WFH in winter: how do you set boundaries when home maintenance keeps interrupting the day?

I’ve been fully remote for a while and I love not having to commute in a snowstorm. But I moved into an older place in a really cold area, and winter basically turns the house into a part-time job.

Last week was a good example. At 9am everything was fine, and by 10:30 I was noticing condensation on the windows, hearing the heater short-cycle, and getting paranoid about ice dams, so I went up to check the attic hatch. None of it was an emergency, but when temperatures stay below freezing you can’t just ignore that stuff for eight straight hours.

My manager is reasonable, but the team is very meeting-heavy and people expect quick responses on chat. I don’t want to overshare personal stuff, but I also don’t want to be sneaking off for 10- or 15-minute breaks to look at the roofline or swap a furnace filter like I’m doing something wrong.

For folks who work remotely in real winters or who live in older homes, what has actually worked for you? Do you block a short maintenance window on your calendar each day? Tell the team you might be away for brief bursts? Or just treat it like any other quick break and only mention it if it becomes a real issue?

I’m trying to be professional without pretending my home is a perfect climate-controlled office. Any practical tips or wording I can use would be really helpful.