Old Radiators, New PEX

Since most of us have spent the week hunkered down trying to stay warm, let's talk about furnaces! Hot water furnaces to be exact.

I have always thought my little house would be perfect if it only had hot water heat, but alas it has forced air. I did think briefly about changing it when we first moved in, but there were so many things that still needed work or finishing. But this spring in the middle of an allergy attack I texted my brother and said I need hydronic heat!!

Yes, after living in the little cottage for five years I finally figured out I am allergic to whatever the furnace blows out! I don't know if it is just old dirt, cat hair, dog dander or what, but it turns me into a basket case. I am no stranger to allergies as at the age of four we discovered I was allergic to food dye. Hives are a weekly occurrence, sniffy nose, itchy eyes, scratchy throat are common. But I have never never felt so horrible as when the furnace/air conditioner blows. I could hardly drag myself out of bed I was so tired, I constantly felt like I had the flu and couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep or think. (I had a lot more symptoms, but you get the idea.) 

This summer we tried an experiment and did not turn on the AC; instead we invested in two window units. In two months I had all my energy back and was ready to tackle the Brick House head on!

 This fall when it started getting chilly we were in of a bit of quandary. Wisconsin gets cold! And we knew a ton of space heaters wasn't going to work, though it got us through the fall months. So my brother and I hatched a plan!
This past Spring I found a houseful of radiators on Craig's List. They were from a smallish bungalow like mine and most of radiators would work for my house. I did end up purchasing two more for the downstairs bedrooms as there wasn't quite enough small ones.
So we had radiators, but not a boiler. But every house has a hot water heater, right? And a hot water heater does the same thing a boiler does, heat water. Would a hot water heater be able to heat a cast iron radiator enough to heat a house? We decided to find out!

My brother also happened to have a heat transfer plate, circulator and expansion tank. The only thing I needed to buy was an additional circulator pump, PEX fittings and some copper pipe to plumb everything in. We were able to poke the PEX piping up through heat/cold air vents so everything is temporary right now. (I am still planning on putting in a real boiler this year!)

The way a hydronic system works is a boiler/hot water heater heats the water, a circulator pump pumps it through the pipes and the radiators. As the hot water goes through the radiators it heats the cast iron and since cast iron radiates heat so well the air around the radiators also get warm. The water continues around it's circuit and returns to the boiler/hot water heater to be heated again. 

My temporary system works the same, except the water from the hot water heater goes though a transfer plate which transfers the heat to water in the radiator system. In this way the water in the radiators and the water in the hot water heater stay separate and we are not washing with water that has been through a radiator. (It picks up a lot of iron and turns black! Yuck!)

Wow these old radiators really work! In a couple of minutes we could feel the warmth radiating out of them and in an hour you just wanted to snuggle up next to it! Of course it is not as even as it would be with a whole system, but it is keeping us comfortable. The bedrooms (where there is no radiators) are about 2-3 degrees cooler. We started slow and connected one radiator first. It worked great during the day, but wasn't able to keep the house a steady temp over night. The hot water heater seemed to be doing fine and not running excessively, so we connected another radiator to the system. Now the living-dining room stays a very steady temperature even during the night.

And how did our temporary system do in the artic blast? Not too bad! It couldn't quite keep up during the extreme overnight lows and would dropped down about three degrees, but it would get back up to normal temperature during the day. I think that wasn't bad for a temporary system!

 Radiators are also a mittens best friend! I don't know what it is about the radiant heat, but mittens dry in minutes and look better then ever!

So, have you ever lived in a house with hot water heat? Did you like it? Would you like to have hot water heat again? Please share, I would love to hear all about your experience! I am all about radiators and hot water heat right now!

Progress Report Week 19: Floors and Snow

 We got our first snow this morning. Everything is covered in a fresh sparkly layer. I love how cozy houses look in the snow! Mandy and I stopped at the Brick House for a few photos on our way back from the hardware store (gathering a few more plumbing supplies).

 Aren't the trees gorgeous!

 This week has been a bit slower, still getting our energy back from all the festivies with the sister and nephews here. Plus the time change doesn't help, that always throws me off. I did get a good start by finishing off the painting on the last three windows Monday and on Tuesday got the front of the closet doors painted.

I have also been working on the floors. Instead of sanding and re-finishing them, I decided to rejuvenate them. First I am washing the floors down with denatured alcohol, then I will apply a couple of fresh coats of shellac. So far they are looking really good! This is the front bedroom freshly washed down with denatured alcohol.

