As of 11:30 PM Tuesday, my home is as winter-ready as it can be made this year. I worked all day Tuesday, barely stopping to cram food in my mouth a couple times. By mid afternoon it was clear I could not finish before nightfall, and the predictions now indicated a major snow storm the following day.
What do do? Drag out all the high intensity halogen work lights, of course! These really paid for themselves this time! I needed to work in several areas and knew I would spend way too much time moving lights if I used just a few, so I put every last one of them to work on this job. In all I had 6000 watts of blistering halogen lighting… three 1000 watt (dual 500 watt units on a common stand) and six 500 watt single ones. What a rat’s next of extension cords, running to three different electrical circuits so as not to overload any of them and trip a breaker.
I am so relieved to have that behind me! This morning, just a few hours after completing that work, I awoke to the sound of a heavy plow rumbling by. The snow was accumulating quickly, wind howling. It is nearly impossible to describe how much warmer and less drafty the house is now!
I will continue to work on the inside of the storage room as conditions permit. If the weather cooperates I may even be able to pour a small concrete pad in the dungeon for the base of the new stairs to rest on.
Hi Paul,
Glad to know you made progress with the house situation. I hope it allows you to stay warm and safe this winter!
I am happy today I finally found some time to catch up with your blog. As always, so well written and helpful.
Very best wishes!
Nadia
Hi Nadia,
Thanks! It is so much warmer in here now it is hard to describe. I will be fine for the winter.
Very best wishes,
Paul
I’m thrilled to hear that you will be fine for the winter.
Is the heating bill any less?
Were you able to plug up any areas that air was seeping through? I was worried about that for you.
Sounds like you made a lot of progress.
Jules
It is not possible to really see that the heating bill is less. I buy oil intermittently whenever the tank is low. However getting some of this work done surely does help reduce the amount of oil used.
I am still stuffing cracks where cold is coming in. Just recently I found new ones in an area that has not been having that problem before. That can only be a sign I am not keeping pace with the deterioration of this old place.
Paul