Finally warm! The weather turned cold last week and the furnace at Roseholme Cottage needed to be checked out -- but our service guys were booked solid 'til Halloween.
We dug up a 750 W (on low) forced-air space heater and kept the house at 58 (with occasional dips to 57 and that last degree is brutal), and a little warmer in whichever of three rooms in the back of the house it was aimed at. Between it, electric blankets, comforters and cats, we did okay. I simmered big pots of stew over the weekend, which kept the kitchen nice. (When I moved in, I added two new electrical circuits, one for the washroom and one for my bedroom. That's two dedicated circuits for just this kind of use. The washroom opens off the middle of the hall, so the heater sat just outside the door and I did without a blowdryer.)
Still, it was not entirely comfortable. When Tam called me Tuesday afternoon to report the central heating was back, I was greatly relieved. 68 degrees F is wonderful!
Fondly Fahrenheit!
ReplyDeleteI'm fond of pointing out that those with electric clothes-dryers may well have a 4kW fan-forced electric heater with appropriate circuit capacity already in their home, it just takes re-orienting the duct to direct the heat indoors and putting a stocking over the end if they haven't been keeping it scrupulously clean of lint already.
ReplyDeleteDouglas: true enough, though you have to be careful about running them empty for extended periods of time. Ours is in the basement, which stayed above 60.
ReplyDeleteI don't wait for the service guy. He came last week, but we've had the heat on for a month already, because if we hadn't, I would have found myself served with divorce papers and my soon-to-be-ex-wife already on her way to Florida :)
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, we have a six-year-old furnace that does get serviced annually, even if it's not me doing it myself like in the old days, so I don't worry too much about running it for a few weeks before the appointment. I'm fairly keyed in to anything that might be wrong with it, and I'll shut it down in a heartbeat if I think something wonky is going on. Of course, it's got more safety devices on it than my car (or durn close if not), so more likely it will shut itself down if it "thinks" something is wonky :)
ten degrees doesn't sound like much - but it is when it's ten degrees COLDER in the winter.......
ReplyDeleteI find any more (I am on a beta blocker), I start to hurt physically if I have to be in a space that is colder than about 68 for any length of time. (Well, if I'm running around outdoors in heavy clothes, that's more OK, but sitting at my desk working is no bueno, and there are only so many layers you can layer into and still be able to write).
ReplyDelete72 is my preferred winter temperature and fortunately gas is relatively cheap here.
(74 or so is my preferred summer temperature and electricity is less cheap, so I often manage at 78 or so....)
I usually run 65 we get to the point where furnace run times are long, as warm air in motion seems to work better than warmed-up air that's not moving.
ReplyDeleteFuzzy, I'd'a done it but we replaced the A-coil and the box it lives in, after several freeze-ups, and then replaced the thermostat; I was not happy about the routing of the thermostat and control cables, and a few other details, so -- I had someone else do it. My ability to troubleshoot a gas furnace has too much guesswork.