When our husband and I moved to Alsip, Illinois, we had no plan what to expect, then we knew it would be a sizable change from where we started in the southern area of the country, my husband and I had never even seen snow before.
We didn’t own an ice scraper, snow shovel or Wintertide boots, but our former home was equipped with air conditioning and no gas furnace.
We anxious about excess humidity causing mold and mildew growth. Our current home is outfitted with a furnace and no centralized cooling system. We arrived in Alsip at the end of November, and the weather was already frigid, i instantly turned up the thermostat and started the gas furnace. With hot and cold temperatures in the mid forties, our husband and I were always shivering. We were not thrilled when there was a foot of snow on the ground by Halloween and the temperature dropped down to thirty degrees. I kept raising the thermostat setting, trying to keep warm, then the utility bill was an unpleasant surprise. I finally called an Heating and Air Conditioning corporation in Alsip and asked for a recommendation, but he suggested that we install a whole-house humidifier. He said that overly dry air feels colder than correctly moisturized air. The humidifier made a immense difference. I was able to lower the thermostat setting and yet the home feels more comfortable. We are sleeping better at night and having fewer complaints with headaches. I’ve even observed that our hair isn’t as frizzy. I’m not quite sure if our husband and I will ever get accustomed to winters that last for more than half the year. I don’t think I’ll ever appreciate shoveling snow or scraping ice off our windshield, however at least our home now feels moderate and cozy.