In our local area, Wintertide arrives early and seems to last forever.
I constantly start running the oil furnace sometime in November.
All of us expect below cold temperatures and snow on the ground by Halloween. There’s often blizzard conditions over Christmas, and the two of us rely on the oil furnace until early May. I take the long Wintertide as the perfect option to scrub our house; Since I’m trapped inside because of the cold and snow, I take luck of it. I transport from 1 room to the next with our vacuum cleaner, bin of soapy water, ladder and disinfectant. I launder the curtains and bed linens and transport furniture around. I scrub down the walls and ceilings and scrub the windows and the overhead light fixtures. This past winter, when I climbed up on the ladder to wash the ceiling light in the living room, I noticed a significant increase in the room temperature, then down near the floor, the air felt borderline freezing, and up near the ceiling, the air was hot enough to cause a sweat. I realized that the boiling air from the oil furnace was rising straight up. This problem was forcing higher thermostat settings, resulting in the oil furnace working harder, running more often and using more energy. Because of the high cost of our daily heating bills, I am always searching for new ways to reduce household energy consumption. I’ve insulated, caulked, invested in a smart thermostat and replaced windows. I decided it was time to invest in ceiling fans! Ceiling fans are available in all odd sizes, styles and prices, however my husband and I were able to handle the replacement ourselves. The fans have made a significant improvement in our comfort. The rotation of the blades pushes the heat down toward the floor in the winter. In the summer, the two of us can reverse the direction of the blades so that the heat is pushed up toward the ceiling.