Appliances, cold weather

Since it was raining pretty heavily last night and since the girls had to be taken to Master’s Club Program Practice, Mama and I did the feeding as best we could with the weather being what it was and rested just a bit before leaving the house to get Yilin and Cheyenne. There was not time for me to get into anything useful before we had to leave and it felt good to sit still for a few minutes. It was still raining (Praise the Lord!) when we got the girls and dropped them off at the church, so we did not linger as we headed to Lowe’s to look at hot water heaters…and maybe dish washers

The hot water heater in the house is near the end of its functionality but I have hesitated replacing it because it sits in a cabinet in the hall bath and has a narrow opening through which the new hot water heater must pass in the replacement process. The opening is 19”. That is fairly small for a hot water heater, so I was almost certain that I would have to pull off the cabinet door and facing to make the switch. As it turns out, Smith makes a 40-gallon hot water heater that is only 18” wide. It is taller, but I have plenty of height to work with. As a backup plan, if I have to remove the door and frame to get the old hot water heater out, I will buy the 50-gallon model – which requires a slightly larger opening. I forgot to make that measurement last night, so I will have Mama make it this morning; before we go at lunchtime to buy the replacement.

Getting the replacement installed is of some urgency. With Brittany and Andrew staying with us over the Christmas holidays and Nate, Cori and the kids also with us we will need an ample supply of hot water to meet the demands of the additional eight people. Since the weather will feel like it really is winter, Nate may be limited in setting up the camper for using the bathroom as they normally would, but then again, they have been in some pretty cold places this year and may have all the requisite freeze proof connections for those conditions. We will know by Saturday afternoon.

I was happy to see that not much water had gotten into the well house from the day-long rain. (We got about an inch and one-half total.) The shop was another story, but I am well aware of the places I need to seal up to keep that from happening. I just have not ordered the trim to cover those areas. That might happen today as I pick up the trim to seal the top edges and corners of the well house. My hope is to have the door on the well house and the insulation up before we get the 20° weather forecast for the Christmas weekend. I would like to install a heater in the well house and be able to walk away from that project – soon, maybe. If not, I can make what I have work for a few more days. I think what might be really pushing me is the need to complete a project. I have yet to do that on even one project.

It would be my Christmas present to myself.