The christmas gift that keeps on giving - an airtight ceiling.

After the first week of December, Northwest Ontario was put in a deep-freeze (check out those daily mean temps). The early arrival of such extreme cold made the completion of the ceiling assembly in our house all the more timely. One morning I woke up to find the thermometer outside reading -39C. Taking a stroll to the house, I found the thermometer in the basement reading a balmy -2C. It seemed almost weird given that I was only occasionally firing a small propane construction heater in the basement for heat - the benefits of air-sealing, super-insulation and passive solar heat gain! A nice early Christmas present indeed.

It may not look it through the window but on this clear morning of December 31, it's -39C (-38.2F) and feels like a blistering -51C (-59.8F) in the wind. In this kind of weather, it is nice to be able to keep all the warm air trapped inside the house and then have the ventilation controlled either by HRV or by window if necessary. The advantages are many and include energy savings, durability and controlled clean air supply.

Echoes - The Wilderness Of Manitoba