Wednesday 21 September 2016

Adjusting to Fall/Spring Mode: Heating

Okay, so it is getting a little chilly and thus our thoughts turn to turning on that furnace to keep our trailer toasty warm. 

I advise against this just yet for a few reasons. The first of which is the fact that colder weather is coming, oh yes, trust me. 

Why this is important is that your body needs to adjust to that colder weather. By not bundling up right away it forces your body to heat itself up. 

I don’t mean run around naked in the snow or anything like that, but just hold off on the sweaters or thermal undies just yet.

The human body is an amazing thing, we can live in a wide range of temperatures and be somewhat comfortable, if we are smart and if we let our bodies acclimatize to these temperatures. 

In the interest of prudence and as a systems test I trotted out my electric heater and used it last night.

Last evening I had to run Jenny to charge Wanda’s batteries so I took the opportunity to use my electric heater to warm the place up a bit.

The electric heater I use is essentially an electric radiant heater put in a box with a cord attached. This has no fan and so is silent (except for a slight hum).
  

This way I can (when I am at a campsite and plugged in) can leave this on and sleep with it going all night. Try that with those little boxes with a fan.

So last night as I was running Jenny I had my heater going, but there is more to it. With Jenny being a 2000 Watt generator she is essentially the equivalent of one 15 Amp circuit breaker

So I can’t just crank the heater to max as that will trip the breaker on Jenny. As well the main reason that I run the generator is to charge Wanda’s batteries so I want most of the electricity to go to the charger.

What I do is I put the electric heater on the lower of the two wattage ranges and set the variable dial to the mid level. This way I get some heat coming out and still charge my batteries. 
  

You may be asking why I don’t just run the Wanda’s furnace? The answer is that when I run that furnace it takes propane and electricity. 

Sure I am using electricity that Jenny is generating but the propane is an extra resource that I am using when I don’t have to.

I am running the generator anyways so I am not using more fuel, of if so, it is negligible. 

This way I can run the furnace during the mornings or evenings when I don’t have Jenny running. 

I will bundle up before I run the furnace, so as to lower my utility budget. Every little bit that I can do to conserve resources is a way to conserve cash. That conserved cash will nudge me further down the road to Total Debt Freedom.

I do look forward to a house, a warm house a house with a furnace that I am not afraid to run for fear of cost. Ah such days that lie ahead, if only I stay the course.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

No comments:

Post a Comment