Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Wet Wednesday

It started snowing very early this morning, but now it is raining. We might get between 3 to 6 inches of snow, or some mixture of rain and snow.  Right now it's just rain, and the temperature is above freezing, but if the temperature drops, the wet stuff on the roads will freeze and the driving will be nasty (read: bad)

I'm camped out on the recliner, under a quilt so nicely provided by Mom.

My good friend Poppy Q asked me if we keep the heater on all the time here in cold New Hampster in winter. The answer is YES! With the average low temperature of 10F (-12C) and the average high of 31F (-0.5) in January, we need the heating monsters. (By contrast the average low in the hottest month, July, is 58 (14C) and the average high is 82F (27.7C))

We have a gizmo called a thermostat on the wall. Mom sets it at 64F (17.7C) at night and during the day when she is gone. The thermostat makes sure the house never gets colder than 64F. When it gets to 64F, the heating monster kicks on and heats the house to 66F, and then shuts off. Depending on how cold it is outside, the temperature in the house will fall quickly or slowly. (when it's -20 it gets cold fast.) When Mom gets home from day hunting, she turns the thermostat up to 67F (19.4C) and keeps it there until she goes to bed, when she pushes it back down to 64F.

That's why Mom bought me a heated cat cup, and leaves lots of nice cozy pillows and blankets all over the house for me to nap on and be cozy. Mom always wears a fleecy sweater in the winter, and walks around in her stocking feet and her LL Bean "wicked good" slippers.

Mom usually turns the heating monster on for good about the middle of October, and it goes off for good usually at the end of April. We can have a freeze (32F) right up until the end of May, so sometimes Mom turns it on at night if it's going to be that cold.

9 comments:

MrsB said...

Hope you look into a set back thermostat. Easy enough for a kitty to install and takes the pain out of getting up to turn the heat up or down. I know.

Angel Prancer Pie said...

We hope it stays above freezing and it's just rain. Stay warm, sweet Millie. xoxoxo

Angel, Kirby and Max said...

Because Dad is so cold all the time, we keep ours at 70, and sometimes he is wrapped up in a blanket and mom has on a tank top!

Summer at sparklecat.com said...

Our heating bills in southern California are outrageous - I can only imagine what they are like in NH in the winter!

Megan said...

Well, Millie, perhaps you could consider moving to my place. We own a small heater, but rarely use it. We do wear sweaters inside and sometimes watch television under a lap quilt, but usually it's warm enough not to have to do any more than that.

We would be happy to install a hammock on the windowsill for you and we have lots and lots and lots of fevvers for you to watch, plus wallabies, an echidna, possums and a bandicoot.

How about emigrating?

Megan
Sydney, Australia

PS. Of course, you can bring your mom with you. She's only small, so we should be able to fit her in too.

Shaggy and Scout said...

Hmmmmm, that Bandicoot of Megan's sounds intriguing.....

Just Ducky said...

Yeah, maybe we all should head down under. Hope Megan has lots of room.

Mum does the same but to control the heaty monster she has a programable temp thingy. It just happens every day. Up or down. That way the house is warm when she gets out of the sleepy spot, goes down when day hunting, warms up by the time she would come home.

sandra said...

Millie I can't imagine how cold it must be in New Hampster. Even your summers are cool!!!(I'm from Down Under).
You could come to my place where it is warm, but I have TWO woofies. One is a very bossy woofie and she would make life difficult for you. You'd be better to go to Megan's if you came here.
I hope the snow goes soon so you can get a warmer, and I hope your Mom stays safe on the roads if they freeze.

Mark's Mews (Marley, Lori, Loki, and Binq) said...

TBT allus kept the thing at 67 and wore longsleeve shirts an pants in Winter, but with Grampa here, it is allus 74. We love it!

TBT hates it. He wears short pants and shirts all winter and has to change into long stuff when he goes outside.