They had forecast 16F for Sunday night, but it was only 6F when I got up. I had gotten both stoves going well on Sunday night and it was nice and warm inside.
The shades are pulled at night. Until Christmas is over, they stay up until 8PM, with some heat loss. But after that they are pulled as soon as the sun goes down. They make a 5°F difference in the temperature inside, by providing a barrier to the double paned windows.
I’ve had to keep the back porch door cracked the last couple nights due to the low temps. The squash are still out there, apparently no worse for wear. The root cellar was 43F on Sunday but down to 38F on Monday. I closed the blast gates halfway. We’ll see what the temperature in there is on Wednesday.
When I pulled up the window shades on Tuesday morning I noticed the snow had not melted on the roof over the living room. Nor was it melted around the chimney for the masonry heater. That means most of the heat went into the thermal mass, and that the attic is well insulated. This roof faces west, the adjoining one, over the kitchen, faces south and did have the snow melt off.
When I come down the hall from the office, something I do multiple times a day, I can see the Christmas tree clearly and some of the view out the window. I am so glad we persevered when designing the house and managed to retain the view.
I never tire of looking at it, as I have been for over 40 years. The planning we put into this addition was worth all the time we put into it. It serves me very well now.
It’s always warm in the winter, now the winterizing is done. It’s easy to move around in, plenty of room, and is adaptable to the various activities throughout the year. I’ve kept the Christmas music playing a lot, and really enjoy being in the house, now it’s so cold.
A warm cup of tea in one of my Christmas mugs, a cozy chair with my feet up in the sun in the office, and a nice big book to read have made this month a lovely time. I have the lights of the office tree and the window candles as the sun goes down around 4PM. It’s such a pleasant place to be…