How do you handle the cold? (buy, live, store)

[Wingfoot]

Originally Posted by DESERTRYDER

Tell us some secrets of comfort that only cold weather dwellers know .

What special precautions need to be taken for your well and house??
How about some " It was so cold and how I survived stories""

Isn't this stuff I should have already asked ?
The wood stove is lit so let er rip.....

We could be there very soon

Relax into the cold,embrace it.a tense body feels much colder.[no joke}

[Fisherman 100]

Originally Posted by DESERTRYDER

News Flash , Film at 11,

Large white Male stuck in snow for hours, now home safe

Wolves seen running through town shaking a snowshoe. News at eleven.

[MrGrumpy]

I have found a good furnace (ie Lennox) and flannel sheets and an electric blanket (ie Biddeford) will not only keep you warm but save you big bucks on heating. I used to live in a townhouse that was an energy pig and within the first month of purchasing flannel sheets and an electric blanket they had pretty much paid for themselves. From there on out it saved money. You can also put plastic coverings over your windows since windows are where the majority of your heating is lost.

[Lacerta]

Obviously it depends how cold you are talking about. Since this is the forum for all of Idaho, I would mention that in the Boise area, it doesn't really get that cold. Winterize your sprinkler system, have some form of heat for your home to keep it comfortable, and you're pretty much set. Coldest ever on record in Boise I think was -26, and that's the only time in 30 years I can remember it even being below -10. Also, the wind in Boise isn't nearly as much of a factor as it is in Eastern Idaho. Usually, winters here stay in the just below freezing zone, with daytime highs being between 20 and 40, and lows seldom going below 0.

If you are talking bitter cold, then the advice already given sounds excellent to me.

And I agree with shades_of_idaho, seems like we do get snow most often when it is actually just above freezing, in the mid to upper 30s.

pw72, I think the reason this year feels so cold over here in Boise right now is because we skipped fall all together. We dropped from the 80s to the 40s in a matter of about two weeks, and then added wind to it the last couple of days. When you are still used to 80, 40 is darn cold. We need those few weeks of 50s and 60s to acclimate.

[shades_of_idaho]

Mr Grumpy I forgot about the plastic coverings. I did that here last year using the opaque non colored shower curtains on tension rods behind our regular curtains. Sure did make a huge difference in the feel of the cold coming off the glass. They do not show behind the curtains. Do not bock the light but do keep the chill off. I used links from the old hanging lamp chains as the rings to hang the curtains on the rods. Buying the store bought rings was way more costly than the shower curtains and rods combined. I was more into doing this project on the cheep.

Chris

[Sandpointian]

Originally Posted by DESERTRYDER

Tell us some secrets of comfort that only cold weather dwellers know .

What special precautions need to be taken for your well and house??
How about some " It was so cold and how I survived stories""

Isn't this stuff I should have already asked ?
The wood stove is lit so let er rip.....

We could be there very soon

Not to be cheeky, but the best advice I can give on handing the holding is to accept its existence and importance in giving us the ecosystem that we know and love.

Once we do so, #2 is to enjoy living with it. More indoor time: tinkering with the house, cooking, projects, reading, writing, social visits, more productivity at work, indoor pool, etc. When outdoor, you embrace the snow: XC skiing, downhill skiing, skating, etc.

Beyond these two, it is a matter of detail.

S.

[Haakon]

Originally Posted by DESERTRYDER

Misty please explain the heat tape a bit more.
Do you leave it on all year or remove it in the spring?
Where do you put it ? do you leave it plugged in anytime it gets below freezing ??

What about running the water??? Tell us more... Just a slight trickle even if I am on a well ??

Escrow is 1/2 way over and we will be moving soon...

Even if you are on the well. Depending on how your well is setup it can freeze too. At our place the well head is above ground if it's cold enough, long enough, without running water it will freeze there. We've had the pipes freeze in the pumphouse too, one winter (ironically when we were in Boise, our house is in the foothills east of Seattle) it was cold enough to burst our pressure pump in the pumphouse, nice big crack right in the metal pump.

We've been fortunate not to have any burst pipes, but regardless of where it freezes means no water until you can get it thawed!

[Sage of Sagle]

Originally Posted by Haakon

Even if you are on the well. Depending on how your well is setup it can freeze too. At our place the well head is above ground if it's cold enough, long enough, without running water it will freeze there. We've had the pipes freeze in the pumphouse too, one winter (ironically when we were in Boise, our house is in the foothills east of Seattle) it was cold enough to burst our pressure pump in the pumphouse, nice big crack right in the metal pump.

We've been fortunate not to have any burst pipes, but regardless of where it freezes means no water until you can get it thawed!

We keep a heat lamp (250W) in our pump house. Works great. It stays well over 40 degrees in there.

[Haakon]

Originally Posted by Sage of Sagle

We keep a heat lamp (250W) in our pump house. Works great. It stays well over 40 degrees in there.

In the coldest months we have a small space heater running at its lowest setting....now. A heat lamp would probably work too, and might be cheaper to run than a space heater, we'll have to look into that.

[pw72]

Forecast for the first week of November:

Upper 50's in the upper Snake plain, low to mid 60's in Pocatello.

Enjoy!

(Are the golf courses officially closed yet?)