Incandescence

Today I’m practically glowing with happiness. It’s snowing and blowing outside. I’m inside. I’m working in the office and (drum roll, please) I have the heat turned off in my studio. This is a big deal.

In the past, I had to keep the furnace running keep my paints, dyes and surface design supplies from freezing. My studio is in an old converted garage. We’ve added insulation in the walls and ceiling. We nail plastic sheeting to the outside to cut the wind in winter. Still, the building is “well ventilated.” It leaks like a sieve. When the furnace is running, I’m sure you can see the heat signature from outer space, and we sure see it in our propane fuel consumption.

Or, we did. Last spring, Bill built a cabinet for my paints and dyes and surface design supplies, and wired in receptacles for two 40-watt incandescent bulbs. Now, when I leave the studio I turn off the furnace and flip on the switch to the cabinet. The light bulbs throw off enough heat in the closed cupboard to keep things from freezing.



When he built the cabinet, Bill included a recycled metal shelf just above the light bulbs as a heat deflector. What can I say: He’s a volunteer firefighter.

Until today, I’ve been getting by with just one of the light bulbs screwed in. But because of the wind, I went out early this morning to add the heat of the second bulb, just in case. I was pleased to see that even with only one bulb, things were fine.

Even with two bulbs burning and the heater plugged in on the composting toilet, we’ve cut down exponentially on the waste of energy in my studio. Tomorrow morning, I’ll get the furnace running so the studio warms up while I’m eating breakfast. But I could probably heat the place just with the glow of gratitude I feel for my clever, resourceful husband.