24.01.2026 Stairwell thermal closure.

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  Saturday 24th 29F/-2C. Heavily overcast, cold and windy with a light dusting of overnight snow. More light snow possible. 59F/15C in the room. 41F/5C in the greenhouse. Stove lit. 

 I deliberately stayed in bed until 8am. After a busy night attending the fire bucket.

 I went for a late walk after morning coffee. It was grey, cold and windy. Though I was warm and comfortable. Pile lined, fleece jacket under the down sweater. Double fleece hat pulled down to the safety glasses. The GripGrab, two fingered mitts were fine today. Just as they were yesterday. Something had left miles of blue stains on the road. As they leaked oil, fuel or brake fluid. 

 12.15 Back from the village. Where I bought three long curtains at the charity shop. For closing off the stairwell . There was nothing very heavy. Nor really wide enough. So I went with what there was. Quickly stapling two curtains to the ceiling tiles. To get a feel for appearance, easy access to the stairs and thermal efficiency. There are lots of other charity shops to scour for heavier cloth. 

 We lived and slept upstairs when my wife was still alive. So it was never sensible to close off the stairs. There would have been no warmth up there. Now I have moved my bed downstairs.

 I have a posh, glazed door stored away. With beveled glass panes. Which could be hinged to the wall across the bottom of the stairs. Then a more permanent wall built in place of the pale curtain. The aquarium would be in the way of the door when fully open. So some furnishing adjustments would be necessary. 

 Or, I have some glazed panels from a wooden conservatory stored in the shed. They were supposed to become a porch but that never happened. These could be hinged to fold out of the way at the bottom of the stairs.

 A glazed wall unit could enclose the side of the stairs more smartly.  One might be hovering in a charity shop somewhere. It only needs to be 1.5m wide x 2.15m high. That's well within the range of a room divider, glazed cupboard or wardrobe. And, a little imagination. I don't want a solid wall robbing the stairs of light. An alternative might be roller blinds. Not sue about the large drop though. Venetian blinds? Louvres?

 20.00 32F/0C. I can't be certain the curtains have affected the room temperature. It is still only 64F/18C at the computer. I have taken some infra red [thermal] images of the curtains. See above of the same area as the top [normal] image. 

 There is an obvious stratification effect on the curtains. The hall wall and glazed door are [very] cold spots. My wife kept a curtain over the hall doors. I took them down after she died. To open up the house to the light. It had always been very dark indoors. 

 Dinner was a fry-up. Organic sausage, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, a slice of wholemeal bread toast and two organic eggs. 

 10.15 32F/0C. It is trying to snow. There is a snow storm warning for Thursday 29th. That's a cooking class day. 65F/18.3C in the room. 

 

 

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