Just another update about heat. The temperature has dropped into the upper 40s (F) here at night. The heat seems to work and the downstairs zone is kicking in so it’s warm when we come down for coffee.

When I built the upstairs, I ran the heat and radiators myself and when I did the bathroom I ran the heating pipes through the walls of the bathtub. I used the finned radiator tubing that had been thrown into the dumpster when we tore off the old attic and dormers. This morning the bathtub was cozy and warm. I like my creature comforts. As the weather grows colder, the bathtub will grow hotter. I expect that next month the cats will rediscover the warm tub and will sleep there all night. Gracie will lay in the tub and almost sizzle in the heat. She likes her creature comforts also.

I am very concerned with the heat. As you might remember the old Sears Roebuck system failed catastrophically and it was only by luck the house didn’t burn down. I installed the new expensive high efficiency computerized Peerless Pinnacle boiler system in a hurry and some of the pipe connections leaked. I redid the copper and now it doesn’t leak. Last February one of the thermistors failed. It didn’t outright fail, but it would work for a while and then give up. When I rebooted the furnace computer it would work for a while more. Although the furnace’s computer was pointing to the solution, I tried to fix some of the alternate reasons for failure before breaking down and buying the (expensive) thermistor. The system is purring like a kitten now and the house is comfortable. I won’t feel confident in it until we get a nice cold night and the house stays warm.

We have about two cords of wood left over from last year and Erica is of a mind to buy another cord or two. I hesitated. The prudent thing to do is have plenty of wood on hand for when the heat fails, but I think the problems with the furnace are behind us. The wood we have is already two years old and some of it has some rot. The bacteria that like wood go for the calories in the cellulose and it is the burning of the cellulose that makes the heat in the wood stove. Old wood doesn’t burn as hot. I think Erica is probably right, it is better to have too much wood than none at all when you need it.

One of the biggest mistakes that I ever made was throwing out the old gravity heater that sat in the middle of the living room. Originally, the house was heated by this one 4 foot square grate that heated up the air and natural air currents warmed the whole house. In order to get a mortgage I needed to have a radiator in every room and I had the conventional boiler installed by Sears. I should have left the old fashioned gravity heater in place. It was great for standing on after coming in on a cold snowy day. The gusts of hot air warmed you up nicely. I still have the old gas connection in place. I might just search eBay for a new old style space heater and re-cut the hole in the living room floor.

It occurs to me that the phrase “I like my Creature Comforts” comes from my mother via the writer Angela Thirkell. My mother found that phrase in one of her books and likes to quote it.