The Squamidian Report – Oct. 7 / 17
 
Issue #802

Including:
The Ontarion

Hi All,

This house we live in is probably somewhere between 32 and 35 years old. It has electric baseboard heating which is quite standard around, here rather than the forced air heating so prevalent back east. I guess the idea behind electric baseboards is that there is no need for duct work etc and they are inexpensive to purchase and easy to install. They are silent but do tend to dry the air out so during heating season its often necessary to use humidifiers to keep the humidity level in the comfort zone. We've had a couple of baseboard heaters quit working over the last couple of years and logically, if the house is somewhere near 35, so are the heaters. To that end we decided to replace the ones in the main living area. We had already replaced the ones in the front hall and laundry room. The thing with replacing the heaters is, its easier than replacing a lighting fixture. Its just a couple of wires and some screws, like a lighting fixture, but its on the floor rather than over head. As well, and as I stated, baseboard heaters are relatively inexpensive, definitely less expensive that a light fixture.

We picked up the four that we needed and installed them. That simple. Shut off the 220 volt power at their circuits (the two for the dining and sun room are on one dedicated circuit and the two in the living room are on another dedicated circuit), then simply pull the screws that hold then to the wall and disconnect the wiring. Again, its just two hots and a ground.

The only issue we had was that I could never understand why of those four units, each one was a different size and wattage. That never made any sense to me. One circuit added up to 3000 watts and the other to 2850 watts. I figures that the best thing would be to purchase all four the same, that being 1500 watts each giving a heating value of 3000 per circuit. So, we headed down to the build-all store and were ready to pick up our heaters when it finally crept through my old brain. You see, baseboard heaters come in different lengths and different wattages AND, there is a relationship between length and wattage. When they were originally installed in our house they were fitted to their location. Meaning, there was a short one (1000 watts) centered under the dining room window, and a long one (2000 watts) centered under the sunroom window giving a total wattage of 3000. It was finally making sense. The two on the other circuit were a 1500 along the divider wall and a 1250 watt along the south wall, that one had been kept a little shorter than its mate in order to not stick out to far into the dining area. Actually there was no reason I couldn't have bumped it up to a 1500 which is a full 5 ft long but then I'd have had to shorten the trim along that wall which I could have done but there was no need. As for total wattage, there is no problem mixing different sizes as long as they are wired in parallel and you don't go over the max limit of the breakers and the wiring itself, which turned out to be well above what we had and now have. So, new heaters in the main section. We almost never use the heaters in the bedrooms so there is no hurry to replace them. I don't know if we will see any efficiency improvements but logically new heaters should be somewhat better in that they will incorporate any improvements in materials and design. Perhaps is will be a warm winter and we won't even need them. Like thats going to happen.

Totally different note:

Many years ago, when we lived on Hidden Valley, we had a neighbor across from us who was one of the most interesting and interested people I've ever known. He was a man of a few years older than my own father and was always active and busy. He could speak with knowledge about just about anything. In fact, he had several degrees in engineering and had been and engineer in the military during WW2. He had designed and built his house and was always coming up with ways to make it more efficient at a time when no one gave any thought to efficiency. At one point he decided to get a PHD in environmental studies and enrolled at the university in Waterloo. At about the same time his wife became very ill and it became necessary for him to sell and move away. We then sold and moved away and of course we lost track of him. The other day there was a write-up / obituary for him in the KW Record. Here is a link to that write-up. In a world where we stupidly make stars out of sport player and musicians, men like Wilf go unnoticed, but its people like him we should be admiring and emulating.

https://www.therecord.com/living-story/7587630-lifetimes-wilf-tschirhart-loved-learning-got-phd-at-88/
doug
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THE ONTARION REPORT

Hello everyone!

I’ve had a busy week with another Doctor’s appointment to try to balance my blood pressure as well as bring my glucose reading down to an acceptable level before the upcoming heart operation. The different medication seems to be working on both problems. I went through the “pre-op” checks today at St Mary’s and it took almost 5 hours. Sounds like I may have to accept a transfusion during the operation as my red blood cell count is low. They told me that I’m anemic so they gave me a shot to bring my cell count up. They told me that usually they give four shots of the booster over a 4-week stretch at one per week at a cost of $700.00 per shot! WOW! However they don’t want to put my surgery off that long … hence the transfusion if necessary. My bypass operation will take place on Friday October 13th at 5:45am. So in a week from now I should be in recovery! They told me that I’ll have to stay in hospital for at least a week and due to my kidney and blood conditions it may take longer before I get home. I don’t mind as long as they get me through all of this successfully! Can’t wait till this is all over and I’m back in shape to enjoy life at a normal pace!

I doubt that you want to hear any more about my medical stuff so I’ll stop here and will keep you posted through Doug on his e-mail. Carole will be in touch with Doug to keep him up to date. I’ll still be around home next week but will not be writing the Ontarion until after things are settled down and I’m home again in a few weeks. I hope you’ll all keep me in your thoughts and don’t get too used to not reading my Ontarion reports each weekend! LOL!

I have to say that I’m really missing performing my usual duties around the house and yard these days. It makes a guy feel useless when he has to watch his wife and son pick up all that he usually keeps busy with, not to mention also doing little things that are second nature to him like clearing off the kitchen table after supper and carrying a basket of clean laundry up the stairs to be put away! I’m so used to just doing whatever I see that needs doing around the house that it’s hard to resist performing my usual helpful tasks! When you get out of breath just climbing the steps to bed at night and doing things like bending over to pick something like a piece of paper off the floor it’s disheartening to say the least. I’m sure the things will be back to normal in a month but I’d rather it be back to normal by tomorrow! LOL! Oh well, I’ve just got to show patience as a patient and behave myself until we get through this! It’s a long road indeed but it’ll all be worth it in the end!

I think I’ve had about all the stress I can handle for one day so if you don’t mind I’ll say so long for today! Thanks for tuning in and I’ll look forward to the next time I can write this column without tiring! I wish you all well and I’ll be in touch as soon as things are over and done with medically!
Bye for now … Greg

PS: Something To Think About>
The only stupid question is the question that is never asked!
Take care everyone! See you next time in the Squid/Ontarion.
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Have a good one..
the doug
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