Homemaking

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Thermostat Tweaking

I’m having fun training my new thermostat!

According to the manual, how it works is that you set a time at which you want to have reached a certain temperature and the thermostat will estimate how long it will take to reach that temperature. For example, if you want to get up at 8AM to a rig that is at 60F, then the thermostat might start as early as 6AM.

For some reason, it takes me weeks to get used to the sound of the furnace cycling on and off at night and until then it wakes me up every time. So while we’re having these fairly mild nights where the electric heaters are enough to keep the temperature at 55F or higher keeping the furnace from cycling on unless absolutely necessary is a priority.

This morning, I had the thermostat set to reach 70F by 8AM. At about 5:45, it kicked on. At about 6:00, I was boiling hot and badly needing to get a few more hours of sleep (I’ve been swamped with work and burning the midnight oil). So I got up to lower the temperature threshold and saw that it was about 63 in the rig. I reset the threshold for 60 and went back to bed.

When I got up around 9:00, it was 60F in the rig and perfectly cozy for about a half hour and then my body temperature dropped. So I reset the daytime threshold for 65 and that ended up being too much. I finally settled on 63.

What’s interesting in all of this is that I need the temperature a lot lower than I thought I did and that I don’t have to work in increments of 5 or 10 degrees anymore. I think this new thermostat will make my furnace run more efficiently and it will be interesting to see if I notice a difference in my propane consumption.

Right now, the propane consumption has been negligible. I hadn’t had time to go to town to refill and was being super conservative with my bottles, thinking I was on dregs, but I had a full 10lbs left between the two of them when I finally got to town yesterday and I’ve been running on these so long I can barely remember the time before that that they were filled.

As for power, Laura has yet to analyze her power bills, but I’ve been using a Kill-o-Watt meter to track power usage with my electric heaters and it’s coming out to about $1 a day each so far, and that’s with them running 24/7 on low. So I’m not too worried!

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Upgrading From an Analog Duo-Therm Thermostat to a Programmable Digital Honeywell Thermostat

Today, I finally upgraded from an analog Duo-Therm thermostat to a digital programmable Honeywell thermostat.

This mod has been a LONG time coming! I just couldn’t justify the $50 expenditure when I wasn’t in cold climates for any length of time. But just the last few months here, when it hasn’t even been really cold, I could see that the expense would be worthwhile. One of my pet peeves is to get up into a cold room. Getting up is hard enough as it is, but the added work of shivering means I prefer to stay curled up under my duvet. So I’ve been getting a late start lately.

There have been some articles about this upgrade, but none that were recent and took into account newer digital thermostat models. So I did some research about what to look for in a thermostat and then, gasp, I made the choice on my own. I needed something that would use batteries for power, be as close in options to my existing thermostat, and most importantly, would automatically lower the temperature threshold before bed and increase it in the morning. I settled on the Honeywell Pro 4000 TH4110D1007. It was $65 locally and $40 on Amazon. I ordered my winter boots at the same time, paying all of $13 for shipping and $50 out of pocket, saving about $75 total.

I was going to town this afternoon, so I promptly opened up the box when it arrived this morning to get the size of batteries I would need to operate the thermostat. To my surprise, a pair of AA Duracell batteries were included in the box. Nice touch, Honeywell!

At first glance, the wiring on the Duo-Therm and Honeywell seemed completely different. There were some corresponding letters, but both had letters the other one didn’t. I Googled for a Duo-Therm wiring diagram and couldn’t find anything that was like mine. Apparently, most have multi-coloured wiring, but mine just had red, white, and black, not very helpful.

Having, among other things, upgraded my RV converter, a little thing like a thermostat just wasn’t daunting. So I just read and reread the Honeywell manual until I figured out which wiring diagram corresponded to mine (1H/1C System), and that eliminated all the letters in their diagram that didn’t correspond to the Duo-Therm wiring scheme. As for the Duo-Therm, the one non-corresponding letter had a white wire, which I figured was power and therefore not needed.

I turned off all power to the rig before starting. Then, I disconnected and reconnected one wire at a time, a job that would have been much easier with an extra set of hands and a proper light, but which still only took about five minutes. I did it in this order, basically going counter clockwise around the Duo-Therm: RH to R, RC to RC (don’t lose the little jumper thing!), G to G, W to W, and Y to Y. I taped off the white H wire on the Duo-Therm that I assumed was power.

All that done, I was able to mount the base to the wall and snap on the controller. I turned power back on to the rig, set the thermostat to heat, and the furnace fired right up. Good start! The AC didn’t start, but I think that’s because it was 60F in the rig at the time so there was no point in troubleshooting something that might not need to be troubleshooted.

