Last year I was witness to a big dump of wet snow, out in Nordegg, on the last day of summer. This year winter arrived two weeks earlier than that. There was a little snow out at Nordegg, but not a lot. There was actually just as much, or perhaps even a little more, here in the city. It started around September 11th, and has been cool and overcast ever since.
I was a little concerned about the new cottage as the temperatures unexpectedly dropped significantly. Last time we were out at the cottage I didn't leave any heat on. We had a small gas leak on one of our fittings so I turned off the gas. And, with the weather so mild at the time, I didn't bother to leave on any electric heat. This sudden onset of winter weather brought tempertures down in the -3 to -5 range overnight. I was pretty certain that it wouldn't freeze in the cottage that easily and quickly but made a point of heading out on the weekend of September 15 and 16. Initially my friend Rob was going to come out with me and we were going to finish up a few electrical things and then spend a couple of days hiking and making photographs. But his travel plans changed due to work issues and he wasn't able to make it. I had some extra time booked off from work so I went out by myself. I left the city on Friday afternoon shortly after lunch, and returned home on Monday evening.
It was chilly in the cottage when I arrived on Friday but nowhere near freezing. I turned the gas back on and fired up the room heaters. At the same time I built a nice fire in the wood stove. Within an hour or two the wood stove had the place really warm, and I turned the room heaters off. For the rest of the weekend I kept the cottage warm and toasty with just the wood stove. In fact it was too warm, with the temperature upstairs rising to around 80F. I had to open the windows to cool things off a bit.
On Saturday our mechanical contractor came out and repaired the minor gas leak for me. He also brought out the electric furnace that I have decided to install. This will supplement the other heat sources and prevent the plumbing from freezing during really cold weather.
I spent the weekend working on a few other odds and ends. I roughed in an electrical line to the new furnace, and another that I am adding to provide an upstairs switch for the hot water heater. I also cut in some floor openings for registers for the new furnace. And I put up a proper shelf and installed the recorder and router for the security camera system.
The rest of the weekend was pretty low key and relaxing. I just took it easy and relaxed in the cottage. No one else was around our part of the subdivision except my neighbor Rob and his wife. It was wonderfully quiet and relaxing. Lots of deer were hanging around and I watched them outside my window. Now that our kitchen range is functional, we no longer have to do our cooking outside on the BBQ and campstove. So instead of the usual steak and baked potatoes that we have made all summer, I was able to have home made pizza and a pasta dish... cooked indoors.
On Monday I had the plumbing/gas inspector out to do the final inspection of our installation. Later in the day the electrical inspector was also out to review the power installation. Everything is approved with just a few remaining things to address later when we are ready. The power supply to the furnace and the hookup of the sink in the kitchen, once cabinets get installed, are the only remaining issues. But everything to date is now approved.
I left the baseboard heater in the basement, and one of the room heaters on when I left. I'm sure this will be adequate to keep frost out of the building for the next little while. Later when the forced air electric furnace is installed, that will provide heat to the kitchen, the bathroom and the waterpump. I plan on turning it on at a low setting during the coldest months of the winter, so that we can leave the water system on through the winter.
No comments:
Post a Comment