Back in our Up, Down, Good, Bad…but Not Ugly post, we mentioned that we needed to get a new water heater. Our HVAC company quoted us over $1800 for a new one installed. We checked at Lowe’s and the heater itself was under $500. Stu decided to see what Lowe’s would charge to install it and the quote came in at a reasonable price, so he booked it.
Here are some photos of the old one (that did have an insulated jacket around it that hid the worst stuff). It was leaking at the top and the bottom. It was the original heater from 2006, so we weren’t surprised.
Here is the installer with the old heater – they also hauled it away!
Stu was impressed with the installation and I’m happy I don’t need to worry about not having hot water in this bitter cold weather. Note, the black on the floor is our vapor barrier in the crawl space.
As mentioned, we had our HVAC company do their check of the unit they sold us when we bought the house. We have a heat pump so it doesn’t function real in temps below 40. With temps in the single digits to 20s, it’s abyssmal. So we are using a couple of space heaters to supplement. We bought two new ones since ours were old and loud. LOL! This was the first, it has 70 degree oscillation which really helps move the heat around. Super quiet, we decided on a smaller non-oscillation for the kitchen where Stu sits and uses his iPad in the mornings. They both come with remotes and have multiple settings for how you want them to operate as well as temperature settings.
- Dreo Quiet Space Heaters for Indoor Use, 1500W Electric Heater with Remote, PTC Ceramic Heater with Thermostat, 12H Timer, 70° Oscillation, Digital Display
- Dreo Space Heater, Portable Electric Heaters for Indoor Use with Thermostat and Remote, 2024 Upgraded, Digital Display, 12H Timer, 5 Mode, 1500W PTC Ceramic
One other new addition is an air purifier. We both have noticed an increase in dust this year, mostly due to old carpet that isn’t getting replaced anytime soon. It’s too soon to tell how much of a difference this will make, but we’re running from the time Stu gets up until around 6pm when we sit down to watch TV. Before setting it up, we did a deep clean (dusting and vacuum) of the living room and the bedroom (the office and guest room are currently closed off) including vacuuming the furniture. Gives up a clean slate to start.
Here’s a photo of the space heater and air purifier in the living room/foyer area.
The cold – we had a bit more snow. Here’s a couple of pics and a short video.
Last night and tonight are our coldest temps and perfect for a big batch of chili!
Oh, the yoga. We have started doing chair yoga most mornings. I had done it in the past but Stu expressed an interest in joining in so we now do it in the living room. Simple to start, we can feel the effects of the stretching. We’ll do a couple of weeks before moving to the second video. It’s free on YouTube and she’s easy to follow. Yoga by Kierstie Payge Here is the link to the first video.