The Brick House has hydronic heat (did I mention that before?). I love all the old radiators! This is a new type of heating for me, so I have been getting a crash course in boiler and radiator care. Did you know if a radiator is hot on the bottom, but cold on top it has air in it and needs to be bled? I now need to figure out how to fix one that is hot on top, but cold on bottom. From what I am finding out it might be sludge build up.

 Looking down into the back yard from the back bedroom. 

I love these shiny hooks all in a row! They were actually on the other wall in the entry, but that looked like an accident waiting to happen as the glass door opened against, so I moved them over here. The perfect place to hang coats!

Valentine's Flowers and Snow

Today the sun is shinning out of a blue sky, the air is soft and balmy and the snow is dripping! Spring are you around the corner??

Mandy and I took these pictures on Monday when we were out for the afternoon walk. Snow piles everywhere! It felt like all we did last weekend was shovel snow. The total count was over a foot. It has been a few years since we have had this much snow piled up at once.

Kerri and her favorite winter activity, Digging! She loves to dig and dig and then shove her whole face in the hole. We call it snow snorgeling. (Yes, even Kerri has an extensive winter wardrobe!)

But let's not talk about snow, let's talk about

flowers!

 Mandy went to our favorite garden center today. We always plan a trip in February. Spring fever usually sets in by then and we are longing for the sight of something green and growing! She sent me a few photos. Aren't they lovely!!

I just want to gather them all up and bury my face in them!

Of course, Mandy brought home a few plants including a pink ruffled cyclamen!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Aren't these the cutest things ever! 

Clear and Cold

Hello Friends! Here we are in a new year. Have things fallen back in the normal pattern? All the Christmas decorations cleared away? Here too. We are mostly just trying to stay cozy and warm and not leave the house unless absolutely necessary. January isn't usually a bad month, sometimes we have a lot of snow, sometimes it is just cold. Either way there isn't much motivation (or reason) to go outside. So we all turn to cozy indoor activities. (Above is the view from my bedroom window, ice and all!)

Of course, the knitting needles are very busy this time of year. I finished off a new hat (Rikke Hat), a crochet cowl (Pearl Stitch Cowl) and am now working on a sweater for myself. Kerri is modeling a new sweater (Four Cable Dog Sweater) Mandy knit for a class at our local knitting shop. 

After all the "warm fuzzy" Christmas movies in December, I am always ready for a change of pace. Mandy and I have started re-watching the Lord Peter Whimsy mysteries. 

The same goes for reading. After the cozy lightweight romances of Betty Neels for most of November and December I am ready for a change. Last week I dug out our beloved copies of the Mrs. Polifax books and started on the first one; The Unexpected Mrs. Polifax. It was so fun to read it again! 

January in my mind always means clear cold sunny days and cozy nights. And dirty salty floors.... everywhere dirty salty footprints! The floors aren't even dry before another pair of feet track across it! Ahh well, January doesn't last forever.......

What about you? What do you do watch or read to stay cozy in January?

After the Storm

The bright blue sky, air so fresh and crisp, snow smooth and sparkly. 

Don't you love how bright the world is after a storm? 

 I took these photos Sunday morning after the storm. For being the first snow, it was quite the storm! We went from a warm lingering Autumn to mid-winter overnight.We ended up with only about 8" of snow. Though the predictions were all over from 3" to 12". 

 Because the temperature was so warm when the storm came through, the first bit of snow melted and formed lovely icicles.

The little apple tree snow draped.

Isn't Frosty cute? Mom moved him to the backyard for a joke, but I think he might be our new backyard Christmas decoration! 

Winter is here!

Winter is finally here! We were all braced for a long cold winter and it has been very mild until last week. I know the cold front hit most of the country, so no one will be very surprised to hear it was very cold here, 7 below zero cold! 

Needless to say, not much happened last week. Everyone stayed home and I read 6 books!

The tree out front of the house.

The view down the street, not a lot of anything but snow......

 The park in all it's winter whiteness.

 This is the view across the pond, a little hard to tell where it is in all the snow.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

 Here are a few pictures of the snow we had last week, it is all melted now. I love taking picture this time of year. The contrast is lovely and the light is perfect. How can one not love the intense blue of the sky?!

I was so excited to see the camera captured a bit of the sparkly-ness of the snow! 

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We were so busy I didn't have a chance to post anything. I am still trying to recover from all the business! Hopefully I will be back this week with a bit of Christmas!!