How on earth do you heat up such a vast place? :o Still a very special style of living in my book... :)
Great shots...
You don't.
There are a few big gas-fired blowers (you can see one in the view towards the back), but since the roof isn't insulated, about 90% of the heat goes right out. If you leave the thermostat on 65F on a cold day, they'll never shut off. None of the private rooms have direct heat, so everyone makes do with a little venting from the common spaces and small electric heaters. Typical average temp is about 60F. Very good for my PC; that's one benefit.
I'm used to it, I guess... and I sleep under about 50 pounds of down and flannel...
But my room has big windows facing east, so in the morning on a clear day it's pretty comfy.
The space could, of course, be properly insulated and a more efficient heating system installed, but I'll be damned if I'm paying for it...
The good news is that Lyell is on a fixed payment plan with the utility company, and she only charges us a small fixed fee every month... tacked on to each share of the rent. I try to be frugal with the utilities, because she's a friend and I know that one fine day she'll be stuck with a huge bill, but some of the people who live here seem to have grown up in a house where servants followed them around turning things off... usually the same people who are behind on their rent.
