Tag: conservation

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Frugal Heat

Christine

Our steam radiators keep us nice and toasty in the winter. Well, they could. If we turned the heat up. But we are being frugal. Two winters ago was really the first time we had the house back together. Before that, there was still construction happening on a minor scale, and the old boiler kept failing. I would often come home to a cold house, get the boiler up and running and it would have to bring the temperature up 15 to 20 degrees. It would bang, hiss, clang and knock. Then it wouldn’t come back on for hours. Very inefficient.

So winter 2006-2007 was the first year we could keep the house at a consistent temperature. We kept the thermostat around 65 because it would get too hot on the second floor if we went any higher than that. We fiddled with the radiators and the thermostat a lot that year, trying to figure out what was comfortable.

The next winter, 2007-2008, we bumped it back a wee bit more, keeping it around 64. Not so bad. Now it is like a challenge. How low can we go?

So last winter, 2008-2009, I put the thermostat down to 62. We managed. We had a fairly mild winter, I bumped it up if I was sick. I cannot stand to be cold and sick. But mostly we kept it at 62.This year, I thought, okay 62 again. No biggie. Well. Think again. I’m so cold, I just can’t take it. We’ve put the thermostat back up to 64. I’m not sure why, but those two degrees make all the difference.

I ordered a tank of Fuel in mid-October, when I checked last week we had just above half a tank left. After the blustery weather we’ve had in the last couple of days (temps in the low 20s, wind gusts, wind chill in the single digits) I’m afraid to check the tank level again. I know it is going to be bad news.

The temperatures can be in the single digits and the house will remain warm (-ish). But if it is windy, forget it. The boiler will just run and run, trying to keep up. It was so drafty on the second floor last night, which is better insulated than the first floor, that I crawled up to the attic to make sure the windows hadn’t blown open. It has been known to happen when we have high winds. I was very surprised to find them still closed.

This whole house needs better insulation, I know. When we had walls torn open, insulation was replaced, but it is just here and there. We didn’t understand that the blown-in insulation wasn’t really doing anything at all. Now the long-term plan is to insulate from the outside in, when we re-do the siding. Which we don’t have money for. Because we can’t save any. Because we are paying twice as much as we should to heat and cool the house. What a vicious cycle.

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Grandmothers, Vacations, and Water Conservation

Christine

I think I was about 6 or 7 years old when my grandmother took me on my first vacation. She made arrangements for us to go on a bus trip to the beach. Like most kids, I fell in love with the seashore. It wasn’t long after we came home that I began asking if we could go to the beach again next summer.

The conversation went something like this:

my 7-year-old self: “When can we go to the beach again?” (probably in a desperate, begging, whining tone)

my ever-patient grandma Millie: “Oh, I don’t know. Vacations are expensive. We’ll have to pinch our pennies and save up.”

me: “How do we do that?”

grandma Millie: “Well, we can save money by turning off lights and water when we aren’t using them. Like, when you brush your teeth, you can turn the water off in between, while you are brushing. That’ll help save money.”

me: “So, if I promise to turn the water off when I’m brushing my teeth, can we go to the beach again next summer?”

Well, that moment has always stuck with me. And so, I learned very early to cut back in those small ways, like turning off the running water while brushing my teeth, and turning off lights in rooms I’m not using. It may not be much, but it helps. And now that I’m paying my own water and electric bills, I’ve come to fully appreciate that little lesson my grandma taught me.

Grandma Millie kept up her end of the bargain, too. We did go to the seashore the following year. And for the next couple of summers. Even when she wasn’t well enough to take me herself, she made sure I got there one way or another.

It wasn’t until many years later that I found out that neither grandma Millie, nor Nan (my other grandmother who also made sure I got my yearly trip), liked the beach very much at all. Such are the sacrifices grandmother make for their grandchildren.

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Bright Idea: LED bulbs

Christine

I think these are really cool. But, they are also a little too expensive for me just yet. Hopefully, they will soon come down in price.

http://www.ecoleds.com/Products.html

I don’t use the compact fluorescent bulbs because the flicker can cause migraines for me. So you’ll only find halogen or traditional incandescent lighting in my house. I know they aren’t very green, that is why I’m so very interested in the LED bulbs.