Toasty-warm apartment

This really should be filed under "even more randomness." You've been warned.

As I've said before, my apartment is lovely and I'm very comfortable here. One little drawback is the very drafty back door, which opens to the garage.*

I recently woke up one morning to a 58-degree apartment, and I knew the back door was the problem, so I promptly went to Target, the great problem-solving center of our time.

I got a full-size sheet and a spring-tension curtain rod, and voila: heat-retaining curtain. (My parents have been doing this at their house for as long as I can remember, so I can't take credit for the brilliance. But that doesn't make me less brilliant in general, of course.)

Within a few hours, it was back up to 72 degrees. Now it is usually 70-72 in most of the apartment and 52-58 in the back hallway. It may not be the most attractive thing you'll ever see, but that curtain works wonders!





Check out the billowing from the draft and the difference in pressure or whatever (geeky theories here and here):





* Soon this won't be as much of a problem. My landlord is insulating the garage even as I write this. And I think he's even planning to heat it, but I'm a little unclear on that part. Either way, it's very exciting!