Thermostat--your winter LOW

[reinbeau]

Brrrrr - no way. I want it warm in my house. I love the woodstove up in Maine, it does a fine job of warming the place up, which is tough to do when we go up there in January and it's been unheated for a month - everything has to be brought up to temperature! Anyways, around here, I'm comfortable at 68 during the day. I don't mind it being frigid outside, I go out and work in the yard most of the winter, if I can, but I come in to be warm

 

[Homesteadmom]

Well lets see, since I have never been to Alaska(yet). I would have to say that I would rather be at our place up north or back in Oklahoma/Kansas again. Parts of New Mexico are pretty so those areas would not be so bad. I just get so tired of the heat, dryness all but 2 mos of the yr(& even then it is dry) & not much color variety. Everything here is basically brown & trees are not big shade trees unless you really pour the water to them. Because the indeginous ones are used to drought and in the last 10-15 yrs they have been encouraging people to plant native(which is not a bad thing) so the trees are not very big & shady. Plus they are messy trees too with their needles, blossoms & seed pods. The 2 native trees we have(mesquite) also attrack bees big time, so not a good idea for kids to play under(although one is in the cattle pen). Then we have a small eucylyptus tree too but they grow pretty straight up not too much spreading out. And my orange trees are pretty low to the ground so hard to get under them, plus they have thorns too. That is one of the reasons i want to plant a whole bunch of trees here to help make it prettier & shadier. Now up north they get a lot more rain than we do & everything is greener. You can grow just about anything up there except citrus(which I would miss) unless you do dwarf's or patio's in a greenhouse. It is zone 6 or 7 up there & here we are a 9. Big difference between those zones. I guess I am trying & wanting to make the best of the situation while we are still here & improve it so that we are living on a prettier piece of property. Problem with that is I have to leave it occassionally.

 

[Farmfresh]

EVERYBODY quit stalling and buy that programmable thermostat!


I love ours! That way I can sleep warm (70) for eight house and freeze the empty house for eight hours (50) everyday. [Actually more like 11 hours - since the heat turns off at about 4 AM which leaves the house still nice and warm to get ready for work and doesn't turn back on until 3 PM before we get home]

The house is nicely warmed up when we get home (72) and while we are awake. This keeps everybody from jacking with the thermometer and still saves money.

We are trying to rely more and more on the wood stove however ... free wood (or low cost) is cheaper than paying the gas bill!

 

[FarmerChick]

I think your "up north" sounds nice. So much different than your current home and it is only like a 4 hr. trip right? At least that way you can get that totally different feel...like a vacation when you go.

NC trees grow fast and big..LOL..we need to cut trees more I am sure. I do like a good shade tree though. I remember in NJ we had a big elm...mom had the table under it and we would just relax there...kinda like the kid zone to escape the heat!

NC will suit me fine for life, but I sure want to travel a bit. I just love "being" somewhere else for a bit for the change of scenery. Hmm..time to save money for a short trip I think..HA HA HA

 

[miss_thenorth]

I was just reading an article on the weather network about heating rooms--not houses. It says if a room is not in use, the temp can go down to 55 F. I made hubby read it as he thinks we shouldn't close the doors to the rooms not in use. I have always done this--summer and winter when the heat or air is on. Bedroom doors closed. Basement vents closed (we don't spend alot of time down there and if we are watching TV, we all wrap up in blankets anyways.)

We sleep with electric blankets so the heat at night goes down low. Apparently, the energy savings is notable if you turn down the heat and turn on an electric blanket.

 

[enjoy the ride]

I shut up the rooms not in use in the winter plus the bedroom because I sleep with the windows open at night and it's usually cold in there.
But I do open them up periodically if the weather is warmer to "air out." Not that i really gets stuffy if no one is in them.

Just marking time till :coolsun

 

[FarmerChick]

MTN
I always shut doors to rooms. never saw a "negative" side to it ever.

I always shut the vents down in the second bathroom, my work/soap/computer room. Only open one little slat. I block off heat in these rooms a little cause they aren't needed to be warmer.

So yea, I do all of this and I know I read it was a good thing to do to save power and direct heat to "used" rooms more.

 

[Beekissed]

When I was a slave to the thermostat, we used to keep it on 60 at night and no higher than 72 in the day, when we were home. We kept a lot of warm throws in the living areas in case someone got chilly and everyone was instructed to wear winter clothing! If they did not and were cold, I considered this a personal problem!

Now, of course, its wood heat and we can walk around in shorts and t-shirts most of the winter. I sleep at the top of the house, so I keep the windows open at night all year round and use a down comforter in case the snow blows in on my bed. What can I say? I like to sleep cool....

 

[ams3651]

We have oil heat, my programable thermostat, which I installed myself last year :coolsun is set for 72 daytime and 65 night time. I also bought a small electric fireplace that I use during the day when its chilli in here, that helps the heat from kicking on and I dont need to heat bedrooms during the day anyway.

 

[Homesteadmom]

I think your "up north" sounds nice. So much different than your current home and it is only like a 4 hr. trip right? At least that way you can get that totally different feel...like a vacation when you go.

NC trees grow fast and big..LOL..we need to cut trees more I am sure. I do like a good shade tree though. I remember in NJ we had a big elm...mom had the table under it and we would just relax there...kinda like the kid zone to escape the heat!

NC will suit me fine for life, but I sure want to travel a bit. I just love "being" somewhere else for a bit for the change of scenery. Hmm..time to save money for a short trip I think..HA HA HA

It is 4 1/2 if we don't tow anything 5 if we are towing. That is why we like to just leave the travel trailer up there. All though we really need to build a shade cover over it to protect it from the snow, rain & sun. The elevation is 6100 up there & 1200 here. And it is so nice to get up there & it is so sad to leave we are all real quiet when we leave. I usually have tears in my eyes. Don always stops the truck at the top of the hill for one last look. We went up a few yrs ago in Jan., & stayed at a friends house in a nearby town(our heater does not work) & my best friend went with us(we played in the snow) & we showed her our place & she asked if we could build her a little one bedrm cottage if we ever won the lottery. Do told her sure we would no problems! She says she wishes she found him first! He told her he could become a bigamist & she just laughs & he blushes a little. She has asked him to clone himself for her if they ever get it down pat. She is just too funny. But we are thinking of asking her to join us up there this next summer for a week.