I know….it’s National Thrift Week, and I probably shouldn’t be complaining about the cold. But darn it, I am not going to be one of those bloggers who’s all, “We keep our house at 52, and once I put on a sweater, I hardly notice it!”. My house is 65 (at least upstairs by the thermostat it is), and I’m here to say that it feels COLD to me. Cold, cold, cold. Significantly colder than 67 (where we set our thermostat last year) and sig-sig-significantly colder than 70(where we set our thermostat before our electric company raised their rates).
I normally don’t mind winter that much, but I’m getting so weary of being cold, I don’t know if I can hold out at 65 degrees until springtime. It’s been 65 or less in here since mid-October, so we’ve been doing this for about three months. I know it will be cold for the rest of January and February, but maybe in March it will start to be a tad warmer. It could be cold through April, though.
So, best-case scenario we have about 1 1/2 to 2 months left and worst case we have three months left (that means we’re only halfway through…aaaahhhhh!).
I think perhaps if my utility bills were really low as a result of the 65 degree setting, I might be more inspired. But, it pretty much stinks to be cold all the time and still be paying $300+ each month. I mean, I know I’d be paying a higher bill if we kept our house at a delightful 70 degrees, but still, I wish keeping it at 65 was saving me more.
I keep reading about/meeting people who seem to cope just fine with temperatures of 65 or less, and I’m starting to think there must be something wrong with me. Even with three shirts (a long tank top, a long sleeved shirt, and a fleece), jeans, socks, slippers, and occasionally a scarf, unless I’m really moving around, I still am cold a lot of the time. The only two times of the day that I always feel warm are in the morning while I’m in the shower, and at night when I’m in my delightfully toasty bed.
I didn’t have such a hard time scraping together a good attitude about the cold house back in October, so either the house is actually colder now than it was then, or I’m just getting tired of being cold. If the latter option is the problem, I probably just need to work on my attitude, and I probably shouldn’t do things like counting how many more months of winter are left. Ahem.
Suggestions and/or sympathy are welcome.
photo by Dave Brosha
Libby says
Moist air holds heat longer than dry air. This is why we why we feel hotter on a humid summer day than a summer day that is drier but the same temperature.
There is an optimal cross between percent humidity and air temperature that feels comfortable for humans. There are products sold that have two “clock” hands to measure these two factors. When the hands cross, it should feel perfect!
I find, during the winter, that I need my house to be 50% humidity in order to feel warm when the thermostat is set at 65. We also have a programable thermostat and go down to 58 at night and I crank it up to 70 for 30 minutes in the morning. We also play a game each fall to see how long we can go before turning on the heat. We celebrate if we can make it to November 1st – and I live farther north in New England than you!
Faith says
We have our house set at 60. Baking is a great way to warm up.
WilliamB says
I can tell the difference between 68F and 70F, which surprises me. Those are the critical numbers: if the thermostat is set at 68F I feel cold, if at 70F I feel fine. I tried a year to 68F when home, 55F when at work, and 60F at night (with an appropriate warmup period before I awoke). I was cold all winter. Now I have a roommate who works from home and I’ve decided not to be cold all winter, so it’s 70F during the day and 65F at night. I’m working to get the nighttime number lowered; eventually my theory will prevail.
Rachael’s Erik is wrong. It’s not about how hard the heating unit is working to reach a temp, it’s about the overall differential between the outside temp and your desired inside temp. If outside it’s 60F and you want it 70F inside all the time, then that’s 168hrs/week of +10F. If you let it drop to 60F for 8 hrs at night (and for simplicity, pretend the house immediately jumps to the indoor temp), that’s 112hrs/week of +10F.
Frugal Liz says
We keep our downstairs heater set at 64 and the upstairs one set at 63. When it’s really cold outside, I burn wood in the fireplace and stay in the living room drinking tea. My three year old and I spent many a companionable morning together bundled up on the couch with a fire going! The good news is my gas bill has never gotten above $73, even in the dead of winter. I live in north Georgia, though, so it never really gets THAT cold.:P Now my electric bill for the air conditioning is a different story!
