Rearrangements

[radiantfracture]

The Beautiful Shed is hard to heat. It was, after all, born a garage, or possibly a barn (I'm not sure how old the main house is -- pre-1925, anyway, but the shed could have been built later).

The insulation is of that peculiar kind that amplifies heat in summer and collects and stores icy air in winter.

These vintage honey-brown carriage-house doors (points grandly) were made to keep horses and cars contained, and only nominally to exclude the weather. I have stopped up the gap with a draught-roll, a knotted-up jacket, and numerous unwanted volumes of Samuel Richardson. The pinhole that allows a Borrower-sized search beam through one door I have blocked with washi tape.

For many years the landlords included the hydro (that is, the power) with the rent (which itself is generously low). They also hadn't raised that rent in the eight years I've been here. This summer they did raise the rent (but very little) and also began charging for hydro. This all seemed perfectly reasonable. My total cost increase was about 7.5%: 3% for the rent increase and 4.5% for the hydro.

Then, at the end of November, my landlord sheepishly presented me with a doubled power bill and an offer to instruct me in the use of the thermostat.

I could explain to him that I set the thermostat where it is for a reason: if the Beautiful Shed isn't kept at a reasonable minimum temperature, it doesn't heat up at all, or not for many hours.

I could ask him to add some weatherproofing over the scenic gaps around the doors.

The only thing that stops me from taking these sensible steps is that I didn't do any of these things while he was paying for the heat, and now it seems... unsporting?

Still, my landlord clearly felt that the rate was excessive, and so now I feel obligated to take steps to reduce my costs to spare him embarrassment.

I have therefore stepped down both the low and the high temperature settings on the thermostat. This means that the shed is never entirely comfortable, but it does provide opportunities to wear my new onesies (a. moose b. bat).

Someone gave me a weatherproofing kit, so I could choose to stick up plastic sheeting inside all of my (single-pane) windows (though not the skylights). But then I would have plastic sheeting stuck in all of my windows. It seems almost worth the monthly fee just not to have to look at that. This is, of course, the sort of poor decision-making that results in empty savings accounts (mine).

It isn't that I have some infinite wellspring of hydro payments: what I have is extremely finite mental energy for focusing on money -- partly temperament, partly the bad years when thinking about it just made it more depressing. I need to become the sort of person that is responsible about these things, if I want to become the sort of person who can heat a house in old age, but it is sometimes a mortifyingly slow process.

Mind, sealing the windows wouldn't fix the knee-high miasma of cold air that drifts constantly from the corner cupboard, which I suspect has some kind of direct channel to the outside world, or possibly Antarctica, though I've never climbed in far enough to be sure. I use it to chill drinks all the time.

Maybe the answer, for the winter months at least, is to find some heavy curtains from the thrift store. I don't like shutting out the sunlight, but how much of that is there right now anyway? I have one circa 1970s royal purple velvet curtain (formerly of my parents' bedroom) that does very well for half of the front doors. I wonder if I can find it a mate.

{rf}

Comments

[anne]

A doubled hydro bill is an excellent reason to ask for improvements. If you feel really bad, you can offer to pay for half.

[strange_complex]

Yes, I'd agree with this. Further, your landlord presumably already knows how much it costs to heat your Shed, given that he was paying the bills himself for years, so he's unlikely to be surprised by a request to help reduce them. Asking for one modest but specific improvement, like sealing up the gaps around the doors, seems perfectly reasonable. You can also present it in terms of wanting to cut carbon emissions and protect the environment if you're embarassed about seeming too much motivated by your own pocket. I would be having a proper look inside that cupboard, too, where you may well find there's an obvious gap you can plug yourself.

[strange_complex]

Oh - just realised that by 'hydro' you probably literally mean 'hydro-electric', in which case arguments about carbon emissions won't count for much. Still the rest, though.

[anne]

Always a good idea to reduce the load on the grid. And now that I'm more awake...you didn't know what it cost before. If he'd asked you to cut back when he was paying, you would have. I don't think you need to feel unsporting at all. And I'm being uncharitable, but if you act like you're made of money he might decide you can afford more rent.

