Preparing For Winter

Back in my bachelor days, I rented a house in a small Illinois town that had little insulation. There was a gas heater in the living room, so I kept that around 60 F. but didn't heat the remainder of the house. I had to relent and get a heater for the bathroom once my fiancée started coming to visit since she had trouble dealing with a 50 F. bathroom. The pipes in the kitchen used to freeze on cold days, but I just waited for them to thaw before I ran water or washed clothes, as the washer and dryer were in the kitchen area. I was going to get a dishwasher, but the woman who was to become my wife insisted laundry was more important. I never minded the laundromat, as a 6-pack, a boom box and a good book always made the time go fast there.

 

You saw that funny I posted a couple months ago, The wife threw the husband a twenty dollar bill and told him to go out and buy a winter coat for the dog and he could have what's left of the 20 for a beer. The photo is a 12 can carton box of Heineken over the dog complete with head cutout and legs, the dog looked puzzled but I'm sure his wife wasn't amused.

 

Many years ago when i first moved to Atlanta, I rented a basement apartment that had no heat. The upstairs portion had gas heaters for the winter cold but to tap in to the gas line would have been a major project involving inspectors and paying a plumber to hook it up properly.

So, for a while I relied on a single electric heater but it wasn’t very efficient.
However, the laundry room was downstairs and walled off from my apartment and I noticed how nice and warm the laundry room was especially when someone used the dryer which gave me an idea.

I made an 4-5” opening through the wall that joined the laundry room to my apartment and disconnected the dryer hose from the exit side. I then pulled the hose into my apartment, wrapped some cloth mesh around the opening and held it in place with a rubber band.
The upstairs portion was rented out by 3 other people hence the washer and dryer were nearly always going during the evening which when the dryer was operating, I had warm air plumping into my apartment that kept it relatively warm.

Years later, someone had a bright idea to make an indoor, filtered vent and I bought one 3 years ago and now hook it up in the winter time to heat up the kitchen area where the washer and dryer sit.
when first drying, there’s a lot of moisture thrown into the air along with the heat but that said, since we’re going to run the dryer anyway we might as well capitalize on it instead of all the heat being thrown under the house for a couple of rats and such.

Note: I can’t find the actual one I bought but the picture is the same principle.

 

I think I had one years ago as well. Note: only use them with electric dryers. Gas exhaust can be hazardous.

 

I was checking to see if a Winter Prep thread exists before starting a new one, and when reading this I see several old familiar names. Missing Frank Sanoica, @Bruce Andrew, @Samual Yoder, @Hoot Crawford, @Teresa Levitt and @Thomas Stillhere. If any of you are still reading, it would be nice to hear from you. (I know that Frank is no longer with us but seeing his words pop up in old threads makes me smile.)

Now back to winter prep. For the past 3 winters we have had "cold snaps" that are unusual for Houston and always wreak havoc on the landscaping. I'm hatching a plan to help save my shrubs this year and thinking of purchasing strings of clear C-9 incandescent Christmas lights to accomplish this. Anyone think this is a bad idea? I have looked at the "frost blanket" stuff to cover the shrubs but reviews are all over the place.

I'm thinking of using the C-9 lights and old bedsheets for extended freezes. Anyone got a better idea?

 

Not sure but it will make the nights prettier. I bought Christmas lights several years ago to put outside of porch, so we wouldn't be sitting under porch lights for the couple cars a month to see us once front is cleared. The are all white. I still have shades sails for front yard we never put up, maybe some color in yard under flags.

 

Lights and old sheets work well if there is little or no precip accompanying the cold. If you get rain, snow, freezing rain, etc., the sheets get wet and heavy and may break your shrubs or other plants. One of the advantages--and the only real advantage that some of the row covers have is that they let liquid rain through. They do nothing for snow or precip that has frozen on them. I have used all kinds of defenses. When I lived in south Georgia, I used sprinklers on the hardier stuff and things never got colder than 32 F., but again you have the weight issue as the water will freeze and coat the plants if it gets too cold. Mostly now we use either wire or pipe supports to hold up the covers. Most of the time that works okay. Candles or kerosene lanterns can also be put under the covers to add warmth if you don't choose to use the lights. Of course, don't use LED lights as they don't emit enough heat to do anything.

 

@Beth Gallagher , I fixed it Beth, link was suppose to be sails, not Trump

 

Don those kerosene lamps do great under plastic, keeps plants nice and warm.
Remember this broccoli I grew in raised bed couple years ago? We always have a couple of freezes in winter.

 

I have beds outside the reach of most of my electricity, so the lanterns are a solution there. That broccoli looks great @Marie Mallery !

 

Thanks Don, it was 10 years ago but it worked great.I don't know why I said a couple years.