January 17, 2012

Outside Temp: -11 F (The high for the day was 1 F... it will probably drop another few degrees tonight.)

What I cooked today:
Chili: Always nice to have a warm toasty meal when it's a little cool outside.

Cornbread: The cornbread was such a hit last night, the kids asked for it again tonight.  No big deal, since it's so easy!

Update:
The temp was less than 0 most of the day.  But there was very little (if any) wind.  So, it didn't feel much colder outside than it was when it was 20, with a lot of wind.  That wind chill factor is an amazing concept, one that I've never really experienced before.

So, our house is a manufactured house, with an addition.  And, apparently, when they added the addition, they insulated between the house and the addition, but left a gap at the bottom.  And that gap was seeping cold air into a closet, and then into the house.  So, Patrick asked his dad for some left over insulation, and we shoved that into the gap, and that seems to be staving off some of the cold.

We also found that there is a significant gap in the front door.  It's leaking cold air in as well.  So, we currently have about 5 towels pressed up against the base of the door, hopefully keeping that leak at bay.

We have been holding off using the propane central heat, since it is extremely ineffecient.  It's a 500 gallon tank, and it registers the volume in percentages.  So, I'm having Patrick go check each day (or so) to see how much we use.  I think we've gone through about 10% in the last few days.  With a 500 gallon tank, each percent is about 5 gallons, so that's almost 50 gallons.  At $2.50 per gallon, thats $125!  And we're only turning the heat on when it gets below 60.

So, we had the parents pick up an extra space heater and they had an extra at their house.  So, we turned off the central air, and are just using the pellet stove and the space heaters.  We put a space heater in the dining room/office area, one in Ryan's room, and we already had one in our bathroom.  The pellet stove is in the addition (the boys room and family room are in there).  Right now, the house is holding steady at 60 degrees (which is a little chilly, but just fine).  Ryan's room is up to about 68, since his little space heater is just heating his room.  And everyone else has electric mattress pads.  (we actually put a back heating pad on top of him last night, and he was nice and toasty).   I'm currently typing with knit gloves on, and I have a blanket over my legs.  But once you've got yourself all set, it's not that bad!

The hot water heater is also propane, so that could be adding to the amount we're using.  But I'd really, really like to try to keep our costs under control.  As it is, our electric bill is going to be high, with all these space heaters.  But at least my family won't freeze!