Chilly Autumn days
Heating Up Those Chilly Autumn Days
Option #1. A fire table.
Enjoy autumn and warmer winter days and evenings with a gas fire table. Available as table only or with seating options, what’s not to like? Notice that I said gas fire table and not wood. Not that I have anything against wood fires, but with the region’s ultra dry drought condition, I don’t recommend any wood fire. Sparks, embers, and a little wind are a bad combination with virtually no rainfall for weeks on end. Plus, many parts of the tri-state have an open burn ban in effect. In most cases, gas fire tables are not included in the ban, but you should check local regulations. Gas tables create no sparks or wind-borne embers. Perhaps most importantly, when you are finished enjoying the evening warmth, you simply extinguish the flame with the flip of a switch. Presto—no more fire. So go to bed and sleep peacefully.
Option #2. A hot tub.
For many people, the best time to enjoy a hot tub is autumn. It’s a great time to just sit, relax, and enjoy nature’s changing colors. Throw in hot-water therapy and muscle massage and you’ve the best of both worlds. My second most favorite time to use a hot tub? It’s a toss-up. Spring mirrors autumn’s weather, albeit a little wetter. But who cares? Hey, you’re sitting in water after all. For me, I like experiencing winter from my favorite hot tub seat. I love watching the snow fall while I am warm, relaxed, and comfortable. So, I guess I’ll place winter just behind autumn as my favorite time in the tub.
Option #3. Keep that pool open with a heater.
Recently, my dental hygienist told me she absolutely loves her swimming pool. She has a gas heater on her pool and opens it in March and keeps it open until early Christmas! Seriously! She also admitted that her natural gas bill gets a little high, but she doesn’t mind it because she loves to swim. I made one suggestion for when her gas pool heater dies: switch to a heat pump. They heat at about half of the energy cost of a natural gas heater and a quarter of the cost of a propane heater. Plus, if your pH gets a little out of order, you won’t destroy the heater.
Of course, you can choose to just sit inside and watch TV.
But why would you want to when the great outdoors has so much to offer, all year round? Many of our friends enjoy all three options, often on the same day. A swim in the late afternoon followed by a quick trip to the hot tub. Then when the sun drops below the horizon, the family and invited guests gather around the fire table while enjoying a nice beverage of choice to discuss the day’s events. Or perhaps, to just sit silently and think about nothing. All in all, that’s a pretty good choice, too.