Within a couple of minutes, I noticed a problem. The fan (on the air conditioner) ran at the same time as the furnace. This was odd as the fan control had the same options (on or auto). I always leave it to on and it never runs, but I couldn’t get it to shut off. It blows cold air, so that was unacceptable! So I pried off the cover and disconnected the G wire that runs the fan. Another thing to troubleshoot at a later date. 🙂

Then, it was time to set the temperature control schedule! This was super easy and intuitive. I started by setting the current time and day and then entered the time and temperature options as prompted. How this thermostat works is on two schedules, Monday to Friday and Saturday and Sunday, where you set a wake up, daytime, evening, and nighttime temperature thresholds.

For both schedules, I said I wanted the furnace to be set at 55 at night, 70 for an hour in the morning, 65 during the day, and 70 in the evening after 6PM. I don’t even know if there is a Celsius option, but the Duo-Therm Celsius increments were so large that I got used to using the Fahrenheit scale.

The furnace has now been running for a bit and I’ve only gained a few degrees even though it is comfortable in here. As expected, the digital model is much more sensitive than was the analog. So I may discover that I can actually keep it at lower temperatures than I did the analog. It’ll take some time to work out the kinks. The big test will be tomorrow morning.

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Lots of Shoveling Ahead

I wanted gravel delivered to Haven before spring so that I can move back there in early May without having to worry about sinking into the muddy ground. It’s been so long since I placed the order that I don’t remember how much I asked for and I’m fairly certain it won’t be enough, but tah-dah:

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It’s not gravel the way that most of you will envision gravel RV pads, rather sand mixed with large stones. I’m a little irked that the guy had me move the boardwalk and stake out where I wanted the pile dropped so that he could do so at his leisure, then put the pile where he wanted, spreading it out away from the intended target. It is going to be a lot of work to get that gravel moved where I want it!

The plan is to create a 45’x20′ gravel pad that is 6″ thick. I know I have enough to cover the surface area, but am certain there isn’t enough to get the 6″ thickness. So I may end up having to order more gravel at some point.

Gravel is ordered directly from the RM of Willow Bunch and is $7 per cubic yard, plus a delivery charge on top of that. C&C had gravel delivered in the spring and still haven’t been billed for it, so I’m hoping I won’t get my bill for a bit…

Parking the RV on this gravel pad is going to mean very little sunshine for the solar panels, even if I have some trees trimmed back. So I am going to get hold of the electrical folks in Assiniboia and beat a quote out of them for getting hooked up to the grid and try to get that done by the middle of June at the latest. I also need to get a quote to get the trees in the middle of the yard removed and arrange to have my graineries moved, too. Once the trees are gone and the graineries in place, I’ll be able to start planning the rest of the yard, including a clothesline.

It’s rather exciting to have started to develop the property. I feel like I broke ground today.

I have tons of transcription to do in the next few days, but the plan is to quit by the middle of the afternoon and then go spend the last few hours of daylight moving gravel around. I’ve been bemoaning the lack of exercise opportunities the last few weeks, so I’m rather glad to have the best kind presented to me, exercise in the form of a rewarding project accomplished outdoors!

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Taut As a Drum

Here’s a dual purpose post, to show off one of my winterizing steps and the view out of my rear window!

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Can you see what I’ve done to the window? No? Me neither, but it is so far making a surprising difference to my comfort level. I applied some shrink-to-fit plastic window insulation over it (this is not the kit I used, but an well-rated comparable product).

I’ve had this kit in my basement since Campbell River, so four years! I never installed it because after I got it home and read the instructions, I realised such a product was incompatible with feline roommates.

A few RVers had told me that they install the kits on the exterior of their windows, but the instructions say to install them on the exterior part of the interior frame. This means that the plastic is not flush against the window, creating an air gap. So not only do the kits cut drafts, they also add genuine R value thanks to the air gap. I don’t know how much, but I felt a veritable difference last night once the plastic was up.

Installation wasn’t as fussy as I expected it to be. You start by applying the double-sided tape all around the frame, using the wax strip over it to press the tape down well before removing the wax strip.

The instructions say to cut the plastic to size, but I didn’t have room to spread it out for measuring and cutting. So I just grabbed one corner and installed that neatly vertically and horizontally, pulling as tight as I could, until the entire window was covered, then I cut away the excess at the side and bottom (and enough to do a couple more windows).

Once the plastic was on, I was a little dismayed as I hadn’t gotten it as taut as I thought I did and there were lots of wrinkles. The idea of looking through that all winter was depressing. But I wasn’t done, there was still one more step to do: shrinking the film with a hair dryer.

I started with the dryer on low and that did nothing. I increased the heat to high and followed the instructions to start at the edges and work my way in. It took a few minutes but I started to hear the plastic stretch as it shrank! It took at least 10 minutes, but steady passes with the hair dryer over the wrinkles turned the flabby plastic into a taut clear skin. I was very impressed.

