The Heat is On
If you have ever visited us during the winter, you may be aware that our house lacks the modern convenience of exterior insulation. Over the years we’ve tried different strategies to keep the house warm without breaking the bank, always ending in defeat. It turns out that in the end, after all the cracks are sealed, the only way to reduce your heating cost is to reduce your heat.
After a while it became a point of pride that our thermostat clocked in at 50 degrees during the night, rising to a balmy 60 during the day. We took the opportunity to get good use out of our quilts and afghans and promote our various colleges/sporting teams by wearing their sweatshirts. One of us, and we won’t name names, even began to wear a hooded sweatshirt to bed. We let Newman’s coat grow nice and long.
Then along came Penny. As if her daycare wasn’t costing enough, it seems that her comfort level requires slightly more heat than our norm. With rising gas prices, even a few degrees increase put the squeeze on the monthly budget. We gave in, setting the night temperature to 55 and the daytime to a bourgeois 65.
In order to prevent icicles from forming on Penny’s chin, we put a space heater in her room (which made nighttime feedings actually enjoyable—it gave the volunteer a chance to go into Penny’s sauna-like room and warm up before heading back to our sleeping chamber tundra). Since her rhythmic crib thumping precluded the use of blankets, we gingerly wrapped her in layer-upon-layer of onesies, pajamas and sleep sacks, topped off with an old-fashioned sleeping cap. Fortunately, the weather this winter has been moderate and next year we can introduce the game “How Many Blankets Can You Climb Under?!”
posted by New Parent @ 1:46 PM
3 Comments:
Peter the Great's Mom made him sleep with an open window year around! And look what happened to him!
Hey! Are you mad at us? We didn't get the post that you had a new blog. Were we too harsh in criticizing your home temps? We had no excuse---when we had an oil heater I had to sew with gloves and it always died on the coldest night of the year (without fail) requiring middle of the night visits from the repairman and his wife! Love, Aunt Ann and Uncle Joe
We don't pay for heat in our apartment building. When baby B came along in late November, and we were scared to use blankets for fear he'd suffocate, we just bumped the thermostat up ... and up ... and up. Some cold winter nights I would wake up sweating under for the 3 am feeding, and carry him out to the relatively frigid 65-degree living room, where we'd snuggle close for warmth (oh, and for milk).
It's just not good to keep the heat so high, even if we don't pay the bills. Next winter B's going to have to deal, with blankets or layers and a nightcap, one way or another!
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