Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Freezing

I think our house has a serious insulation problem--as in, lack thereof. The thing is, I can't really check to see if our attic areas are insulated because most of the attic spaces have no access hole. Our house has a really strange roofline, and most of the rooms have their own roof & attic space. In other words, there's not one big roofline/attic over all the rooms like you'd have in a normal house. Two of the rooms have attic floorboards overhead, and from what I can see in the gaps between the boards, there's a really scant amount of insulation. So I have a feeling we'll be ripping out attic floorboards in order to blow insulation over some of the rooms, cutting holes in walls and/or ceilings to get to the rest, and generally making a mess in order to get the house warmer.

The basement and crawl spaces are also uninsulated. I think that adding insulation to the basement ceilings and ductwork will help as well, but they are not as crucial as the attic insulation. I can't do anything about the walls because they are all solid brick.

I am also trying to conserve energy by keeping the temperatures lower indoors. The front two rooms are at 66 during the day, while the rest of the house stays around 60-62 degrees. I have oil-filled electric radiators in those two front rooms so I don't have to heat the entire house all day. At night the radiators are turned off and the thermostat is set at 60 degrees. I have a really hard time maintaining my body temperature with these settings, especially if I go into any of the other rooms. I typically wear a long sleeve shirt, a sweater, and a large fleece pullover. I heat up rice socks in the microwave and drink hot herbal teas and put blankets on when I am sitting down. And I still am really cold much of the day.

12 comments:

  1. Sounds like Little House in the Big Woods.

    Doesn't your tummy-sharer help with the heat? (mine always do -- too much!)

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  2. You could always move to Hawaii, it's never cold here. Somehow the stores still manage to sell winter parkas, don't even ask me how.

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  3. Maybe you should check your iron -- sometimes when you're anemic, you feel colder than normal. Although having the house that temp is bound to give you a chill! :-)

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  4. We are in a similar situation, trying to conserve fuel, low thermostat. The best trick I've learned so far is layer up the camisoles (or tank-tops, or undershirts). Because they're sleeveless, it doesn't feel so bulky, but adds warmth to my torso where I feel it the most. I've also noticed that I feel generally warmer all day on days that I get some good cardio first thing in the morning. Good luck!

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  5. Unfortunately, being pregnant has never made me feel hot. I've always run cold. Not really that fun for a girl from Minneosta...At least I live in a slightly warmer climate. Just slightly, though.

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  6. :( At least you'll have another reason to keep sipping on that raspberry leaf brew, huh? I've lived in old houses like that. You can crank up the heat all you want, but minutes after the thermostat shuts it off, you're freezing! It just goes right out the roof and through the walls... Yikes. Oil filled plug-ins are totally the (short term) way to go, we also have them strategically placed around our apt. I hate heaters that blow air and make it all dry and burned-smelling.

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  7. We keep our thermostat to 64 throughout the winter and supplement with a couple space heaters. Slippers, sweaters and afghans are a necessity. We were just using the heaters until yesterday when the house temp dropped to 58. I finally broke down and turned on the furnace.

    How does Zari handle it? I feel like it's okay for adults to be a bit cold, but once our baby is born we'll have to turn up the heat next winter. But maybe we can just bundle him/her up like we do?

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  8. You might want to check to see if your doors have weatherstripping and also seal a window or two with plastic. Or, I've hung an old sheet over a window at night. Not pretty, but helpful.

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  9. It's amazing how some houses just let your warm air drift right out. Ours improved with blown in insulation and a new more efficient front door but we are going to have to suck it up someday soon and get some new windows I think.

    Good luck staying warm!

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  10. Eek - sorry you're cold! I HATE being cold...and I'm freezing these days when we drop to 70 (bag over head).

    Have you tried the window plastic? Lots of rugs in your front rooms? Hope it's a mild winter for you...you can always come here for a visit to thaw out :)

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  11. My brother really liked the thick spray-on insulation they used in the solar house. When you reach that point. Slippers made the difference for us in Urbana. That and a hot water bottle strapped to me . . .

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