Next, I did the window behind my desk. This one didn’t do as neat of a job since it’s not a flat plane of glass, but the corner that didn’t smooth out is behind my monitor, so it’s not like I can see it. This exercise was the most valuable since I’ve had to keep the window open 1/4″ to let in the cable for my booster. I had just sealed the gap with tape, but I knew it wouldn’t be enough. I put double-sided tape around the area where the wire comes in and then plastic. I got an air-tight seal, but the plastic isn’t smooth.

I’ve got enough plastic to do the other window in here. I will get another kit to do my living room windows and the one in my toilet room.

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Little (Pink) Riding Hood

I thought it was time for an update. I was waiting to finish winterizing before I did that, but that’s been slow progress so you can look forward to a few posts in the next couple of weeks. I’m especially eager to share a mod that I have thought about doing for years. The part is en route and once it’s successfully installed it’ll definitely be something to blog about.

I haven’t settled into a routine yet here in Laura’s yard. I’ve picked up a new client that is keeping me very busy, albeit while paying me peanuts, while my best paying client will likely be quiet until the spring, and my favourite client is in the middle of a worrisome quiet patch. Once I get into a groove with the new client, it’ll be time to start officially working on the update for Full-Time RVing in Canada.

The weather has cycled between comfortable and BRR and is currently in a BRR period. I’m trying not to heat or wear too much so as to acclimatize. I bought a second oil-filled radiator and am running both on low. It’s not quite enough when we’re below zero during the day, so I run the furnace periodically. One of my weekend projects will be to run an extension cord from another circuit into the living room so that I can run each heater on max on its own breaker.

Now that I don’t have cats 🙁 I can have carpet on the floor, so I bought some mats for the places where I’m most likely to rest my feet for any length of time, including the kitchen sink, dressing room, and under my transcription pedal in the office. They are making a big difference!

The biggest adjustment is being back to hauling water and I’m coming up with more efficient ways of managing without running water. I have a water container with a tap set up on Neelix’s old perch by the front door, leaving my kitchen counter free. That’s almost as good as having running cold water. Next step is to find a pump-style coffee carafe into which I could pour hot water in the morning to have hot water on the ready all day for dishes. I’m still hauling waste to the lagoon and am not sure how well that will work once we get to freezing cold weather. I’m hoping that skirting and a light bulb will keep the tanks liquid.

Until today, I was getting water from the city tap that supplied me all summer. I don’t know if the tap was frozen or shut off, but there was no water today. So I headed over to Laura’s with my container after dinner. I don’t have access to the house yet, so I’ve been going over two or three times a week for a shower, usually unannounced, and I’ve never had the feeling I was bothering her. Last Wednesday, I even came in on her and a friend playing cards and I was dealt in before I even had time to decide if I had time to play or not on a Wednesday. They are still beating me, but I’m getting better!

We gabbed this evening, I took my shower, and then it was time to haul the very huge and heavy jug of water home.

Going to Laura’s always makes me think of Little Red Riding Hood going through the woods to her grand-mother’s house. Even with my porch light on, her yard is very long, very dark, and very wooded. So as I was heading out the door, Laura handed me a lantern and instructions for where I can find her little wagon.

Off I traipsed through the yard, found the wagon, brought it back to the rear porch, trundled the water as close to the rig as possible, struggled to bring it inside (remember, the front door doesn’t fully open), and then figured out how to reverse a wagon into its parking spot. This is what passes for excitement these days.

Let’s see, is there any other big news? Those of you on Facebook know that I have officially declared the Novatel Mifi a piece of garbage as a second one crapped out on me, so I’ve gone through two in four months. Ridiculous! Bell has been really good about replacing them quickly, but I’m going to talk to them about trading in for a Turbo stick instead. I borrowed Caroline’s stick over the weekend while I was waiting on the new Mifi (ordered on Friday, arrived Monday, thank you Bell!) and it was way faster than the Mifi! Heck, I can even get a bar on my cell phone over here with the booster!

Oh, how could I forget the discovery the last day it rained that I scratched my roof coming in here, ripped off some caulking, and now have a roof leak? I discovered this when I found my bed was soaking wet. Thankfully, it was just a just a drip, not a torrent, so I was able to use towels to soak up the moisture overnight. I know where the water is coming in from, so I did the sensible thing and ordered some more 6″ Eternabond as, of course, I was out. I’ll go up there on a sunny day with a hair dryer to simulate warm conditions and just seal the entire seam so I never have to think about it again.

So that’s the scoop with me. It’s a quiet life, but I’m not complaining. 🙂