Winter Heating...Do you have rules about using it?

[mumto3girls]

I’m one of those PA people who tries to hold out for November 1. It’s not really a cost thing, but that I hate being hot. I love open windows and fresh air and I prefer the house to be a touch cold. I tell my family it’s because I’m the only one who does any work around the house—cooking, cleaning, laundry and if they’d get up and help out, they’d be warm too. When I’m finally done for the night and ready to relax I like to watch TV or read in bed/on the couch under a nice warm blanket. I sleep so much better when it’s cold. That being said, our heat has been on sporadically since late September because there’s no reason to be miserable and even I knew it was too cold in the mornings.

 

[tlcdoula]

I usually am stubborn for a week or two in the beginning of fall when the nights get a little chilly, but after that heat is on. We are the same with the AC in the summer, if its hot turn it on. I really miss having wood heat, growing up it was the best feeling.

 

[mrodgers]

No. If we're (read: my wife ) cold, we turn up the heat.

It's the midwest, so some days, the cold and the AC is both used.

The other day I woke up it was 54°. I turned the heat on to take a shower and get ready for work. I went to work in shorts and a t-shirt and sweat all day in 100° and extreme humidity, of which I spend half my time there and half my time in an air conditioned office. At lunch time, a guy comes to the parking lot selling burritos. I threw on my flannel (which I use as an overcoat all winter) and went out to the parking lot still wearing shorts. Beautiful day, sunny, but rather chilly.

End of the day comes and I walk out of my 70° office, through the 100° plant floor into the 50° outside and get in my car which is so hot from the sun I have to run the AC on the way home. When I got home, it was 56° inside so I had to kick the furnace on.

Welcome to Pennsylvania. I'm in a 1976 mobile home so I've been running the heat since October 1st, except for the days I knew it would warm up from the 50's inside temp. I have run the furnace in the morning to get ready for work and come home from work to find it 80° and have the AC run for hours to cool that down. Takes from about 4 pm to 9 pm to cool my place down from 80°.

 

[mrodgers]

We keep our thermostat at 72 degrees year round. However, we have not yet turned it from AC to Heat. My wife did have me blow the dust out of the space heater and she has used that to heat up the bathroom during her shower. Still in the 80s here during the day. We have had the windows opened during the afternoon (Noon to about 5 pm) the past two days.

I would not survive. AC set at 68 and furnace set at 66.

 

[Kitty 34]

We keep our heat at about 69-70 depending on where we are in this old house. If I get cold I add layers to my body.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

Not hard and fast rules per se. But I won’t turn it on when it is still going to be in the mid to high 80’s in the afternoon. I love this time of year. No AC. No Heater. Low(er) PGE bill. This year has been rough due to the fires and not being able to open the windows in the evenings.

Yes, to all of this! This week is perfect temps and I’m enjoying every minute of it.

No. Wintertime the thermostat is set for heat (78 degrees). All day/night. We have 4 people living here and everyone works a different schedule, so someone is up at almost anytime of the day.

I can’t sleep when it’s that’s warm!

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No rules per say here, but I sort of have my own internal guidelines. During the summer the A/C doesn’t go on unless it’s above 77, usually. Fans and open windows seem to be enough to cool down the house. In the winter, I usually keep it at 65 all day, usually bumping it up to 69-70 for 30 mins first thing in the morning to get rid of the chill. I can’t sleep when it’s too warm, so everybody else knows to bundle up if they’re cold. But I live in a very temperate climate and in a certified “green” house, so it’s much easier to do.

That said, I’m usually the only one home during the day, so it’s easy for me to keep it at a temp I like. With everybody home this year, things may be different!

 

[tvguy]

I would not survive. AC set at 68 and furnace set at 66.

I have no control over the thermostat. THAT is in my wife's control. I would not survive if I touched the thermostat. Things you learn when you have been married 38 years.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I can’t sleep when it’s that’s warm!

Sorry, I goofed, it's set for 72.

I fixed the original post.

 

[VandVsmama]

When the temp drops below 65 F, the heater turns on.

 

[mom2rtk]

Heat goes on when I'm cold. A/C goes on when I'm hot. Both have been on and off a decent amount over the past month or so.

I grew up in a home that was kept very cold in the winter, with vents closed in the bedrooms. No A/C either. They'll have to pry the thermostat out of my cold dead hands now that I'm an adult.

