Fine Tuning

Saturday, 3:28 pm

By Kate

Oct

27

2007

Okay. Having tried the quilt to shut off the massive flow of warm air to the upstairs, I have to say that, in the main, it works pretty well. But, not well enough. The six inch gap between the ceiling and the quilt still allows too much warm air to escape upstairs. It’s not as if the upstairs is all toasty warm, but it’s warmer than the 63° (or even less) that I’d like to keep it. Over time, the temps more or less even out between the two stories. That’s much better than how it used to be, but I’d prefer the upstairs to be significantly cooler than the downstairs. I want most of the heat to stay downstairs.

So, now I have to figure out how to fix this in the most attractive way possible. I could raise the rod from which the quilt hangs, but that would only close off an additional two inches. I don’t think that’s enough. Perhaps a ceiling-hugging valance behind the quilt would work. I haven’t come up with any other ideas, though.

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With regard to gas pilot lights, the current bane of my existence, I am curious if anyone knows whether it is possible to shut off a stove’s pilot lights. Is there a valve someplace on a stove to cut the pilot light gas feed off without cutting the gas delivery to the stove burners? I am perfectly capable of using a match to start a stove burner. I’ve done it many times before and that doesn’t strike me as being an inconvenience. But the stove’s twin pilot lights, constantly burning, are going to drive me around the bend this winter. Not to mention that they’re sitting there silently burning up dollar bills for no good or logical reason. Once upon a time when gas was dirt cheap and an abundant resource, I’m sure pilot lights were a tremendous advance in household convenience. Now? Not so much.

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I’ve been fiddling around in the basement, for the last couple of days, with bits and pieces of insulation. This year I’m trying the bubble wrap method of basement window insulation. It’s not exactly pretty, but duct taping bubble wrap around the window frames should provide some insulation and it still allows natural light to come through. I’ve also used fiberglass insulation around the basement door (by the bulkhead), with bubble wrap on top. When the wind blows (most of the time), a lot of air comes through the cracks around the door. When it’s 20° outside, that turns the basement cold in a hurry and then it never seems to quite recover until spring. There is a lot of heat stored up in the basement walls right now. I’d like to keep it. Hopefully, the added insulation will make a large difference this year.

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Unrelated to energy matters...the resident gray squirrel who eats her weight in sunflower seeds every day, has been, up until today, a little nervous about seeing a cat on the other side of the sliding glass door watching her every move. Today she worked up her courage and curiosity. I think she’d reached the conclusion that the cat wasn’t that much of a threat—after all, the cat has been watching the squirrel for over a week now and nothing untoward has happened.

This morning, the squirrel tentatively approached the door while Abbie watched with absolute rapture. The squirrel stood before the door watching the cat, then placed her front paws on the screen with her little nose pressed against the screen. She and the cat were eye to eye and....nothing happened. Well, except for Abbie nearly expiring from the sheer excitement.

The squirrel now knows, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this cat is no threat whatsoever. She has been as bold as brass this afternoon, parading back and forth across the deck floor in search of seed with not a concern at all for the cat on the other side of the door. I hope that the squirrel doesn’t assume from this that all cats are safe. The one she’s tormenting right now, however, certainly seems to be.