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Thursday 22nd 29F/-2C. Cold, heavily overcast and windy from the NE. Local snow flurries later. Not expected to rise above freezing all day. 58F/14C in the room 41F/5C in the greenhouse. The stove was still going well at midnight. Today's lowest start temperature in the room [so far] is probably due to the wind. It must be finding all the gaps in the structure and existing insulation.
Up at 8.30 after a busy night. I kept seeing the clock, or visiting the fire bucket, then falling asleep again.
9.15 The stove has been lit and I can already feel its heat on the back of my neck. I have attached the Topdon, infra red camera to my phone and checked around. The southerly wall is by far the coldest. Solid brick with three [double glazed] windows. The greenhouse provides some shelter but is still cold. There is also a narrow, cold streak around the junction between the ceiling and all the exterior walls. Not easy to access.
The balcony room is colder still at the top of the stairs. The single glazed, "French widows" showing only 9C/48F on the camera. Over what is quite a large area. Visitors have complained of a waterfall of cold air at the foot of the stairs. Their advice is to fit a heavy curtain to a curved rail attached to the living room ceiling. To close off the open stairwell. While still allowing access. Though it might be preferable to close off the double balcony doors themselves with a heavy curtain. Possibly both options should be tried.
If the stairwell is closed then the open plan attic will be colder still. Meaning that heat will flow more freely through the entire living room ceiling. Meanwhile, the bathroom and a third of the kitchen ceiling lie under the cold, balcony room. Which adds to their heat loss. The balcony room will inevitably be cooler still. Access is rarely required in winter. Since it is only used for rather chaotic storage. Temperatures soar to well over 100F in summer. Thanks to the fully glazed gable end.
The huge area of glass is quite attractive but should probably be removed and a modern window and/or windows, fitted in a properly insulated gable end. To bring the room up to modern living standards. It has 45ยบ ceilings down to the floor and is only a modest 2m deep. Though it could make a small guest bedroom if done properly. A glazed door out to an escape balcony might be preferable. Though escape windows are now readily available. Where the whole glazed frame is hinged. To allow easy access over a larger area. Without requiring large openers or clear glass area. I installed one of these windows at the eastern end of the attic. With cottage style glazing bars to smaller panes. Triple glazed to modern standards.
9.45 60F/15.6C in the room. Thinking about a walk but it's horribly grey and windy too. I have brought in more logs from the greenhouse. My stock is going down fast! Do I feel strong enough to fetch some more logs? If I have to load the trailer by hand. Or dare I wait until Sunday to have them loaded for me?
I am trying a couple of small, horse chestnut logs. Which I brought in from the huge, unprotected heap to dry out a bit. They have readily caught light. We'll see.. It would take quite a bit of work to sort through the loose and haphazard stack outside. To hopefully find some dry logs. The heap was covered once but later additions have made a typical mess. Under my chaotic charge.
10.45 Back from a loop around the neighbours' drives. A cold wind. A heron rose from the marshy, back field.
Back to scrolling through YouTube's endless video suggestions. Typically, it had been reading my blog. So up came numerous thermal improvement suggestions. The simplest and best in test, was simply hanging a blanket over a window. So I found a blanket and stapled it over the balcony door frame.
12.15 30F/-1C. 63F/17C in the room. The bare, single glazed windows of the fully glazed, balcony doors were showing 12C. It was only 9C earlier before I lit the stove. The blanket immediately read 17C with the pistol thermometer.
I'll go back up in a while to see if the reading has changed. Coming back down the stairs was like walking outside during a heatwave. After having been in an air conditioned supermarket.
The advantage of the blanket is that it allows some light through. So it isn't remotely as dark. As using cardboard or other opaque, insulating materials. It also looks quite reasonable or even quite attractive, with the right choice of blanket. Charity shops would be a good source of cloth, curtains and blankets.
Covering the entire frame provides an air gap. While simultaneously enclosing all the potential gaps and air leaks around the doors. Though I made no attempt to staple around the edges or bottom of the blanket. A difference of as little as 5C helps to reduce heat loss through these doors.
The Topdon thermal camera shows a more useful image of the covered doors. Compared to the local readings of the remote reading thermometer. There is clear stratification of the temperature with height. I photographed the doors straight on from the landing at about 3 meters away. To take in the entire door frame with the blanket in place.
This suggests that there are draughts under the bottom of the doors. And/or that the air temperature upstairs is also stratified. I have already laid a loose roll of cloth. To try to reduce the draughts at the bottom of the doors. All very simple and cost free so far.
Dinner was Heinz beans on toast. Distinctly underwhelming. I bought a load of cans on special offer. I have tried adding pepper and salt but the taste remains lifeless.
21.00 31F/-1C. 63f/17C in the room. The greenhouse is at 40F/4.4C. The blanket over the balcony doors is now at 14C but the glass behind it now reads only 7C. I was quite comfortable until I needed more logs. Which meant going out into the greenhouse. So my fleece jacket is back on again.
I am wondering if I can improve the cold wall where my bed is. I could hang a blanket, or blankets, from the top of the wall. This would cover the cold brick and reduce heat loss through the windows. I haven't been cold in bed so far. Though I can feel the colder air on my face in the night. Indoor temperatures do seem to be dropping slowly but steadily. I am not stinting on logs for the stove. The larger logs burn for longer and probably produce more heat. I also have two more warmer options for duvets if I need them. In fact I might try one tonight. I found it too warm last time.
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