I sure had a lot to learn about winter.
When my wife proposed the move to the north, she warned me about the winter. She is actually from up here and knew what she was getting into. Not me, I was born, raised and until recently lived all of my life in the south. I didn’t even really know what an HVAC furnace heating method even was. That is how ignorant I was when I moved up here. But the promotion that my wife took was really important to her and we had to make a five year commitment. I figured I could handle any sort of winter for five years. After my first one, I’m not quite as confident. However, I sure learned a lot about what not to do when it comes to staying warm during a tough winter season. And it’s a long season that really has to be prepared for. We bought a house that was older but had a new HVAC unit. I figured I’d just turn up the heat to deal with the cold. But having a tight house makes that a viable proposition. I did not have one of those. A neighbor helped me toward the end of winter to change that. We used an instant read temperature gun to find all the spots that were leaking out HVAC treated air. There were a lot. But I was able to get them all sealed or reinsulated within a few weeks. I couldn’t believe what a difference it made. So maybe next year, I’ll actually be a bit more prepared for winter and that will help me get through it much more comfortably.