Tiny Winter
Winter and Laundry
Bighouse was about 1600 square feet. It had a fenced-ish yard if the dog wasn't very inquisitive and was afraid of the creek. It was built in a floodplain. While the whole house didn't flood while we lived there, it was only a matter of time that it would. It did flood under the house quite regularly, and if the pump couldn't keep up, it'd flood the heating ducts under the house and the heat wouldn't work at all. It happened before I visited there, and Daniel reports that it was cold and unpleasant.
Bighouse had a gas heater. As I recall, the fan that blew the warm air into the house was electric. The bedroom and bathroom near the furnace were plenty warm, but the kitchen and living room far from the heater, with all the big windows, were quite cold.
This winter is not a cold one, by Puget standards. We had a few days below freezing, but nothing approaching as low as 20 f. Maybe 23. That's good, because when it's under freezing, we don't have running water for TinyHouse. As long as we fill all our water bottles, we're cool. We didn't plan for it the first time, and Lika got all the water we had to spare. I was awful thirsty.
Doghouse one has a propane heater, but we haven't been able to test it on level ground to make sure that it won't burn the house down if we leave it unattended. We use an electric space heater that we got at Target for $50 or so, if I remember right. Although it is perfectly adequate for our demands, we wouldn't buy the same one again, because the plug and cord get hot if you leave it plugged in for a long time, and that's freaky. That said, we have never ever been cold. At night, except for the very coldest nights, we're always warm enough that the heater turns off automatically and we toss off the blankets. But we are two healthy adults and a big furry dog.
Sure, we get home and leave our coats on until the house warms up in 20 minutes or so, but that's barely enough time to put the groceries away and feed the dog. Daniel claims that our heater only warms it up 40 f above ambient temperature, but having nearly four hundred pounds of mammal in 164.5 square feet of insulated living space makes almost any weather we have around here quite comfy.
We were worried that our feet would be cold. Heat rises, and there's no basement to warm the air under Doghouse 1. We are delighted to report, though, that our feet are warmer now than they were in the kitchen and living room of Bighouse. So, yay, tiny. :)
Neither the Handsome Daniel or I mind weather very much, so I am surprised to report that an unexpected difficulty in Livin' Tiny is the dog's elimination needs. She's a bit prissy when it comes to leaving the warm dry house for the cold wet blowy outside, but she warms up to it after a few minutes. The quick pees, first thing in the morning and last at night, are hardest for her.
There's winter so far. The only other hardship has been finding hot water to rinse our dive gear in after winter dives (the same propane that heats tiny heats the tiny water, and we haven't been able to test that, either).
This entry was originally posted at http://piemancer.dreamwidth.org/889424.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Bighouse was about 1600 square feet. It had a fenced-ish yard if the dog wasn't very inquisitive and was afraid of the creek. It was built in a floodplain. While the whole house didn't flood while we lived there, it was only a matter of time that it would. It did flood under the house quite regularly, and if the pump couldn't keep up, it'd flood the heating ducts under the house and the heat wouldn't work at all. It happened before I visited there, and Daniel reports that it was cold and unpleasant.
Bighouse had a gas heater. As I recall, the fan that blew the warm air into the house was electric. The bedroom and bathroom near the furnace were plenty warm, but the kitchen and living room far from the heater, with all the big windows, were quite cold.
This winter is not a cold one, by Puget standards. We had a few days below freezing, but nothing approaching as low as 20 f. Maybe 23. That's good, because when it's under freezing, we don't have running water for TinyHouse. As long as we fill all our water bottles, we're cool. We didn't plan for it the first time, and Lika got all the water we had to spare. I was awful thirsty.
Doghouse one has a propane heater, but we haven't been able to test it on level ground to make sure that it won't burn the house down if we leave it unattended. We use an electric space heater that we got at Target for $50 or so, if I remember right. Although it is perfectly adequate for our demands, we wouldn't buy the same one again, because the plug and cord get hot if you leave it plugged in for a long time, and that's freaky. That said, we have never ever been cold. At night, except for the very coldest nights, we're always warm enough that the heater turns off automatically and we toss off the blankets. But we are two healthy adults and a big furry dog.
Sure, we get home and leave our coats on until the house warms up in 20 minutes or so, but that's barely enough time to put the groceries away and feed the dog. Daniel claims that our heater only warms it up 40 f above ambient temperature, but having nearly four hundred pounds of mammal in 164.5 square feet of insulated living space makes almost any weather we have around here quite comfy.
We were worried that our feet would be cold. Heat rises, and there's no basement to warm the air under Doghouse 1. We are delighted to report, though, that our feet are warmer now than they were in the kitchen and living room of Bighouse. So, yay, tiny. :)
Neither the Handsome Daniel or I mind weather very much, so I am surprised to report that an unexpected difficulty in Livin' Tiny is the dog's elimination needs. She's a bit prissy when it comes to leaving the warm dry house for the cold wet blowy outside, but she warms up to it after a few minutes. The quick pees, first thing in the morning and last at night, are hardest for her.
There's winter so far. The only other hardship has been finding hot water to rinse our dive gear in after winter dives (the same propane that heats tiny heats the tiny water, and we haven't been able to test that, either).
This entry was originally posted at http://piemancer.dreamwidth.org/889424.html. Please comment there using OpenID.