How are you keeping warm?

guess they got more insulation in the attic that way! ^_^

It was ridiculous!! Good for a laugh, but...lol.

Living inland of the coastal So Calif. mountains means we do have some nights in 30's and even some in 20's, but mostly 40's in winter, then 50's through June and 60's during summer. On my own, I would seldom turn heat on at all, but DH is wuss, so I try t keep it at 66-67 in daytime (he sometimes turns it to 69), then at night, after he goes to bed turn it to 62. When he is out of town and no heat is on, thermometer does not go below 56 @night. I like to have a window open year 'round - just a crack when outside temp is less that 40, but feel claustrophobic with furnace on at night. Just want to breathe cool air, not BE cold, so love sweaters, sweats and lap-quilts. Flannel sheets and the weight of blankets are great at night. DH complains his fingers get too cold while working at home on computer and head gets too cold sleeping. I have managed t get him to wear more clothes around house. What is the sense of turning heat to 72 so you can walk around in your skivvies?

Neighbors recently had new baby while we had our version of cold spell (60 degree high temp). Went to see baby and almost died wearing sweater in there. They were all wearing shorts and tank tops because they had it so hot for baby. Some ethnic/nationality groups keep babies to hot, I think. One time in coastal San Diego, there was a one year old screaming in stroller in store in mall, turning red. He was too darn hot! I could see a Tshirt, flannel shirt, and - get this - SNOWSUIT! We hardly wore that much in Wisconsin in Dec.!

Hey, thanks garden Mermaid, glad to know that info (about the passive heat system -- LOL! I could not even remember what to call it!) is already being discussed here on DG. ;-)

Oh, quiltygirl, that poor baby in the snowsuit! That hurts. geeze.......

quilty girl. I think people do have weird ideas about how much heat babies and "old people" need - me being one of the latter. Recently I was in the hospital and had to have some one give me a ride home. The woman was obsessed that I was going to get pneumonia (I had thoracic surgery). I was so happy to get out of that car!!! It was so hot I could hardly breathe.

So happy to get in my house with no heat and open windows! (Our climate here is much like yours in Calif. - a little colder in winter).

I remember when I was pregnant and going over the lists the books had for things babies need, by sis told me not to get all the tshirts and such they recommended till after she was born, as her kids were just too hot blooded to wear all the recommended clothes. DD was the same (born end of Oct.) and was comfortable swimming in the pool in March & April @ 4&5 mos. old. When I used the body sling to carry her, she really got warm with more than tshirts on.

Yes, when my grandma was in a nursing home, it seemed really warm, but grandma liked it. It stayed warm in there in summer too and patients seemed comfortable. What savings I make in winter I can spend in summer with the AC, although I notice that while a heated 72 in winter feel suffocating to me, a cooled 72 in summer (while inactive) is pretty cool. Then again, I am wearing dressing for the weather, not the 'conditioned' inside air.

I also manipulate the blinds year round to accommodate/use the sun & shade to our advantage. It is a little work to go around changing them, but worth it.

I read in the Sewing Forum about someone who has what she called window quilts that they hand over windows to control cold and heat. Good idea for very cold areas, but I would not care for the darkness. We could have used those when we lived in our 24 ft 5th wheel RV for 4 years. Just our body heat made the windows sweat and the walls around our sleeping area had to be blow dried in the AM to prevent mold! Fun times - Not!

Sounds awful. One of the enriching times that you wish...

I think a lot of it has to do with body temperature and weight. Very few people maintain a decent 98.6º anymore. And if you're padded below the skin as well as on top, well...I should stay warmer than I do...lol.

I heard one time that keeping a baby very warm all of the time just creates adults like me who are cold all of the time.

Maybe that is why the Mediterranean people are shorter than the Scandinavians? We were just talking about that the other day. Since warm weather makes things grow, seems like folks from northern climes should be shorter, not taller.

They get leggy trying to reach t he sun?

I know some tall folks from the Mediterranean and some short folks from Scandinavia, so I'm not sure anthropology will support the stereotypes.

DH's father is from Apuglia, the Adriatic side of Southern Italy (the heel of the boot). FIL was 6'6", DH is an inch taller. Tall happens around the Med too. I tease DH that so many from his region are tall because of the cliffs - they had to reach higher to pick the olives & other fruit.

Kerosene - expensive but there is no alternative this season.

Inuits are relatively short compared to other races. They are also the only race I know of that have fat in their fingers. (The pictures you see of them ice fishing bare handed are true.) I used to teach in the Arctic and I would be dressed in layers and some of my students would wear T-shirts and be sweating in the classroom.

I certainly look like I have fat in my fingers. Interesting though...

(Snort)

gen2026,

You are correct about the drafts. That is why, in summer, we run fans to make it feel cooler because we keep the AC up as warm as we can stand it so it doesn't run too much.

I need a place to live without 20 degree F winters and 100 degree F summers.

LOL.

April

DH insulated the walls and attic. Now it's cozy with the thermostat at 65 F. It helps that it's a small house. Beautiful dance shot, Dnut!

Aunt A - If you raise your temperature request by 10 to 15 degrees (with the winter temp as a low and summer as a high), you could live here. We easily have 100+ summer/fall days, but without as much humidity as you have, no doubt. We have even had a couple mild versions of tornados to make you feel at home!

DH will start to turn ceiling fans off and I ask "is it November yet?" Turn 'em on first of April, off after Thanksgiving! Stupid dogs have scratched and broken pieces of weather stripping at front door.

