Thankful Thursday, posted on Saturday: Heat Vents and Radiators

One of the nicest things about getting up on winter mornings (yes, it is still winter) is turning up the heat and then being able to stand in front of the heat vent whilst preparing lunch for DD4 and whoever else needs one made for the day. Yes, our heat vents are very well loved during the winter months. You can often find some child (or adult) standing or sitting or even lying on the heat vent. The dear cat also stakes out the heat vents. Her favorites to lie on include the one next to the front entry stairs, the one by the back sliding glass door, and also my favorite one in the kitchen.


In my parents' house where I grew up, there are no forced air heat vents. The house is instead heated by radiators. The upstairs bedrooms and the living room all have radiators along the floor baseboards, but the downstairs bedrooms, the kitchen and the bathroom all have about 2 foot high metal box radiators. They make a wonderful child-sized bench that is just perfect for sitting on after being outside in the cold doing chores or playing in the snow. They are a good place to dry out cold and wet mittens or shoes. My bed was always right next to the radiator, a perfect place to snuggle in for a warm winter night's sleep, and the radiator also made a convenient nightstand/bookshelf, always necessary for the perfect comfortable sleeping place.

I remember the radiators at school were also convenient places to dry out wet mittens and shoes and even sometimes socks, and the ones in the hallways were coveted places to hang out at during lunchtime, especially during high school. My grandparent's house had no radiators, but only a central forced air furnace with two heat vents. One went into the living room and the other into the hallway between the two downstairs bedrooms. The corner behind the piano in the living room where the heat vent was located was a favorite place for grandkids to sit and play!

Yes, the sound of warm air blowing from the heat vent is a wonderful sound in late winter/early March. But so is the sound of birds chirping outside once the heat stops blowing . . . yes, I for one am looking forward to spring!