Baby It's Cold Inside

Some people know with a definite conviction whether they are hot or cold natured.  I have been called- by more than one person- “seasonally challenged” in that I am solidly the opposite of simply hot or cold natured. Rather, I have been guilty of donning corduroys and sweaters in August and running shorts in January. This behavior would be normal if I lived below the equator, but alas, I live in the southeast United States, making this dress code bizarre. I figure I’m warm one day and cool the next so what does it matter what the calendar says? Maybe I just like to keep people on their toes.

That being said, I have been solidly freezing for the past two months. I dread showering because it means I will have to eventually get out of the scalding hot oasis and into a house that makes me shiver. I’ve been sleeping in sweats and even as I’m writing this, I’m wearing a down jacket and slippers…and of course my nose is running its own marathon.

I hear a lot these days about energy efficiency, and I bet you do, too. As much as we’ve made Tara pretty, it’s time to make her efficient (and save us some money!).

First on the list, insulation. It seems bizarre to insulate AFTER we’ve already renovated so much on the inside but it can be done, so don’t fret if you aren’t in the mood to rip out all your drywall. Rhett, being the Almighty king of handymen everywhere, decided to take a Saturday to blow insulation into our attic. Remember, heat rises, so insulating the area between your attic and main floor (if you have a ranch like Tara) is a good place to start.

Our attic is unfinished so you can actually see a lot of the insulation without even removing any of the attic flooring…because it’s not there. That's Rhett on the left and my father-in-law on the right. We paid him for his time with homemade molasses cookies.

According to Rhett, new homes have about 12 inches of insualtion in them. Don't worry, though, because somewhere around 8 inches isn't a bad place to be. The things was, Tara had a measly 4 in some places, and less in others.

What you’re seeing in the top picture is some of our less-than-satisfactory insulation, and what you’re seeing in the bottom picture is the back part of the attic, with insulation Rhett blew, and the difference between that section and the section closest to the floor, which hadn’t been blown yet.

But how do you blow insulation? Apparently it’s not that hard (I say that like I had a lot to do with this little venture…I was inside bundled up!). Home Depot will rent you an insulation blower for about a hundred dollars that looks like this:

You’re then in charge of feeding the bags of insulation (we used loose insulation, which is basically newspaper, though you have several options) into the machine, which them blows them up through a hose. It’s fairly fool-proof, though it is time consuming. And don’t forget to get a mask for the one who’s in charge of feeding the bags into the machine and the one in charge of manning the hose.

This is just step 1 in our making Tara more efficient, so stay tuned. For now, I'm just hoping my toes will begin to thaw, or I may be cold natured from now on.