Question of the Day - Monday, October 21, 2019

[EmersonandEvie]

During the summer, we keep our air between 74 and 76. We can't afford to go much lower. However, where we live, 70 is pretty cold, so we don't really mind it. It's a very mild temp to us.

In the winter ("winter"), we keep our heat on 69. Fortunately that only lasts for a few weeks before we turn the air back on...

During mild temp days (ie, now), we turn the unit to where it is "on" but won't kick on. It's about 74 in my house right now with the windows open.

 

[lizzie]

We don't have any rules really.I am more comfortable when it's cooler in the house,so we keep the heat down as much as we dare,and I'm happy wearing wool socks,sweats and a sweat shirt.We used just under 500 gallons of propane last winter,and we were comfortable.In the summer,we run 2 air conditioners.The main one is set at 73and I try to keep the bedroom temp at around that,maybe a degree or two less,and our electric bills are not outrageous.

 

[neely]

No set rules but I try to hold out as long as possible before turning on the heat. When I do turn it on it's set at approx. 67 F in the daytime, 63 F at night. DH and I both like to sleep with it a bit chilly. As far as the a/c goes I set the thermostat at 74 throughout the summer. I despise heat and humidity.

 

[MonaLyssa33]

No real rules. I luckily don't pay for electricity because my unit is the only one in the building that isn't separated from the common area's electricity, so management just doesn't have me pay. This means I can really keep my AC running whenever I want in the summer. I usually turn it on when it's above 75 outside, but I only run it when I'm home because I live in the basement so it stays cool enough for the cats when I'm not home.
For the winter, I hate the heat but it has to be on throughout the winter because the pipes will freeze. I will frequently open my window just a little bit to keep the temperature below 70. That doesn't always work though because if there are snowdrifts, it will melt into my apartment.

 

[Mia6]

set the heat at 65 during the day in winter, 62 a night. Summer, 68 day, 65 night

 

[MoochNNoodles]

We don't have any rules really.I am more comfortable when it's cooler in the house,so we keep the heat down as much as we dare,and I'm happy wearing wool socks,sweats and a sweat shirt.We used just under 500 gallons of propane last winter,and we were comfortable.In the summer,we run 2 air conditioners.The main one is set at 73and I try to keep the bedroom temp at around that,maybe a degree or two less,and our electric bills are not outrageous.

Oh I don’t miss the propane bills. We used to fill up 2-3 times a year. I don’t remember how much the tanks held; but it’s definitely cheaper to heat our house than last place even though it’s bigger. The nice thing about propane is it always feels like a warm heat. My mother’s electric furnace would blow cold some. And we discovered the ducks to my bedroom weren’t insulated properly. They have a cathedral ceiling in the upstairs master bedroom and their room is ALWAYS cold. Or hot. It made me decide I want normal ceilings in my house!

 

[foxxycat]

Try sleeping with a top sheet between you & the blanket. That might keep you cool. I sweat too much when I sleep with the blanket directly on me.

YUCK. don't like the texture of sheets.

 

[lizzie]

Oh I don’t miss the propane bills. We used to fill up 2-3 times a year. I don’t remember how much the tanks held; but it’s definitely cheaper to heat our house than last place even though it’s bigger. The nice thing about propane is it always feels like a warm heat. My mother’s electric furnace would blow cold some. And we discovered the ducks to my bedroom weren’t insulated properly. They have a cathedral ceiling in the upstairs master bedroom and their room is ALWAYS cold. Or hot. It made me decide I want normal ceilings in my house!

We heat with 2 ventless propane heaters and we love them.One at each end of the house,and we keep the upstairs closed off.I haven't even lit the heater in the utility room yet....hasn't been cold enough.

 

[Willowy]

I have propane but also a normal forced-air furnace. I don't really see much difference between propane and natural gas like I had in my last house, although, yeah, it is more expensive some years. This year it's pretty cheap though.

 

[marmoset]

No rules. This summer was so hot we ran the AC on high most of the time. It's very expensive to cool this house as it's all window units. The alternative is that I lie on the bed under the ceiling fan and do absolutely nothing for those hours where it's really hot- here that can be from around 10:30 am to 7:30 or 8:00 pm. So of course that won't work! Heating is not nearly as much of an issue. I can sleep in an icy bedroom. I prefer it actually and during the day I can get something in the oven or wear three pairs of socks. I'm not beyond bundling up in layers.

 

[VinceL]

As far as holiday decorations, I will pull down the Halloween ones the day after and weather permitting get the Christmas ones up within a day or two later. I learned many years ago I could either put up Christmas decorations on a warm and sunny November day or wait until a snowy subzero December day to do it.

I lived in NJ and PA my entire life up until we moved to NC 12 years ago. As I got older I had more and more trouble adjusting to the cold weather. I can remember wearing a heavy winter coat and gloves to put out the Christmas decorations in December. And, then trying to bring them in from being packed in the snow in January.

While we have cold days in December and January, there are enough warm days that I can usually put up and take down the decorations wearing a T-shirt or maybe a sweatshirt.

 

[VinceL]

I kind of got off-topic posting about Christmas decorations.

We have a programmable thermostat that can divide each day into 4 time periods and can be set differently for each day of the week. Being retired, I program all 7 days of the week the same. Our thermostat is located in the dining room where we get the afternoon sun. So, I have to program it to reflect the afternoon heat from the sun; if I set it too low in Summer, our bedroom becomes a refrigerator.

Generally, the thermostat is set for 76 to 79 in the summer and 69 to 73 in the winter. The lower level of our house is a finished walk-out basement which has a heat pump. I rarely run the heat pump since the downstairs is pretty consistently 70 to 73 year-round.

 

[susanm9006]

I also have a programmable thermostat. I have it programmed so that the furnace goes to the warmer day time setting about an hour before I usually get up. I love laying in bed hearing the furnace click on in the morning and waiting until the blower is going full force before getting up.

 

[muffy]

In the winter I keep the thermostat 68-69 and in the summer I keep it at 72. I don't keep changing it because I am retired and home all day and night.

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

it's still 'in between' weather here -- can be relatively comfortable most days, and quite chilly at night. the furnace has cycled on quite a few nights so far (i have the thermostat set at 67 degrees F). i've had the wood burning stove going often enough, though just to take the chill off the house/as needed.

in the hot weather months, i turn the ac on in the early morning and leave it set at 67 or 68 degrees F. when it's especially hot, i'll leave the ac running 24/7 -- until the weather cools down a bit. i have one window unit ac, located upstairs, which cools the whole house -- upstairs and downstairs. it gets too cold for me, having the ac blowing cold air on me, so it works out best having the ac upstairs.

 

[Kat0121]

There's no rules really. It's summer here for pretty much 8 months out of the year so the thermostat stays at 74. It never really gets "cold" here so we may use the heat a few times just to warm things up a bit but it doesn't stay on long because it's not cold here during the day. Usually only at night and early morning.