To All My Canadian Friends...

I would like to preface this with the fact that I've always like Canadians. From being a Boy Scout in Northern Michigan and attending International Jamborees up in Canada, to driving to Windsor with college buddies to legally drink when I was 19. Hell, my Aunt became a Canadian and lived in Vancouver. The point is, I really like the Canadians I've met, and, even though you all are responsible for Justin Bieber and Bryan Adams, I was always able to overlook it thanks to all of the amazing hockey players you've gifted us (Stevie Yzerman being my favorite).

So I have a favor to ask. We live in this old amazing house deep down in Central Texas. It isn't quite as insulated as what you all have up there. It is heated by heat pumps which get pretty useless at 35 degrees (Fahrenheit).

We have an arctic cold front coming down from you all and they are predicting it'll get down to 0 degrees. I don't want to die. Could you all maybe grab your neighbors, step outside as a united whole, face south, count to 10, and inhale as hard has you can? I'm no scientist but my parents say I'm very smart and I think if all of Canada faced south and inhaled at the same time, you could pull back the Arctic Front and save me.

What do you say, eh?

My next step is to ask @1UPPER if my family and I can live in one of his heated horse stalls until the front passes.

 

We’ve discussed it and we’ve decided that instead of inhaling we’re all going to exhale at the same time to give you a little wind with that cold front . Stay inside when it happens !

 

0, that's nothin : "Along with winds of 10 to 20 km/h, extreme wind chill values between -40 and -50 are expected over most of southern Manitoba and Saskatchewan once again today."

It's -35F with the windchill here right now.....I'm not stepping outside for nothing.

OK, just to walk the dog for an hour and maybe grab some Hawkins Cheezies, Smarties, some Timbits, Coffee Crisp or maybe a Slurpee... that's it.

 

Boarder is closed. Air can't come.

 

In that case....

 

Justin Bieber is from Canada?

 

Zero isn’t cold. Gut it out Buttercup. I thought Texans are tough?

Ah well, at least you have good taste in hockey greats.

 

I am a Texan, also named Joel. Think I need to change my name now to disassociate myself with weakness...

 

Canadian here for you -- I'm in sales also, so I'll send as much hot air your way that I can

 

Cher is worse than Bryan Adams...

My condo was heated (and cooled) by a heat pump and I didn't have any issues.

 

Both are fantastic in my opinion.

Also: As a Texan, I’ll translate @TaquitoBandito for you. He’s just asking Canada to suck a little more than it already does.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRjurRdep_Q

 

Stop picking on Justin. He may have it all but he's got no one to call.

 

I suggest you change your name to "Asshole."

Seriously, you are probably one of those dudes that wears shorts all year around. I'm from Northern Michigan and I've experienced colder temperatures but it's a different, humid cold down here that you have to wash off. I've been here for over 20 years and I still can't get used to your cold. Fortunately it's only a week or two out of the year.

Greatest hockey player ever. I used to get up extra early for my morning show in Germany (like 4am) so I could sit in the studio and tap into a sports feed to listen to the Wings win the Stanley Cup in 98.

This house is over 100 years old and is pier & beam. I love it but when it's cold, it's freaking cold. The air comes up through the floor. Still love it but I'm not sure about 10 and under. I have all the pipes covered (including the ones I could get to under the house) but it's gonna be a long 3 days.

 

Next week on Tundras.com...More "My Tundra won't start" questions, and fewer "Oil Change" questions.

 

Stevie Y definitely deserves his place among the all time greats! Even tho he single handedly crushed my Leafs many times.

Whether that ‘place’ is #1 or not is up for debate. Kinda like what temp is ‘cold’ I suppose...

 

-40 that’s cold .

 

I,v lived in Minnesota my whole life and have come to the conclusion that anything under 60f is to cold.

 

We should be friends.

 

If I ever make it to Texas, I,ll stop by for a Pork Butt samage.

 

Sounds like a plan!

 

Hope you and your family stay warm inside during this cold front. Unfortunately the horse stalls aren’t heated. Horses will have on their horse blankets though.

 

Do they like to cuddle?

 

Yup, I too am a Minnesota transplant, living here in the Lone Star state... Thank God above that my parents moved us here! Greatest place on Earth IMHO! But yes, it's about to get unusually damned cold in a day or two. My children are praying for snow as they have no seen it in almost 5 years.

 

Plowing your driveway in Alberta...Canadian-syle. (With fire...and a D6!):

DO NOT TRY THIS ON YOUR TUNDRA!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3tXAuFxGQk

 

Haha! No, I wish man! I'm actually freezing and ready for spring. I worked in the oilfield with a bunch of Canadians up north in the cold, -7 f once, dont miss it whatsoever.

 

Our weather lady last night predicted we could get 7 inches of snow on Monday. She seems to be wrong a lot, but damn! I wish I had my cross-country skis...

 

I woke up this morning and found out the Nest decided to go into "Away" mode at some point last night. It was 62 down here and the Heat Pump is just cranking to get it up to a balmy 70. It's in Aux Mode now and I can practically hear my electricity meter making Monopoly noises. It's like heating the house with a toaster. It's gonna be a long week.

I was at Michigan State in 1994 when they cancelled classes for only the 4th time in history because of the cold. It was -18 or -51 with the wind chill. That was a butt-sucker.

 

When my old conventional AC went south few years back, I looked at replacing it with a heat pump.

I concluded heat pumps make little economic sense (imo), even in Central Texas, when resistance elements are being used to supplement the heat. For a rural location, I decided the only configuration that made any economic sense with a heat pump was supplementing the heat using a propane furnace as "dual fuel". Coordinating the two units then gets a little complicated. Replaced my AC with a high SEER conventional. I still have the propane furnace, but a Geospring hybrid water heater makes a noticeable difference in the electric bill.

 

We've got a gas on demand water heater - at some point in it's 100+ years, the house had gas but somebody took it out. The heat pump is great until it gets into the 30's. It heated the house up from 62 to 70 in less than an hour but my electric bill will show it. I turned off the "Away" mode on my Nest so it doesn't let it get that cold again.

But yeah, I'd be happier with a hybrid type hookup. That and better insulation.