Whatever you feel like thread.

[jjeff]

lol... if that was directed at me, then you're under some wrong assumptions about my home! The "newer" doors and windows in the room in which I am sitting now were installed in 1775. The older ones in the room directly below me were installed around 1734. I can see the morning sunlight pouring onto the floor from outside thru the big gap under the door next to me now, and we get SNOW coming in around the edges of the door below me. We have 13 exterior doors and 60 windows, most of which were built and installed in 1775. This house is so "not airtight" that I'd doubt there's a blower door motor powerful enough to actually run a leak test on this big old house.

As to why others aim for air tight? I don't think they do, anymore. HRV's are the name of the game now. People learned their lessons with mold and other problems in the 1970's and 80's, I don't think anyone is going for air tight today, but rather controlled air flow with heat recovery.

No not at you but over 20 yrs ago all home builders seemed to talk about was trying to make homes practically air tight. I think there's a combination that can be reached by letting a home breath without cold or hot drafts blowing thru it.

 

[WinterDeere]

I think that for the last 20-30 years, the goal has been to eliminate any unintentional leaks, and direct all ventillation thru heat recovery ventillation (HRV) systems. I suspect the recommended size and number of HRV's probably has increased some over time, but since my house is so leaky that adding an HRV would be like pissing in the ocean, I've never really researched them myself.

 

[Grumpycat]

No not at you but over 20 yrs ago all home builders seemed to talk about was trying to make homes practically air tight. I think there's a combination that can be reached by letting a home breath without cold or hot drafts blowing thru it.

Worse than that: many progressive politicians decided to write airtightness into local building codes. Around here one can build using certain practices such as taping all seams of the outer sheath, gluing the tops and bottoms, around windows, document with pictures. Or, hire a certified test contractor with a fan and manometer.

 

[Shenandoah MF1760]

We keep a cast iron "tea pot" on the wood stove. Add another pot when needed on the really cold days (by our standards)

We used to do the same. But because we had hard water, lime would build up in the teapot. My mother would keep marbles in the teapot that would dance around when boiling the water to break up the scale.

 

[Eagle1]

We just add some vinegar now then to dissolve the lime. Have to treat the coffee maker every few weeks as well.

 

[scootr]

Why does looking up help you sneeze?

 

[WinterDeere]

Why does looking up help you sneeze?

Am I the only one who looked up to test the effect, after reading this?

 

[scootr]

Am I the only one who looked up to test the effect, after reading this?

When feel like a sneeze but you're not sneezing...just look up (particularly towards the sun) you will sneeze.

 

[WinterDeere]

When feel like a sneeze but you're not sneezing...just look up (particularly towards the sun) you will sneeze.

I remember reading about this once, a few years back. It's a sign that your nerves are a bit cross-wired, if you sneeze when looking at a bright light, and thankfully not everyone suffers from this problem!

Just did a quick search, and found this explanation of it:

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

Whenever I look at the sun I have photopsia paroxysmal flatulent dyspepsia reflex response.
Everyone is so amazed I can sneeze, cough, fart and belch simultaneously but even more amazed I can pronounce it.