Our bums are freezing here in the Big Easy.
Now, now. Before y’all get up in arms over the fact that it is at least 20 or more degrees warmer here than where you are (it’s the mid-50s today), let me remind you of this:
With no insulation in the walls or floors, heating and cooling our house is like heating and cooling a tent. The house does not get cool when it is hot outside. Likewise, the house does not get warm when it is cold outside. We can control humidity (within reason) in the summertime, and in the winter, we can do enough to keep pipes and things from freezing. And there are some temperate spots. The hall bath, with no exterior walls and being super tiny right off the hallway (where the temperature gauge rests) is always perfect in all seasons. But as for comfort in the remaining big, open rooms with 12-foot ceilings… well, bundle up. (Plus, 50 degrees with high humidity is one heck of a lot colder than 50 degrees with low humidity… and we live just blocks from the river.)
Our options? Well, we are trying to get a crew out to put a sealant coat under the house. (We can see daylight through a bunch of floor cracks.) One day (like when we hit the lottery?) we will look into replacing all the siding on the house and putting in insulation at that time. We dream of that day. Until then, 50 degrees will feel like the North Pole.
Anonymous | 07-Dec-05 at 3:06 pm | Permalink
I once saw on an episode of “This Old House” a company that can drill a hole in your sheetrock/plaster walls and pump in foam insulation. It’s a lot like to the insulation you can buy in compressed cans from Home Depot and expands to fill every available space in the walls. It should give you an relatively decent insulation value, something like R-13. Is that too cost prohibitive in New Orleans?
Holly | 07-Dec-05 at 3:12 pm | Permalink
We’ve looked into it — seen the same episode! 🙂 Paul has to explain why it doesn’t quite work in our situation, I can’t remember. Something about the type of our walls, it would literally require taking off the siding and filling from the outside.
But we are using similar compressed cans of insulation for sealing windows, cracks, etc.
Deb | 08-Dec-05 at 6:05 am | Permalink
In the meantime, may I suggest down booties and cute hats? Keep your feet & head warm, and you will be more comfortable.
As I write this, I just heard that we will be under a winter storm watch tonight. The prediction is 4-6 inches in Ann Arbor & Detroit.
Oh how I long to be back home in California!
eli | 08-Dec-05 at 6:57 am | Permalink
Our basement is completely under ground which means it’s fabulous during the Washington DC humidity laden summer and horrible in the winter. Unless standing directly in front of the dryer it’s pretty darn cold in the basement. Our solution was to get a small heater (it looks like an old radiator but is completely modern) that rolls around the area. It warms up the room well enough to remove the cold humidity out of the room. It might make your days a little better.
Of course I must comment on the weather here…20F with the impending “RUN GET MILK, BREAD and TOILET PAPER” headlines running due to the “chance” of snow. The weather prediction is zero to six inches…
Might make that 50F feel a bit better.
Scott, Bethany, and Evie | 08-Dec-05 at 8:21 am | Permalink
We just had insullation put into our existing walls. They drilled holes from the outside rather than hurting our plaster interior walls. Worked great. I can feel a major difference (though Bethany can’t but she is cold with anything under 75 degrees). The cost for our whole house was $2100 (a ranch as you know). You can even split the job up – do the under-house/crawlspace first and the walls another time. I don’t know how we ever lived without insullation.
Holly | 08-Dec-05 at 9:11 am | Permalink
I think the fact that I am still in recovery from whatever bug is goin’ around has something to do with me being cold. It actually *isn’t* that bad out when I think about it. I just came from outside where it is 60, no sun, but not unpleasant at all… quite nice, actually.
Scott: do you guys have aluminum siding? Paul actually stopped and went “hummm” when I told him about what you guys did. I think the information he had suggested that our type of siding wouldn’t work due to the holes that would have to be made.
Our floors are actually the only thing separating us from the dirt ground — we’re up on pilons about 3-4 feet and the hardwood is literally the only thing under our feets. So the floor is basically the same temp as the outside, all the time. (And we have lots of spaces were we can see the outside!) We know what we are doing there, but getting a team out post-Katrina to do anything is really tough.
Violet | 08-Dec-05 at 7:01 pm | Permalink
It was -3 degrees here this morning. BEFORE wind chill.
Holly | 08-Dec-05 at 7:46 pm | Permalink
-3 degrees? You know what that means! Time for a vacation!!