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re: thermostat for winter
31 jan 2000
ray l. wrote:
>ask nick pine how cold he keeps his house in winter.
it was 37.9 f last time i looked (and 8.3 f outdoors), with a 36 watt fan
drawing down a little warm air from time to time from my solar attic. but
i'm living next door at the moment, with less automatic woodstove space
and water heating. we stoke the basement stove once or twice a day, having
replaced the basement ceiling insulation with several thousand pounds of
water tucked up under the rafters in 10'x4" capped pvc sewer pipes with
3/4" holes and #3 rubber stoppers.
(the wood was free, provided by local boy scouts. i ordered 2 cords when
i heard they were having a fund raising drive. they began by delivering it
to the wrong address (my house.) i said "ok, i'll pay for that, but would
you deliver another 2 cords next door?" and mentioned that the pile on the
ground didn't look like 2 cords, and a lot of the wood was damp and spongy
and covered with mushrooms and varied in length from 8" to 36". their adult
dump truck driver reassured me that when it was stacked up, it would measure
"at least 4'x8'x8'." when the next load arrived at my neighbor's, i said
it didn't look like 2 cords either, got the same reassurance, and later
stacked it up and measured 124 ft^3, less than 1 cord...
so i called the boy scouts and left 3 messages at 2 phone numbers saying
i'd like more wood or a refund. after a couple of days, they hadn't called
back, so i stopped payment on the check. they still haven't called back,
months later, and another neighbor says he had the same experience with
them a few years ago. i guess they are all working on shrewd business merit
badges. whatever happened to trustworthy, loyal, etc? well, at least
they aren't gay :-)
my neighbor and i just got a free energy audit for her house, which has
seldom-used electric baseboard heat. it included 2 blower door tests for
air leaks (0.57 ach) and weatherstripping and caulking and gasketing
electrical outlets, and 3 loa circular compact fluorescent bulbs, and an
off-peak timer and meter for the electric water heater, and a new water
heater for the house, and a timer and insulating jacket for the water
heater in the barn. not bad for $0.00.
we also got 5 new tempra-sure ii digital setback thermostats for the
baseboards. i have no idea what they cost, but they have a nice digital
temperature display and 2 knobs to adjust the active and setback setpoints
and a small orange neon nightlight that makes a cool art-decoish pattern
on the wall in the dark. instead of a setback timer, they have an eye on
the front (with a cover to disable it) that can turn on the baseboards
whenever there is light in the room. my only objection is that the eye
cover and plastic case are translucent enough to allow the thermostats
to turn on the baseboards (gack!) if sun shines through a window directly
onto the thermostat, but i fixed that with a little masking tape.
>i think he leaves the refrigerator door open so that the
>contents could keep cold without having to plug it in.
i try to keep my kitchen 36 f in the winter, with the fridge plugged in
and the door closed, but at that temperature, it's no big deal if i leave
the milk out on the counter overnight. the kitchen temp changes slowly,
with stone walls surrounded by r10 spray foam insulation under 3 new
coats of stucco.
nick
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