 

[disykat]

My DH tries to make weird "rules" about things and it drives me nuts. When I first quit work, I kept wondering why it was always so hot in the daytime and kept having to turn the heat off. I finally figured out that DH had reprogramed the thermostat to keep the temp up (to 68) because I was going to be home. Sweet idea, but if I'm up moving around doing projects etc. I don't want the heat up to "sit and relax in the evening" temperatures! He always wants to have it programmed by time because it's so much more efficient. I say, keep it low and we can bump it up when we want to.

For us, 68 or 69 is often sit around and relax temperatures because we tend to use throw blankets if we're watching tv. Right now I have the temp at 64, but am using a throw blanket because I'm sitting at the computer. We turn it up if we have visitors that are cold sensitive though.

 

[CdnCarrie]

No that's silly. And living in a cold climate it's on 24/7 from Oct/Nov until spring.
If we are all out of the house for the day (ha! remember those days!) I set it down a few degrees and turn it up when we get home.

 

[NannyBeBe]

The furnace is set at 73 and never goes below that.

 

[MillauFr]

Not turning on the heat when it is snowing outside seems loser cheap to me.

 

[skittles67]

We try and hold out for as long as possible, lol. The weather here varies so much in the fall. I can have the heat on at night, but then need to turn the air on in the afternoon! It's crazy. It's been staying pretty chilly lately so we have our heat on, but just enough to take the chill out of the air. Right now it's on about 64. When winter hits we keep it around 68-70

 

[Donald13]

No. If im cold the goes on or gets turned up.

Same. No rules here.

 

[Snowysmom]

No rules. If we are cold we turn on the heat. I do have to watch DH as he tends to turn it up to 70. If he does it at night I can't sleep so I turn it down to 66 for sleeping.

 

[PollyannaMom]

No rules here either. The heat goes on when I start getting cold in the fall. The AC goes on when DH starts getting hot in the spring.

He would prefer 68 year round. I like it a tad warmer in the summer, because I'm wearing shorts and T-shirts, but still 68 to sleep.

I do hate those days when we need the heat at night and the AC during the day - seems like a waste on some level (but not enough to make me give either up!)

 

[RamblingMad]

Yes, to all of this! This week is perfect temps and I’m enjoying every minute of it.


I can’t sleep when it’s that’s warm!

————————

No rules per say here, but I sort of have my own internal guidelines. During the summer the A/C doesn’t go on unless it’s above 77, usually. Fans and open windows seem to be enough to cool down the house. In the winter, I usually keep it at 65 all day, usually bumping it up to 69-70 for 30 mins first thing in the morning to get rid of the chill. I can’t sleep when it’s too warm, so everybody else knows to bundle up if they’re cold. But I live in a very temperate climate and in a certified “green” house, so it’s much easier to do.

That said, I’m usually the only one home during the day, so it’s easy for me to keep it at a temp I like. With everybody home this year, things may be different!

Yep. Half my house is set at 77. Other part is set at 80.

 

[leebee]

I think it's a control thing. People who are weird about losing control tend to insist on arbitrary rules like these because it makes them feel more secure. Never mind that often it's akin to cutting off your nose to spite your face.

It's not a control thing here, it's a "paying the oil bill" thing. We have a 2200sq foot, 118 year old house. We have newer windows (replaced over a 5 year period, newest have been in for about 5 years) but there's no way to add to the insulation without practically doing a complete rebuild- and no way to pay for that. We shoot for November 1st, but if it gets too cold or it snows or something stupid like that, we'll turn it on for a day or so. For example... I turned the heat on this morning. DH had hernia surgery today and I didn't want the house to be too cold, as it's about 43, grey, drizzly, and windy outside. I'll consider Oct. 30 close enough to Nov 1 to say we made it! However, we keep the house cold. Thermostat sits at 56-58. If it's really miserable out (by Northern New England standards) we'll turn it up to 60, but anything above that doesn't make a lot of sense- with the structure/insulation of this house, we'd be heating the yard, not the house. We each have a little throw blanket to use while watching TV, and we have a space heater in the TV room that we turn on for a few hours at night. SMALL space heater in the bathroom takes the chill off in the mornings, but the bathroom is in the "extension" of the house (added on in the mid-70s) and has radiant heat in the floor- so it's really nice in there in the morning, compared to the rest of the house!