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December Cold in Minnesota



 
 
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  #11  
Old December 21st 08, 07:56 AM posted to alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent,rec.bicycles.misc,rec.bicycles.tech
Tim McNamara
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Posts: 6,945
Default December Cold in Minnesota

In article ,
Andrew Price wrote:

On Sat, 20 Dec 2008 17:38:15 -0600, Tim McNamara
wrote:

[---]

At 4:15 when I left the workshop to go
home, the wind had picked up and the temperatures felt much colder-
it's dropped 13 degrees F since 1:00PM to 8F now, and will be
dropping to 2F tonight and -14F tomorrow night. Sigh. I'm not a
real Minnesotan and I don't enjoy this stuff.


That I can well sympathise with - living in Western Europe, to me,
those temperatures look really mean. How do you cope with it indoors
- double/triple glazing on windows and lots of insulation? I imagine
that heating costs must represent a considerable part of the
household budget, too.


I live in a 100 year old house which doesn't have double glazing but has
the usual double-hung inner sashes and storm windows. If you keep the
weather seals in good shape, the cold air intrusion is minimal and the
heat loss moderate. The house is well insulated and thus summer I had
all the old badly damaged siding replaced with Hardieboard, so I will be
interested to see if the heating bills are lower. The house is
certainly much quieter with the new siding.

In the peak (trough?) of winter, the heat bill has been about $200-300 a
month depending on energy costs; the local energy monopoly has a program
to spread those costs out year 'round- part of the year we are paying in
advance of winter and part of the year we are paying off the balance.
It ends up being about $125 a month year 'round for natural gas and
electricity combined. We pay a little extra to support development of
wind power in Minnesota.
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  #12  
Old December 21st 08, 04:47 PM posted to alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent,rec.bicycles.misc,rec.bicycles.tech
Jorg Lueke
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Posts: 145
Default December Cold in Minnesota

On Dec 21, 12:56*am, Tim McNamara wrote:
In article ,
*Andrew Price wrote:



On Sat, 20 Dec 2008 17:38:15 -0600, Tim McNamara
wrote:


[---]


At 4:15 when I left the workshop to go
home, the wind had picked up and the temperatures felt much colder-
it's dropped 13 degrees F since 1:00PM to 8F now, and will be
dropping to 2F tonight and -14F tomorrow night. *Sigh. *I'm not a
real Minnesotan and I don't enjoy this stuff.


That I can well sympathise with - living in Western Europe, to me,
those temperatures look really mean. *How do you cope with it indoors
- double/triple glazing on windows and lots of insulation? I imagine
that heating costs must represent a considerable part of the
household budget, too.


I live in a 100 year old house which doesn't have double glazing but has
the usual double-hung inner sashes and storm windows. *If you keep the
weather seals in good shape, the cold air intrusion is minimal and the
heat loss moderate. *The house is well insulated and thus summer I had
all the old badly damaged siding replaced with Hardieboard, so I will be
interested to see if the heating bills are lower. *The house is
certainly much quieter with the new siding.

In the peak (trough?) of winter, the heat bill has been about $200-300 a
month depending on energy costs; the local energy monopoly has a program
to spread those costs out year 'round- part of the year we are paying in
advance of winter and part of the year we are paying off the balance. *
It ends up being about $125 a month year 'round for natural gas and
electricity combined. *We pay a little extra to support development of
wind power in Minnesota.


We just noticed that the duct work is dripping moisture where it goes
along the outside of the house.
Probably will need to wrap it before mold starts to grew.
It hasn't been quite this cold in a few years.

Sometime I'll have to ride in the sub zero weather just to add it to
my resume.
  #13  
Old December 22nd 08, 02:41 AM posted to alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent,rec.bicycles.misc,rec.bicycles.tech
Edward Dolan
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 14,212
Default December Cold in Minnesota


"Tim McNamara" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Andrew Price wrote:

On Sat, 20 Dec 2008 17:38:15 -0600, Tim McNamara
wrote:

[---]

At 4:15 when I left the workshop to go
home, the wind had picked up and the temperatures felt much colder-
it's dropped 13 degrees F since 1:00PM to 8F now, and will be
dropping to 2F tonight and -14F tomorrow night. Sigh. I'm not a
real Minnesotan and I don't enjoy this stuff.


That I can well sympathise with - living in Western Europe, to me,
those temperatures look really mean. How do you cope with it indoors
- double/triple glazing on windows and lots of insulation? I imagine
that heating costs must represent a considerable part of the
household budget, too.


I live in a 100 year old house which doesn't have double glazing but has
the usual double-hung inner sashes and storm windows. If you keep the
weather seals in good shape, the cold air intrusion is minimal and the
heat loss moderate. The house is well insulated and thus summer I had
all the old badly damaged siding replaced with Hardieboard, so I will be
interested to see if the heating bills are lower. The house is
certainly much quieter with the new siding.

In the peak (trough?) of winter, the heat bill has been about $200-300 a
month depending on energy costs; the local energy monopoly has a program
to spread those costs out year 'round- part of the year we are paying in
advance of winter and part of the year we are paying off the balance.
It ends up being about $125 a month year 'round for natural gas and
electricity combined. We pay a little extra to support development of
wind power in Minnesota.


Tim McNamara is quite right about the cost of heating an older house in
Minnesota in the wintertime. I live in a barn myself (not literally, but the
house leaks like a barn) and I only heat one room and yet the bill for a
single month can still run over $300. I must be heating the whole outdoors!
The only good thing that can be said about Minnesota is that you do not need
air conditioning in the summer as we normally only get a few hot days.

Regards,

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota



  #14  
Old December 25th 08, 02:39 PM posted to alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent,rec.bicycles.misc,rec.bicycles.tech
Alexandre Kampouris
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 21
Default December Cold in Minnesota

Hi Andrew,

Andrew Price wrote:
On Sat, 20 Dec 2008 17:38:15 -0600, Tim McNamara
wrote:

[---]

At 4:15 when I left the workshop to go
home, the wind had picked up and the temperatures felt much colder- it's
dropped 13 degrees F since 1:00PM to 8F now, and will be dropping to 2F
tonight and -14F tomorrow night. Sigh. I'm not a real Minnesotan and I
don't enjoy this stuff.


That I can well sympathise with - living in Western Europe, to me,
those temperatures look really mean. How do you cope with it indoors
- double/triple glazing on windows and lots of insulation?


Quite well, actually, and IMO *much* better than in countries like F or
GB, where winters are milder but where single-pane windows are
prevalent. (Some days ago I was in Paris, and froze in my hotel room
even though the temperature was above 0C.)

It can actually get too stuffy indoors, especially when there are older
folks around who prefer setting the thermostat at 75 F (I'm quite comfy
at 65, even 60). (German-style individual thermostats on radiators are
practically unheard of). What bothers me most is the groaning of the
furnace.

I personally miss "real" winters.

The downside to "real" winters is that cycling is a 6 month/year
activity. Of course, there are some real die-hards, like here (the
temperature was probably something like 20F):

http://radio-bip.qc.ca/deneigement/v...janvier%202006
http://radio-bip.qc.ca/deneigement/a.html

I am not one of them. Even if I had snow tires, the corrosion would ruin
the bike in a season. (Was Sheldon a 4-season cyclist?).

Here in Berlin I have a problem finding good handgloves which will keep
my fingers warm in the wind.

I imagine
that heating costs must represent a considerable part of the household
budget, too.


Indeed. It's a pity oil prices came crashing down, we must really get
off the hook. Heat pumps, passive houses, solar panels, urban heating,
the works.

Alexandre
 




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