Cooler climates. When do you turn your heat on?

[luv2cheer92]

Whenever my Google Nest decides it needs to based on the preset temp schedule I have.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I agree, that's the purpose of having a thermostat on your system. For us, it isn't based on a specific date but rather what the weather is doing. It may be cool overnight but then warm up during the day. To me it is a bit like turning on your outside lights when it gets dark. On overcast/rainy days, we turn the lights on earlier based on how dark it is. Even with outside lights on timers, we will override them to turn lights on earlier on days when it gets dark earlier.

My thermostat requires me to physically change it from heat to cool. It can adjust the indoor temperature to whatever I want it to be and program it for different points in the day but it's a manual adjustment to tell the system to switch from heat to cool. I would 100% disagree that it's the purpose of having a thermostat on your system to change from a/c from day time to night time day after day, part of the reason I asked if the PP had a smart system that automatically changes without manual adjustments from heat to cool.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Ah but thats a perfect world. Keeping the heat off as long as possible helps with costs. Most people don't have unlimited heating budgets, wearing a hoodie / sweater / spirit jersey over a t-shirt and tank top, socks and sweat pants in doors is better cost wise and for the environment than having the heating on but only wearing shorts and a tank top.

Also for alot of low income people, they have to choose heat or eat.

That's still not date dependent. When I was in college the dorms had a set date where they would turn on the heat and then turn on the a/c. It didn't matter what the weather was like it didn't matter if it had been freezing for a month or sweltering hot for a month they had a set date and that was that. Obviously they were doing it to save money but they were not the types of people you were speaking about.

If you're talking about finances from someone who is struggling to make ends meet or is considered low income they don't have a set date, it's entirely dependent on what their budget allows for. I agree with you in that people can choose to save money by toughing it out most people around me don't actively choose to crank up the heat or a/c when it's minor adjustments in indoor temps but a set date won't fix your finances and if you live in a climate where your temperature goes through all 4 seasons or fluctuates a lot a set date won't help either part of why things were so messed up with the college.

 

[hertamaniac]

Orlando area. I try to only use a space heater in our master bedroom a few times in late January and/or early February.

Our central unit only comes on when the thermostat hits <60 degrees (maybe once or twice a winter).

ETA: Sorry...I misread cooler climates in the title.

 

[mumto3girls]

Pennsylvania here. We still have our system set to air conditioning, but I don’t think it’s kicked on in a few weeks. We are supposed to have a string of days in the 80’s next week so it might then. I hold off on the heat as long as possible. I generally like the house cooler than everyone else so I enjoy this time of year. Eventually my husband will switch it over to heat when either he or the kid still at home are too cold. He’s been away a few weeks, but I don’t think he would have switched it yet and my daughter only complained once that she was cold—she wasn’t dressed appropriately.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

MA - usually turn it on when the dog starts to shiver.

Until then we use hoodies, blankets, etc - but too cold for the dog means heat on. It's usually mid-Nov. And even then we keep it around 64.

Although we should be getting a heat pump next month, so maybe that'll change things?

 

[Dan Murphy]

Also we don't have residential AC in Ireland.

No AC in houses there?

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

No AC in houses there?

No, not in houses or even in many commercial buildings. My local mall does not have AC, only some of the shop units do, if the company installs it in their unit.

Schools, churches dont have AC. Public transport does not have AC. In the summer we open windows.

Also we don't have screens on our windows, we dont need them as we dont have to keep out bugs.

 

[kdonnel]

No, not in houses or even in many commercial buildings. My local mall does not have AC, only some of the shop units do, if the company installs it in their unit.

Schools, churches dont have AC. Public transport does not have AC. In the summer we open windows.

Also we don't have screens on our windows, we dont need them as we dont have to keep out bugs.

Much of if not all of Ireland is north of Calgary. It makes sense that normally AC is not required. Your average July temp is probably less than 70 degrees fahrenheit.

We did a cruise around Ireland and the British Isles in July of 2006 during a record heat wave. It was close to 100 degrees fahrenheit for several of the days. The trains were all stopped as the tracks were buckling as was parts of the road. I was glad that we were able to return to the AC on the ship every evening. I would have been miserable in a hotel with no AC or limited AC that could not cope with the heat.

 

[Dan Murphy]

No, not in houses or even in many commercial buildings. My local mall does not have AC, only some of the shop units do, if the company installs it in their unit.

Schools, churches dont have AC. Public transport does not have AC. In the summer we open windows.

Also we don't have screens on our windows, we dont need them as we dont have to keep out bugs.

So it does not get very hot there? And no bugs? No flies, mosquitos? A thousand other bugs?

 

[LoveDaisy]

I live in CT. My heat is on now. It was 61 and really damp in the house. I’ll just leave it on for an hour or so to take the chill out. It goes on when I’m cold there is no set date.

 

[disneychrista]

The heater will probably get turned on sometime in November. Right now neither the heat or the A/C is running due to seasonally cooler weather.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I am in the Midwest, I remember days using both heat AND AC. (I feel like thumping DH in the forehead for doing this, but it happens).

Usually you can count on firing up the heat sometime in October, although I have remembered years using the heat and scraping ice on the car in September in my lifetime.

 

[leebee]

We used to try to hold off until Thanksgiving but now we try to make it until Halloween. You can say what you want about how it should be about temperature... we know what the weather should be like in October, in November, and we hope we can hold out. We'd leave the heat off for as long as possible, to spend as little as possible, and the thermostat never was sent about 60 degrees.

