Slip and slide!

Finally...we have heat in our entire house.  When you program the thermostat to 70 degrees, it actually feels like 70 degrees no matter which floor you are on! YAY!!!  As I mentioned, the HVAC guys came in the following Monday and popped the roof to put in a vent for the second unit.  By sundown we had heat on both floors.  Such a novel concept.  Finally, my family is together under the same roof and not freezing to death.

Since the heat has returned to our world, life has moved on.  Christmas decorations went up.  We continue to get settled in our "new" digs while we bring the last bits and pieces over from our former home.  Thankfully renters are moving in to that house at the end month and we will only have one house note to fret over.  Becoming landlords is a totally different story...

The one downside to the dream home is the stairwell.  Old and creaky as well as very narrow as you reach the top, we are always fearful that our three year-old will fall down them.  Who would have thought one of the adults would take the tumble first.

This weekend I was running around with only my socks on while taking care of a few things upstairs.  When my daughter started hollering for me, I ran to the top of the stairs to let her know that I was in our bedroom.  As I stopped at the top stair to let her know where I was, my body stopped but my feet did not.  Hard I crashed on my back side down 11 of our hardwood stairs.  My blackberry in hand went flying over the rail and broke my house warming gift to myself, the blue floral knick knack bowl from Glory Haus which I think has now been discontinued :( Thankfully, that is all that was broken. Sunday, I went to the emergency room  since the pain was worse the day after of the accident (so much so that I passed out in our hallway!). The x-rays showed only sprains and bruises.  For that I am most grateful.  We have always known we would have a long laundry list of projects we would like/want/need to do over the next few weeks, months and even years but I think the one regarding a carpet runner on the stairs just got bumped up on the "must do" list.

Warming trend!

As of noon today, we have heat in the house! Hallelujah!! Just as the first floor was registering 40 degrees, the HVAC folks finished up the install of the new heating unit.  The gas company did its part and within an hour, my husband reported that after an hour, the house had warmed up to 50 degrees on the first floor.  The second floor will be finished on Monday as one of the technicians they need to have in order to punch through the roof is on another job site today.  That is fine...a finish line has been spotted.  Besides, we can always live on the first floor if we need to for a few more days or use the portable heaters until Monday rolls around.  I am so excited! Never will I ever take for granted a heated room. 

Still looking for that USB cord!!!

47/53

The saga of the big chill continues.  The warranty company sent their incredible contractors out to inspect the heating problem.  One rocket scientist said we needed more insulation.  Done.  Still cold air blowing out of the vents.  The second genius decided the way to fix the heater is to replace all of the windows in the home.  Brilliant.  When I spoke to the warranty company, they said it was time for us to get our own opinion and if there was a "mechanical" problem found, they would have their technicians complete the work.  Ha...fat chance.  Needless to say my husband and I do not trust them to do any work of this substantial nature.  The HVAC company we had come out has recommended replacing what we have with a unit that is meant to heat/cool a home of this size.  In addition, we have decided to uncap the natural gas and have that as an option vs. an electric only home.  They started the work today to bring in the new equipment. 

So what does the 47/53 mean as the title of this entry? Those are the steady holding temperatures downstairs and upstairs respectively in our home.  Our daughter has been staying with her grandparents since Monday after school.  My husband and I have heaters in our bedroom and bathroom upstairs, which is tolerable.  We have down comforters, flannel night clothes and we vacate the house during the day.

We are keeping our fingers crossed on the installation.  This weekend the weathermen predict that it will warm up a tad before plunging into the low teens on Sunday.  YIKES!

PS: Regarding pictures....during the move we have managed to misplace the USB cord for the camera.  As soon as it is located, I will share lots and lots!  Until then, stay warm!

And the renovations continue...

My aunt called me this morning to remind me that I haven't been blogging and there has been activity in my house that needs to be shared.  She is correct on both counts.  We have moved most of our things in to the city house and have been sleeping there since Sunday.  Christmas decorations are slowly coming out of their tubs and are being sprinkled around the house here and there.  However, my husband has been tackling the biggest "new" project we have going on at the moment - heat.

Right after Thanksgiving, another cold spell arrived and we noticed the heater that we thought had been fixed was not keeping pace with the cold air.  No matter where we set the temperature, the first floor remained cold.  The technician came out for a second time and basically told us that the heater was firing up fine but there is no insulation under the flooring on the walk-in level.  My husband bought roll after roll of insulation and has been stuffing the rafters in the basement in hopes of warming up the place.  Unfortunately, yesterday morning the thermostat registered at 57 degrees.  Thankfully, our bedrooms are on the second floor and we did not suffer in that condition.

Today, we had another heating and air company come out and give us a second opinion, which was not good news.  They are recommending that we pull everything that is in place and covert to an new system which would include gas.  The current system is all electric and should only be used as a back up system we have learned.

Needless to say, we are frazzled, furious and frustrated.  Home inspection? Why did we even have one?  Sellers?  Now we know why you did a short sale so the house could be sold "as is."  I am baffled.  For the past two weeks as the house didn't heat I remember asking my husband, "how did a family live here before? Certainly this isn't all new?" 

Lots of phone calls will be made today to see what can be done.  Meanwhile, starting tomorrow we are predicted to have the coldest weather of the season hit.  Keep us in your thoughts and prayers.