[radiantfracture]

if you act like you're made of money he might decide you can afford more rent.

Ha. That is a very good point. They are good folks, but they are only human.

[radiantfracture]

Environment is still a good argument though -- this is the guy who built a scooter powered by an old drill.

[radiantfracture]

I'm a little bit worried about landlord solutions vs. tenant solutions, like fixing the door with something dense but ugly. This is probably just paranoia, though.

[anne]

Weatherstripping is cheap and can be done right now. It might be all you need! And if it isn't, you'll have time to think of a way to say "please don't take away these beautiful original historic doors."

[radiantfracture]

Thanks -- yes, I'm probably... I mean certainly making it a bigger deal in my head than it actually is.

[mdlbear]

As long as the cupboard doesn't just continue on to Narnia it should be possible to block the leak with some of that plastic sheet.

Consider proper storm windows instead of plastic sheet. Your landlord should appreciate (ambiguity intended) the way they will increase the resale value of the place should it ever come to that.

As for curtains, consider https://www.amazon.com/s/?keywords=honeycomb%20blinds which are pretty effective as insulation but are at least translucent.

[radiantfracture]

And if fauns start coming through the cupboard?

[mdlbear]

In that case you may need to go looking for a large, talking lion.

[cmcmck]

Thanks for dropping by! :o)

I'll add you as my blog is at least part f-locked and that should let you in to what there is as I don't exclude anyone from anything once I let them in! :o)

[radiantfracture]

Thank you! I need to have one of those sticky posts for friending.

[wordweaverlynn]

Heavy curtains definitely make a difference, and they don't have to cost a fortune. I've gotten great curtains from thrift shops and Freecycle, and I've sewed my own, back in the days when I had a sewing machine.

[radiantfracture]

I think curtains are the most Me of the possible solutions.

[watervole]

I hang a charity shop curtain over my front door (which already has draught proofing round the edges). It make an enormous difference to the temperature in my hall.

If you have a stairwell (which you may not) then you can hang a curtain to block air rising up it during the day. And then open it in the evening to warm your sleeping area. You'd be amazed how much that can change things.

There are many other things you can do that are simple and cheap.

Hang textiles on the walls. (Think why tapestries were popular in medieval times - they made the place warmer) Some bedspreads (charity shop) are very attractive designs. I used to hang tie dye and batik ones on my walls.

Try this inside the corner cupboard and see if it helps.

Do you have any roof insulation at all? (I have a feeling that you don't live in England, where this would be a stupid question) If you don't have at least six inches of roof insulation, then ask the landlord to install it, or add more as the case may be.

Wall insulation? I'm guessing not. Depending on the state of your existing decoration, insulation board can be very handy. I installed that when we converted our garage into an office - I never bothered painting it, I use it as a wall size pin-board and fasten posters and photos onto it.

Curtains over windows. Lined curtains. Make a massive difference. (If you can't afford lining, just buy two curtains from a charity shop and hang one inside the other)

and use the weatherproofing kit - especially on the skylight (if you can reach it).

There are times when I wonder why the average American carbon footprint is massively greater than the average European one - and there are times when it's easy to see why... (not intending to insult you, it's a cultural difference and seems very widespread.)

Hydro isn't carbon neutral, it's just lower carbon. Same goes for solar. (Much better than fossil fuels, but still have an environmental impact)

[agoodwinsmith]

The nice thing about thick drapes is that they can be closed when it is dark outside and opened when it is light outside - which then at least reduces some of the heat loss.

Also: heat rises, so even a regular little fan placed up high and set on low will stir the heated air back down to where you are.

[radiantfracture]

There is a ceiling fan which does some of that work -- or I have the option of camping out in the bedroom (upstairs loft), where it is often several degrees warmer.

[derien]

We did the interior storms that one builds with 1" board and plastic sheeting in our usual living space and they're pretty unobtrusive. And they're reusable. We do heavy curtains over the bedroom windows, because I rarely want natural light in the bedroom, anyway. At this point in my life I would only do heavy curtains over the doors, downstairs, as my grandmother used to. I can't get my husband to go for even that.