Having said that, we needed a new furnace so we swapped from oil to gas about a year ago. In the deep winter months, we now pay a month for gas what we used to pay a week, for oil. We're even thinking of throwing caution to the winds this winter and turning the thermostat up to 62-64!!

 

[Robbie Cottam]

It is a cool, dreary, rainy day here in Massachusetts and the house is currently 65. Just turned on the propane fireplace to take the chill out and more for coziness. We haven’t had to use the heat yet and we’re saying we hope to make it till October 1 before we have to. I just realized that is only in a few days.

How cold does it get before you turn your heat on?

Also in mass
still have my pool open

 

[Magical2017]

I have already turned it on a few times. I like it warm. Very warm. I have logs ready for a fire if a jacket is needed outside.

 

[WDWEPCOT]

Midwest we are entering the season of heat at night air conditioning during the day some people will open their windows during the day it may be at night a lot of us don’t because of the pollen and then you get were you forget that you have the heat on or you forget that you have the air on and just switch them over so you’re like why is the house so hot or why is the house so cold it’s a crazy time of the year but it’s like this every year in the Midwest so it’s been really nice last few days and then tomorrow it’s going to be in the 90s welcome fall !! There’s no getting your fall clothes out right now you’ll die of heat stroke but rest assured it’s a Midwest come next week the weather will be totally different
I myself don’t said it by a date I just said it by what I’m comfortable with God knows I wear enough clothes and try to keep the house at 72° during the summer and probably about 70 maybe 68 during the winter I’m old I want to be comfortable I’ve gotten so I use my fireplace it’s gas if I can pry the dog from the front of it so I can get some heat from it and keep him from setting himself on fire and if it isn’t him it’s the cat one of those two are going to catch on fire one of these days

 

[Beezle2]

We try and hold out as long as possible. It usually happens in late October but depends more on daytime temps than night time ones. We love a cold bedroom at night but if the house temp is in the 50s during the day then it is probably time.

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

So it does not get very hot there? And no bugs? No flies, mosquitos? A thousand other bugs?

Not sure if you are being genuinely curious or not, so I'll just take it at face value.

We have flies, wasps and bees, butterflies and moths. We don't have mosquitos or other large bugs. In the summer my bedroom window is open 24 / 7. We dont need nets over beds, and very rarely will flying bugs come into the house.

Ireland has a mild temperate oceanic climate, due to the controlling influence of the Atlantic Ocean. Mean annual temperatures generally range between 9°C and 10°C with the higher values in coastal regions.

As we don't have AC, in the summer due to how well the houses are insulated, the indoor temperatures can be as high as 25 C while outside may only be 20 C. We also don't have celling fans as standard in residential buildings.

A heatwave in Ireland is defined as a period of 5 consecutive days where the daily maximum temperature is greater than 25°C. Heatwaves occur about 2 or 3 times between the end of May and the end of September each year.

https://www.met.ie/climate/climate-of-ireland
Ireland does not suffer from the extremes of temperature experienced by many other countries at similar latitude. The warm North Atlantic Drift has a marked influence on sea temperatures. This maritime influence is strongest near the Atlantic coasts and decreases with distance inland. The hills and mountains, many of which are near the coasts, provide shelter from strong winds and from the direct oceanic influence. Winters tend to be cool and windy, while summers, when the depression track is further north and depressions less deep, are mostly mild and less windy.

The polar front is a feature of the atmospheric circulation which plays an important part in determining Irish weather. It’s a zone of transition between warm, moist air (sometimes of tropical origin) moving northwards and colder, denser, drier air (usually of polar orig
Between February and June, the influence of continental and Greenland anticyclones make these the months of least rainfall. The sea near Ireland is at its coldest in February and March and consequently the rise of mean air temperature is slow in spring. However, on clear days with light winds, afternoon temperatures can reach summer values even in March. In such situations the nights are cold. Air frost is not infrequent at inland locations, even in May. Continental anticyclones blocking Atlantic depressions are usually responsible for dry periods in late spring.

Towards late June or early July the rise in pressure over the ocean and a corresponding fall in pressure over Europe results in the general wind flow at the surface becoming westerly, bringing air with a long ocean track over Ireland, so that cloud cover, humidity and rainfall increase. From mid-July, clear nights tend to be accompanied by heavy dew. Warm air masses of high humidity and daytime heating sufficient to cause thunderstorms are a feature of mid to late summer weather.

With the advance of August there are occasional incursions into the Atlantic of cold northerly air masses and these produce active depressions in late August and September. In September the humid air is exposed to increasing periods of cooling by night and fog is frequent around dawn in low-lying districts.
in) which is moving southwards.

In October and November westerly winds from the Atlantic pass over relatively warm seas, and frontal rain and post-cold frontal showers tend to be moderate to heavy. The development of anticyclones extending over Ireland in these months can produce very pleasant weather by day. However, fog in these situations is slow to clear in the morning, particularly in November when solar radiation income is low.

From late summer through Autumn there is a risk of former tropical depressions mixing in with the North Atlantic weather pattern depressions to produce severe storms. These are quite rare but are very significant weather events.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

If above 25C (77F) is where heat wave is defined, I can see why there is no AC. I normally would set ours at 76, and not turn it on initially until it got over 82ish.

We moved earlier this year & have LOTS of windows & overhead fans (literally a fan in every room & windows lining every wall in living rooms). I did not put in any AC. I prefer windows to AC when possible anyways.

My roommate is wussy & has an AC in her bedroom only (she pays the electric so having it on "frivolously" is on her).