Winter is now upon us. The accumulation of snow is minimal but temperatures are well below normal. It has been between -20 °C and -27 °C for a few days now, so my new furnace is getting a work out. When it was installed we weren't 100% the size was correct, but now it looks like that is the case. It is a 2 stage 60,000 BTU unit and it is able to keep the house nice and warm using only the first stage (40,000 BTU). The second stage only kicks in when he programmable thermostat needs to raise the temperature a couple degrees (early in the morning or early in the evening). It might be a bit different if we had big winds with those -27 °C temperatures, but that's ok because the house is not fully insulated yet. My attic hole is only covered with a loose piece of drywall, I still haven't installed my new doors, nor have I finished insulating around the windows and doors (need to build out their jambs first).

Before winter arrived I did complete most of the work I wanted to get done outside. I wrapped up the work on my driveway and stone wall, created a drainage path from the back yard out along the east side of the house, built a deck for the back door and completed several other activities, including using up the rest of that dirt pile left over from the basement and using up the rest of my gravel pile.

Once the outside work came to an end my attention switch to my lower bathroom. There still are a few details to be complete there (a mirror, a light over the vanity, closet and vanity doors, base boards, and a door) but other then that it is now fully functional. Needless to say, it sure is nice to finally have a functional shower! I used that shower for the first time tonight and it was good to see that the HRV was able to quickly remove the humidity from the room.

Topics: 2009, Driveway, East Lean-To, HVAC, Interior Reconstruction, Landscaping, Plumbing