Propane space heater here. I use central cooling in summer but just my space heater in winter. My mobile home is well insulated and have double windows. I can't handle dark in winter so don't even have curtains.Have large oaks around so am shaded in summer and have sun beaming down in winter. This year we've had so many 40 temps that it is hard to keep things from getting too warm. So it's off and on for me.

I've also got a 50lb lap dog to keep me warm as well as a little dog.

LOL! Who keeps the little dog warm?

I keep it at 74 during the night and crank it to 77 when we wake up till we are all showered and dressed! I am a true desert rat! In the summer over 110 temp I keep the house at 83 - 85...DH would rather 78 ;o)

But it's a dry 83 - 85.... ;-)

Therein lies the difference!! At 90=% humidity it wouldn't be pretty!!

Hello All,
I also have space heater's plus central heat and air becuse it is so old it freezes up so am thanful for the spaceheater's help's keep the kid's warm. I sleep with 3 layers of clothing and 2 blankets over my head. Been wishing I could get an lectric blanket cause have health issues that cause me to be cold all the time. So am very thanful when spring start's bring in a little warmth!! So to all that need warmth I wish you the best, and to all that need cool Blessing's
Carolyn

Is it really humid in KY grownut?

HA! Yeah, dry for the most part...wait till monsoons around here and oh man are we dying!

quiltygirl,

Sounds nice...except for the tornado...I'll leave those behind.

LOL

April

No kiddin Aunt_A! EEK!

It is when you close the house and let the temps rise above 80º...

My husband has been laughing because every week that I get more and more pregnant, the thermostat is getting set lower and lower... we used to set it at 74 (yes, I'm also a desert rat born and raised, and my hubby an adapted Bostonian)... but with each week that passes he's getting colder but I'm getting warmer... so it's set at 70 right now, but doesn't turn on until the sun goes down, so that's not bad... I still feel warm, but for his sake I will leave it until summer when it's 117 and I'm as big as a house, then ask me what my AC bill costs... lol...
Brittany

I have a good thermostat operated kerosene heater (actually 2, but I don't use the second.) I supplement with a portable radiator type heater by the computer some times. I have been so conservative with the kerosene heater that I think I have enough left to get through the next season too.
The heater is in a great room, and the two rooms off it get progressively cooler but do not come close to freezing. I don't really use those two rooms much either.

I have the thermostat set at between 50 and 55 at night. At various times during the day, I raise it to 68 or 70 or lower it to 65. I find comforters very effective at night. Sometimes I use an old heating pad to warm my feet; that works very quickly. When I read, I cover up with a comforter and put my feet on the heating pad if they get chilly. Cool night sleeping is very comfortable for me; I just pretend I am camping.

Warm stews and hot soups help too. From our local thrift shop I have a wardrobe of various sweaters, sweat shirts, and coats and jackets so I can always find something to fit the interior or exterior temps. I wear long underwear all winter (changing it of course.) This is my second year without a central gas furnace, and I have learned how to deal with it.

This message was edited Feb 20, 2009 8:42 AM

well, we went on a big conservation plan for the last gas and electric billing period and froze ourselves to death (almost) (put the heat down to 50 at night and 65 during the day) and saved about $18. for the month and spent more money buying hot chocolates and bourbon to keep us warm!

My sister did the same and she had similar results. It appears to us that most of our heating bill comes from taxes and service fees that we can't do much about. We have a gas furnace and water heater and electric kitchen appliances.

Setting thermostat with such a difference night to day makes your heating system work so much harder to get it back up to the temp needed. Better just to set it back a couple degrees from the daytime temp you want.

I think more of our propane is used for hot water (2 teenage girls), showers, DW, WMachine - I am using the cool setting on washer more as well as dryer. Cooktop, not so much - try to use slowcooker for stuff that needs to simmer long.

Gloriag - A thousand years ago my mom sent an electric lap blanket and another year this quilted lap blanket that had snap/zipper almost like a sleeping bag. Just make sure you have the phone next to you when you are on sofa, cuz hopping around in that thing was dangerous for me!! LOL Mom knew I didn't turn on the heater when I was single. Not too bad when you live near the coast, more temperate.

It is sweltering hot here in summer so I call this weather natural air conditioning. :)

edit: added is and changed this this to just one this


This message was edited Feb 20, 2009 5:30 PM

I have a programmable thermostat and have the temp set at 70°F when I'm home, 65° during the day when I'm gone and the temp sets back to 60° at night. I do have the temp bumped up to 70°F in the morning when I'm getting ready for work since I cannot stand to be cold. I lost 65# via weight watchers and since the weight loss, I'm ALWAYS cold. I think I need to move to Florida! (:o)

Yes weight can significantly effect how you feel, as do medical conditions. 25 years ago, for all intents and purposes, my thyroid went out and I was cold all summer long and wearing my winter jacket going out at noon in August! But, come winter I was really uncomfortable. I wore tights and thermals under my sIacks at the office. I previously did not use the heat at all at home and then I was coming home, turning the heat to 75-80 and putting my sweats on to sit under a blanket!! Makes me gasp for air just remembering that time period. There were a whole list of other symptoms also, by my meds keep them all at bay.

We bought a pellet stove from Lowes this year and it has been a saving grace, low on cost and easy to pipe out the side wall of the house. It burns pellets pretty slow, since my house is sometimes colder inside than it is outside and our winter is not usually long, though we get in the 20's in the nights for a few months. It won't heat my whole house but it makes a big living area bearable. We use a kerosine, encased low energy electric/Kerosine heater in my bedroom though.

I hate being cold. It is just too miserable to live that way. We are on propane and anything is better than using it for heat.!!!!!!!

quiltygirl, same thing happened last winter with my thyroid and couldn't believe how cold I was... no amount of blankets helped...
Brittany