Monday, December 22, 2008

The Cold, COLD Truth

I've mentioned once or twice that our house is cold. But I haven't given you the cold (HAA), hard numbers to back that statement up. Today, I will.

See, before moving here, I thought I knew what cold meant. It meant having to wear slippers and a robe in the morning, a sweatshirt or sweater during the day. Oh, what an innocent I was. That IS what "cold" means in an insulated, centrally-heated house. But at Blackrock, where there is no insulation, no central heat, and in fact NO HEAT AT ALL in much of the house, "cold" means something entirely different.

It means being able to see your breath. It means long underwear and four layers at all times while indoors. It means fish tanks, WITH MOVING WATER IN THEM, freezing solid. It means ice on the walls. THAT is what I mean when I say that our house is cold.

The MiL found a little thermometer that can be moved from room to room to take temperature readings. What fun! Let's see how cold it can get inside a house!

Okay, so first of all, when I took these readings, it was 20 degrees outside the house (all degrees in Fahrenheit, because, uh, because I'm American and have NO IDEA what the equivalent in Celsius may be). I took readings in three places upstairs, where we basically don't have any heat at all. But these are not the rooms we close off in the winter. These are rooms we use. Bear that in mind.

In the upstairs hall, which is the same temperature as the MiL's bedroom and the study the computer lives in, I found that it was 38 degrees. Cozy!

In the north bedroom, I took a temperature reading of 35 degrees. This is the coldest room in the house at all times. It is also the room our bedroom door opens into, so THIS is what I face every morning when I leave our room. And, more importantly, it is ALSO the room all our clothes are stored in. Putting on a 35-degree bra in the morning is a real eye-opener. Don't try this at home, kids.

And in our bedroom, which has the benefit of a small space heater set on low, the thermometer read a toasty 44 degrees. However, lest you feel too sorry for me sleeping in a room that cold, I should mention that I was hot last night and pushed the covers down. (I KNOW. What is WRONG with me?)

Of course, we haven't even gotten into the coldest part of the winter yet, so these numbers will be going down. Way down. I can't wait until February.

15 comments:

Leslie said...

It is 17 degrees in downtown D.C. right now. I have NEVER experienced cold like this. I keep clicking my heels and hoping to be transported back to Tucson. My shoes aren't working - I want a refund.

Anonymous said...

I'd love to have a thermometer to see what the temperature is inside this office on a daily basis. I'm so cold that I'm about to put my coat back on. I'll be on the lookout for ice forming on the walls.

Anonymous said...

And my kids think I am mean and a hard-ass because I keep our thermostat set at 65 during the day and 60 at night. I am going to show them this blog post. Hah, kids, take THAT!

You must really, really love A., that's all I can say.

mil said...

So here I am in the study, where we have some heat today, and it's 54 F. Not bad. I ended up a bit hot last night, too. And I have just a medium weight down comforter and one lightweight wool blanket over that. What do people do who have the maximum warmth ones? But smart me, I leave my clothes in the warm bathroom--though I don't bother with long johns--I just take a few turns by the wood stove. We do have central something--(but does HEAT get to the north side? Not exactly)--but we love our green too much to use it.
Back to the European zone to warm my hands a bit!

Anonymous said...

This makes me want to cry. It was FOUR DAMN DEGREES this morning with a wind chill of -13 (OUTSIDE of the house, mind you) and I was whining about chilly bedsheets...I don't even want to think about what that would do to the temps inside YOUR house.

Chiot's Run said...

And I thought we kept our house cold at 55.

BRRRRRR.

It's me said...

I'll go ahead and hide my face in shame. Let's just say that "cold house" doesn't come outta my mouth. Sorry about that. Ya'll can blame me for global warming. But on a bright note, I have the furnace set lower than I did last year.

And btw, what happens to the fish in a frozen fish tank?

Anonymous said...

I was fine until the bra comment and I acually got goose bumps thinking about it. I do not know how you do it. I'm not sure my joints wouldn't freeze up in that frigid of a house.

Now the question on my mind is are you going to do anything about all this? Can you insulate, or put in a furnace or something? Or is this the way it will be forever at Blackrock? If so I'll start praying for you now! Kim

Kristin @ Going Country said...

Meadowlark: Actually, we caught the fish tank right BEFORE it froze solid and dropped an immersible heater in it so it wouldn't freeze all the way. The fish were fine.

Kim: We have a furnace, a very powerful one actually, but the hot air just isn't hot by the time it gets upstairs on the north side of the house. Too big of a house and too long of a distance to travel from the furnace, I guess. Insulation can't be blown into our walls like it is in most houses, because the walls are solid concrete and stone. Our best option seems to be putting in a separate heater upstairs. A. wants to put in another woodstove into an unused chimney. I'd rather have a propane heater, or something of that sort that doesn't require hauling wood upstairs. We are working on it. But it will never, ever be as warm here as it is in a modern house.

FinnyKnits said...

Just give me your address already and I'll send you some polypro.

The thought of you sleeping in a room that's 30 degrees is too scary. KEEP THE COVERS UP, FREAK!

MsPicketToYou said...

my grandmothers house in VT was like this. i slept in my layers, never took them off, and maybe because i was a kid and moving more, it was kind of okay. except for the peeing part and i think that is why today i am can go for a long long car ride with a large large diet coke and be AOK.

Anonymous said...

Um, I don't know what to say.

Yesterday it was 8 degrees in Mayberry. I wore two layers on the bottom and three on top, two pairs of socks, and sat under a fleece blanket on the sofa. And though I don't have a thermometer, I'm guessing it was between 55 and 60 in my house.

How do you do it? Are you ever warm? And more importantly, why is there so little heat in your house?

For Myself said...

I'm okay with all of it until I imagine sitting on a toilet seat in a house that cold. Or getting out of the shower. Or getting between cold sheets. Or...umm...so I guess I'm really not okay with any of it. It's too.......cold.

Susan said...

Whaaaaaat?

krysta said...

good lord woman, A. needs to make sure that one winter you get a vacation in the tropics or something. putting a 35 degree bra on is cruel and unusual punishment!