Surviving the late fall cold: The annual “delaying the thermostat” game

Waking up this morning, I wasn’t sure if we had lost power or not. The house was cold, almost frightfully so. There was no noise coming from our hot water heater, and I couldn’t hear the water rushing through the pipes. As I stepped onto the oak floor, my feet were still ice cold—the radiant pipes were filled with cold water and there was nothing but darkness. I was worried for just a moment and then remembered—we are officially playing the heat game at my house.  

I love this game. In order to avoid turning on the heat and starting to pay that wintertime heating bill, many Vermonters refuse to turn on their heat until absolutely necessary. We will use every tactic available to us to avoid touching that thermostat, but the most important key to this is the wood stove (whether heated by wood or propane). Many of us have one in the main room or a wood fired one in the basement that can heat the whole house in an emergency.  

It also requires in-depth knowledge of how your house works and the location of your water pipes. For example, if your home was built poorly with pipes on an exterior wall, this is not a game that you should be playing. Pipes that close to the outdoors are extremely susceptible to freezing and you cannot be caught with your heat off. In fact, if you have pipes in an exterior wall, I recommend contacting your plumber and scheduling them to relocate.  You are playing with fire. Or ice, as may be the case here.

Is your basement deep enough into the ground? One of the many reasons I purchased my home is that the basement was dug well below the frost line. This way, the warmth of the earth keeps my concrete basement from freezing or cracking. Literally. A few winters ago, we lost power for a few days and the basement never got below 47 degrees. It was awesome. Many states have building codes requiring this, but Vermont is not as strict. It’s your home, you bought it, you live with it. This is why it is very important to perform your due diligence and have a building inspection when purchasing your home —you need to know if the basement depth and pipe locations will cause you any problems further down the road.

It’s important to realize that this game should only be played by those of us who are actually in residence at the time of the cold weather. If you are not here all the time, remember to set your heat on at least 50 to 55 degrees to prevent your pipes from freezing. The cost of losing this game can be extremely expensive as water expands when it freezes, causing pipes to swell, crack, or burst. Then, when the water warms back up, it leaks out and damages everything in its path, and if you aren’t up for a few days (or weeks, since ski season really hasn’t kicked off yet), you could have a massive amount of water damage. Sheetrock will moisten and rot, and the evil monster of mold will rear its evil head.   

But a game isn’t fun if it isn’t the least bit dangerous, right? That being said, I am grateful for having to type this column this morning, as the constant movement of my fingers is keeping them from stiffening up. It’s 55.9 degrees in my house, I am wearing a heavy sweater, have a blanket wrapped around my legs and am looking forward to going into the office so that I can warm up. But it’s also helping my body transition into winter—I have this weird belief that this is helping my hands and feet adjust to winter so that they won’t be so cold while out skiing and skinning. The thickening of my blood is just as important as dry-land training.    

This is also the time to get your home prepped for winter—which goes beyond making sure that your pipes are insulated. You should be cleaning out any radiators so that when you do turn the heat on, it doesn’t start a fire. If you haven’t already, have someone come in and check your furnace to have it cleaned and make sure that it will last the winter. Check to make sure any and all tree branches won’t come flying off to skewer your roof. Reverse your ceiling fans to push the hot air back down into the house. Fill in any cracks where you can feel a breeze – that will be cold air coming in and warm air leaving!  

Finally (and really the most important thing), make sure all your gear is ready for ski & snowboard season!  And don’t forget to sign your season pass waiver!! We try not to turn the heat on until Killington opens—let’s see how long we make it!

Merisa is a long-time Killington resident, town lister, and member of the development review board. She is a global real estate advisor & Coach PomPom. Reach out to her at Merisa.Sherman@SothebysRealty.com