So far we have insulted this house very well and soon we will be “plasticing” (putting plastic up) the windows. I also bought special curtains that lock in the heat we use. In the past we ran electric heaters in the bedrooms and bathroom and sometimes the kitchen. This year we are only keeping the electric heater in the basement for the pipes and we are cutting holes in the walls and floors for heating grates we are buying this weekend. We also have many colds of wood in the basement ready for the woodstove. We have been lucky so far since it has been an unusually warm Fall here in Maine.
In our battle I told the girls and my husband Rob of my plan and they all have been wonderful about it. We decided to keep the use of the computers and TV-since well, this is not "Little House on the Prairie" and all. We have a gas stove for cooking so that helps. I went out and bought many candles, lanterns and flashlights and tons of rechargeable batteries and a charger. The rule was to not use any electric lights at all except for the front porch light when someone is due home after dark (that was for safety reasons of course).
The first week of this let us know exactly how many lanterns and flashlights we really needed. I even went to the Family Dollar Store and Wal-Mart for some cheaper models. I had a rough time finding candle tapers for the candelabra on our dining room table though and had to search extra for those. I even started using my kerosene lamps in the kitchen to cook by.
It is amazing how programmed we all are to turn on the light switches of the rooms we enter, even when it is not completely dark! I had to stop myself many times and decided to duct tape the switches so I would not break my own rule! I have learned many things several weeks out in this. One, you cannot beat having dinner by candle light! It is wonderful and even has the kids talking in lower voices due to the delicate ambience. Two, dust does not show up as starkly as under the florescent lights! Yea for me! lol! Also, I have to get a brighter lantern for things such as showers (scary shaving legs under the very low light of flashlights and lanterns! Yikes!) and for drawing after dark. The latter for my younger daughters since they are both artists like I am and I am worried about their eyes. Also, it is amazing how you actually start to plan to do things that require a lot of light based on the setting of the sun. Very interesting in that! We go to bed earlier since we do not have the artificial lighting that surrounds us as we normally did before this experiment.
I still find myself reaching for the switch as I enter rooms and am finding that I am running back to the room where I left my lantern a little bit less as I get used to this now. I am getting much better night vision as sometimes I hate to drag a lantern around with me everywhere. Up here it is tough since there is absolutely no glow from the streetlights as it is very rural Maine! So the nights get pitch dark. I actually find myself looking forward to a full moon with clear skies so I can see in the dark better!
I found that it is very interesting in that it brings us back to our primordial roots in planning on things in the sunlight. Something that has been lost with artificial lighting. I am actually enjoying this experiment and really hope with all of our efforts that it actually brings down the light bill quite significantly! If not, it is fun and it brought to light! (lol! ) A lot more than I had planned! :)
(The picture os Tiffy being spooky from a year ago when she was holding a Séance for her dolls! :) I am not sure who she was trying to contact-but it was spooky and had a candle in the picture :)