Sunday, January 3, 2010

2.2 Degrees Outside

No heat. No water.
This house is trying to kill me again.


Visions of January on Maui


The morning interior low was 58. The furnace went off again in the night because the mechanical thermostat which has no moving parts and no electronic brain at all has gone bad. I can fiddle with it and make the furnace come back on but I am tired of fiddling with it. Time for a new thermostat.

Ye of too much faith in his plumbing protection procedures did not leave a trickle of water running. The pipes most likely have frozen where the water line enters the house. It ain't gonna warm up above freezing in the foreseeable future and it takes forever for the ground to thaw. Some how I need to heat up the ground to thaw pipes I can't see and don't really know where they are once they exit the house.

Some new contraption construction will fill my cold sunny day.

9 comments:

Lisa at Greenbow said...

My bones are aching for you. It is 2 here too. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Carol said...

Having awoken to frozen pipes too many times already this winter I have empathy for you. I can regain my water however rather quickly with a hair dryer in the right place. No bursts! With the wind chill we dipped into -6 last night. Hope that makes you feel a bit better. Good luck getting your heat and water back on. My wood stove is a good friend.

Anonymous said...

Goodness, Christopher, each day your reports are worse. I hope you can get the contraption going to help you survive. Carol's solutions seem worthy. More wood chopping?
Frances

Christopher C. NC said...

Lisa I may be in the south but I have to cough up a full zone at a minimum for the elevation. I'm not spending a whole lot of time outside these days.

Carol I wish I could fix this with a hair dryer. The well heads not froze. I checked the spigots there. I have interior water lines that won't freeze as long as the house is heated. No water there. This has to be the main line underground between the well and the house. It has been a summer cottage until I got here and never really put to the test for winter. There is a fireplace if the power goes out again, but I'm saving the wood for an emergency.

Frances the furnace is still going. I jiggled the thermostat. I bought a new one to install tomorrow or if it craps out again in the night. Had to buy water too for my coffee. There is now an electric blanket with a bit of cover over it where the water line exits the house. I hope that will thaw the froze part. Or I'll just have to wait til spring for water.

Unknown said...

The weather seems to be unseasonably cold in many areas this winter. We're used to it acting up around here, but it seems OTT cold for you. Hope the new thermostat is quickly installed and effective.

Anonymous said...

Brr... Sorry to hear it's so miserably cold. I've heard that the fire department has a gadget for thawing pipes. It is supposed to take a lot less time than a blow dryer. I'm not sure if this is a possibility for you but you could give them a call...or maybe a plummer... Sorry you probably already know all of this being far more construction savvy than my little ole brain is. Do stay warm!!

Lola said...

That is extremely cold for these old bones. I do hope your heater stays on. If things get too bad the motel idea may have to be utilized.
When I lived in N.J. I had a heating tape that I put on the water lines to keep them from freezing. My heater went out one time & it got so cold inside that the fish tank froze---fish & all.
Pile the blankets on & try to stay warm.

sweetbay said...

The picture from Maui is especially appealing right now.

Your weather reports remind of being in PA and IN, although in western PA the sun never seemed to come out in winter unless the temps went down to zero.

Pam said...

I read these in reverse order - thankfully your thermostat started working again!