no cost or low cost. Keep in mind that ANY cost is going to effect your bottom line even if it is only a penny for the ink that printed you those 50 copies on your home computer. Stay detail oriented so that in the future you can truly see where things can be changed to be better financially as you grow the business. Don't try to be everything to everyone! EVER! You will ALWAYS have someone asking for something that you don't have. Don't fall into the trap of trying to provide it all because the time and product it takes you to grow "just 2" of something special, is time and product which is taken away from what you have developed well already. If you continuously receive requests by more than a dozen customers for a new item, then consider it a possibility for a "limited time only" product. EG - I don't grow zucchini because every Grandma and her neighbor does. However; IF I kept getting requests from more than a dozen of my REGULAR customers, I would consider growing enough just to serve them. I don't see that happening anytime soon though as my market really supports the "unusual" versus the "ordinary". I could go on and on lol yet I have winter sowing to get done. I hope you do well with your adventure and I truly mean that... it IS an adventure!