…And Bells on Her Toes

When I woke up this morning, it was cold.  I didn’t have any windows open like I have had over the past few weeks.  Fall is here, definitely.

We’re getting new windows in 7-9 weeks and I can’t wait.  Our house was built in the early 90’s and it barely has builder-grade windows.  The windows in the front were “upgraded” to the double-paned kind that have the Argon gas between the layers.  An upgrade, but still cheap.  The windows in the back of the house are the single (!!) paned variety that keep nothing out in the Winter and nothing in during the Summer (i.e., heat and air conditioning).

For the past six years that we’ve lived here, we’ve had to put plastic over the windows in the Winter just to keep it reasonably warm in here.  We never got a kit for the back patio door though and when you sat on our couch in the winter you could feel the cold air going down your neck.  There’s a terrible draft coming from the kitchen window too, a pane of glass broke there during the previous owner’s reign and it’s the worst one in the house.

We’re getting R3 windows.  They will have three coatings of UV protection on them that block something like 95% of the UV rays from entering the house.  A benefit for sure, with the rapidly depleting Ozone layer.  The downfall is that plants will die – they need the UV rays to live.  No biggie.  I only have one plant anyway and it’s always on the brink of death because I forget to water it.

We’re getting a new patio door too.  It should be easier for the kids to use when they go outside, the current version requires a great set of muscles.

When Caity was first born, we had her sleep in a bassinette for naps instead of her crib.  When Alex was on the open shift and he’d have to get up at 3 in the morning, we’d sleep downstairs, so if she got up for a feeding, we wouldn’t wake him.  Cait was born in February so it was pretty cold at night.  We’d start off by sleeping in the family room (where the patio door is) which has a big couch that I’ve slept many a night on.  It was too cold and drafty for us so we slept in the living room instead.  Not the most comfortable, but slightly warmer at least.

It will be so nice lying in bed this winter without having to wrap a scarf around my neck because the draft is so bad.

Even the upgraded windows leak.  The one window in the hallway which currently doesn’t open will make a candle flicker if put beside it.  I’m pretty sure they’re not supposed to do that.  We’re replacing it with a casement window that does open.  The way our house is situated we rarely get a good breeze from the front or back side of the house (where all the windows are), all the breezes come from the sides, where we only have a couple of small windows that open.  I look forward to having another access to breezes when wanted.  Hopefully it’ll cut down on the air conditioning costs.

The back of the house gets exceedingly hot in the summer, mid afternoon we can’t go into the backyard because it’s too hot.  The back of the house heats up and the air conditioning is always running, trying in vain to keep up.  The sales rep said that should improve with the new windows.

Our overall heating and cooling costs should go down, which will be great on the pocketbook.  It’s not unusual for us to spend $167 on each hydro bill, plus about the same on the gas bill.  That’s a lot on a 1,500 sq foot house. 

The Bay window in the front of the house will probably be the biggest change.  Underneath the big window is wood, not aluminum.  Over the years it’s rotted inside and we’ve had many a monsoon in our living room.  The previous owners “fixed” it by putting some sort of bonding agent on it but still river ran.  We added some caulking and it’s stopped the water from penetrating into the house.  Once the new window goes in, they’ll cap it off in aluminum siding so it won’t rot away again.  We’re adding a casement window on the right side too so that we’ll have two openings – hopefully one of them will catch a breeze.

So between the energy savings and the home improvement tax credit, we might have a decent tax return next year.  I’m sure it will come in helpful especially since we expect Alex’s pay to go down even further if he is indeed able to have a transplant over the winter.

Next we’ll have to paint the garage door.  I’m thinking of a forest green shade.  Anything but that awful blue-grey that’s on it now – doesn’t quite go with red brick.  What were the previous owners thinking?  I’ll be glad when the colour’s gone.