Brrrr

Its getting cold out! Today we had our first "real" snow (like it actually was making the ground white), and the high was about 27 degrees. It was sort of a fluke, as it is supposed to be in the 40s again tomorrow and for the rest of the week. Kind of a test run, and apparently we need it.

Cold weather and snow mean different things to a homeowner and mother than to a child, or college student. It means heating bills, bundling up kids, figuring out how to bundle for a carseat, etc. So, while I got the same flutter of excitement and anticipation with today's snowfall as I always get with the first snow, I am also getting some headaches.

Our house was built in 1909. We have a brand spanking new boiler, but neither of us have ever lived with a boiler/radiator system, so its a bit of a mystery to us how it works. Also, a lot of the windows are older. Also, I suspect we have poor insulation. I have spent the evening tonight periodically running around the house and seeing what rooms are warm, what rooms are cold, whether hot water is getting from the boiler to our bedroom, what windows are drafty, what windows are OK. It have to say its kinda chilly in here. Which means, we need to do something, because 25 is just the beginning of cold weather. Some thoughts on that.

(1) I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get hot water to consistently go where I want it in the radiator system. When we turned on the radiators, our bedroom was getting virtually no heat. I spent two weeks fiddling around with the various valves, and walla, all the sudden one day our bedroom was getting PLENTY of heat and our downstairs/living room radiator not so much. It worked out decently though. Then all the sudden tonight, once again, I can't seem to get the bedroom radiator to get heat. I just don't get it. I am thinking I need to enlist my genius brother in law to explain the system to me.

(2) Windows. As I said, about half the window's in our house are old. Really old. Like wavy looking glass old. A quick count tells me there are 2 large old windows, 2 medium old windows, and 5 small old windows in our house. Of these, three of them have storm windows on (a second pain of glass installed from the outside for winter/stormy months), while the rest currently do not. I am thinking that there are more storm windows to install in the garage, and considering the drafts in here tonight, they need to be put up ASAP. Also, hate to admit it, but my momma was right, I need drapes!!

(3) Nursery. Benjamin still sleeps in our room. Since the heat in our room seems to be finicky, whereas the heat in his soon-to-be nursery seems fine, we better get set up to move him. Its not a big deal if we need to snuggle up for warmth at night, but I don't want him to be cold. In all likelyhood, if I cant figure out how to get the heat flowing to that room better in the next 20 minutes, he will end up sleeping in bed with us.

(4) Long term, we probably need to think about some better insulation. I have no idea what we have now, and it does not shock me its bad, but its just one more thing to add to our list of to do/to buy for this house!