Just Chugging Along

The really, really old furnace

I ran an experiment through the month of March. I turned my furnace off on March 1st and kept it off (except for a couple of days when Lovely Beautiful Daughter was staying with me), just using the fireplace to warm the house. I wanted to see if 1) the fireplace would actually heat the house and not just the living room; and 2) what this would do for the gas bill. While my February gas bill wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, it was still on the high side. The furnace is old and inefficient. It's definitely time for it to retire.

What I found was the fireplace will warm the entire house. I got into the routine of turning it on around 6:30 am and letting it run for a couple of hours. The blower chased the chill out of the air quickly, and I found I was very comfortable for several hours after turning the fireplace off. Then I'd turn it back on in early afternoon, letting it run again for a couple of hours. Then around 7 pm I'd turn it on again, warming the house nicely before shutting it down for the night. The lowest temperature I awoke to in the house was 54 degrees, and this only happened once. Most often, the temperature was 57 or 58 when I'd get up in the morning. 

I had no idea what this routine would do to my gas bill. I was hoping the fireplace would prove to be much more efficient than the furnace, and when I opened my bill last Saturday, I was pleasantly surprised to see that yes, the fireplace did a much better job of being efficient (I also think changing out the old hot water heater for the tankless impacted the bill; no more water being heated all the time). During February, the average daily therms use was 5.25. During March, the average daily therms use was 1.29. And according to my bill, March was actually colder on average than February was (I'm really wondering if this is correct. I'll have to do some digging to find out). In any case, my bill came down significantly. for which I'm very grateful. The amount I had budgeted for the gas bill is three times what it actually is, so the extra will go towards the deck fund, which is beginning to build up nicely. I just might be able to pull off doing the deck this summer.

Just to gab a bit more . . . my former landlord called me last week and asked me if I had time to clean one of his units that had come open. He pays me well, so I jumped on the opportunity (this money will also go into the deck fund). The unit ended up being the smaller apartment Angel Baby and I moved into after Lovely Beautiful Daughter and Funny Delightful Son moved out on their own. When I walked into the apartment, so many wonderful memories surfaced. Then Lovely Beautiful Daughter showed up along with Angel Baby, and we sat on the floor and ate lunch. We had a fun time reminiscing and just generally catching up with each other. Before I finished cleaning the unit, Mr. Landlord asked me if I could clean another of his properties this week (more money for the deck fund!). I'm actually considering creating a cleaning service. I'm that odd person who truly enjoys cleaning, so why not make some money on the side doing it? 

And more gabbing . . . as I was sitting here working recently, I thought it'd be nice if I could wear contacts. The ol ha! now you're in your 40's so it's time for your eyesight to get worse knocked on my door, so reading glasses became a thing, and for the last twelve or so years I've had to wear glasses. From the get-go I never enjoyed having to wear them. Actually, truth be told, I despise wearing glasses. They're a pain to keep track of if they're not on my face. I also never even asked if contacts were an option for my prescription. So I picked up the phone and called my eye center. The tech I chatted with said I could wear contacts. Basically, the contact suggested is for distance vision. I would still have to wear reading glasses for books and some documents, but I wouldn't have to wear glasses for most everything else.

So I went in and tried out the contacts. I walked out with them in and have been using them ever since. I'm loving not having to wear glasses all the time, and I'm loving being able to work on the computer without having to wear glasses. The contacts are so comfortable I forget I have them in. I joked with the technician yesterday at my follow-up about the contacts preventing me from taking a nap during the day. His response was I should be sleeping better at night. And I am! The last week I've slept better than I have in years. I wake up and feel absolutely ready to go. The covers are barely rumpled because I wasn't tossing and turning all night. The contacts have been awesome to say the least.

And finally . . . Lovely Beautiful Daughter graduates in May with her elementary ed degree. She already has a job offer and is guaranteed a classroom starting in August. She'll be moving to the Springfield, IL area to begin her teaching career. I am so, so happy for her. She has worked incredibly hard to reach this point. Funny Delightful Son will also graduate in May. He'll have a Master's in Computer Science. He, too, has received a job offer and will begin his career in June. He'll be moving to the Madison, WI area. I don't know who's more excited for him about this, me or FDS. Like with LBD, I am so, so happy for how things have turned out for him. Before both set off on their new adventures, we will definitely have a party to celebrate.