Julia says
I drink tea a lot,o. My 7 year old son and I homeschool, we hang out in the living room because it has the most sun, the gas fireplace which we can turn on for a few moments of warmth, and the chubby kitty who is ALWAYS up for a cuddle. If we get really cold, we snuggle on the couch with several fleece blankets and read books for a while. My son is super skinny but never seems to notice the cold either, it must be a kid thing. I dress him in warm clothes and half of the time, he takes off his fleece top or sweater and sits around in his short sleeved tee shirt. My husband is the one who always complains of being cold—perhaps because he’s sitting around in a tee shirt? He just doesn’t like to layer things. (I wear at least 3 layers at all times.) Luckily, though, he doesn’t turn up the heat.
Allie says
Lol. I wish I wasn’t one of those bloggers. Lately, it’s been colder in the house than outside, though I had originally thought it was colder outside (which means I must’ve been wrong all along). What’s weird though is that today it was in the 70s and I was roasting. I’m wearing a tank top, because it’s so freaking warm to me now.
This summer is going to be brutal.
Rachel Heisig says
I recommend getting pregnant =) Ok, maybe you’d rather be cold. As you know we keep our house at 64 during the day and 61 at night. Erik says that if you vary your temperature too much more than 3 degrees your heat pump has to work so much harder to bring your temperature back up that it actually hurts you more than it helps you, moneywise. The other things that help me(besides being pregnant) are drinking hot tea and exercising(granted this is harder for you since you don’t have an elyptical trainer). Maybe running up and down your stairs a few time every 30-60 minutes would help =)
Kristen says
Dave, that makes sense…and it explains why the house felt so cold last week during the cold snap but feels better today, even though the thermostat is set the same.
We have electric heat, and we pay 12 or 13 cents per kwh(can’t remember!). I think BGE just rolled out a few new money-saving options, and I should probably look those over.
Dave says
We have a programmable threrostat, in the morning just before we get up, up to 70, a few hours later down to 67 ( lunch time, cooking ), a few hours later down to 65 dinner time, cooking ) then a few hours later 52 ( bedtime, three quilts and two cats )
We use about 210 gallons of oil a winter, before we kept it a 70 for the day and 60 at night and we used about 260, so 50 gallons at 2.50 is about $125 is about 20%.
Are you using gas or electric? What is your summer electric bill? What is your electric rate? do you have options for TOU time of use
Part of it felling colder now is the house ( walls, frame, everything ) has lost heat, not just the air and the air is a lot drier now.
Sari says
I keep my heat between 62 and 64 during the day when we are home, 50 when we are not home and 60 at night. I was keeping the heat at 60 when we were home and 55 at night but that was just too cold. I keep warm by wearing many layers: long underwear, pants, thick socks, and slippers on the bottom and an undershirt, long sleeve shirt, wool sweater, and even bigger wool sweater on top! In the winter we also seem to congregate in the warmest rooms: the kitchen where there is often something baking in the oven, or the bedrooms which can be as much as 10 degrees warmer than the rest of the house when the sun is shining through the window. I also drink hot tea all day long. I put loose herbal tea in a crock pot, pour in boiling water, set the crock pot on low and 15 minutes later I have all the tea I want all day long. I have also noticed that you eat a lot of cold food at your meals, smoothies, fruit, sandwiches, etc. During the winter I make sure we eat hot food at every meal. Oatmeal and stewed apples for breakfast, soup and bread for lunch, you get the picture. It makes a surprisingly big difference.
But I think the bottom line is, saving a small amount of money is not worth being miserable all the time. If you’re doing everything you reasonably can and you’re still cold bump the thermostat up a couple of degrees and don’t give it another thought.
Liz says
I recommend a warm wool beanie and a warm wool sweater. Fleece has never kept me warm and the idea that it will live longer then I will in a landfill when it is no longer fit to wear is rather disturbing to me.
Annie's Granny says
I do spend six months of summer up north and six months of winter down south, and here I am, considering selling my Arizona residence and just spending my winters home in Washington! It’s odd, 65 down here actually feels warm, but I feel cold at 70 when I’m up north. We’re lucky to have fairly cheap electricity both places.
Jen says
We keep our house at 55 during the day when we’re at work and at night when we’re in bed and toasty under the covers. At first, we tried to keep our house at a cool 62 when we were home, but lately we’ve been turning it up to 65 because it’s just too COLD at 62! I even found myself doing little dances in place just to keep warm while dinner was cooking!
Battra92, I’m with you. Six months in the north and flying south for winter is the way to go.
wendy says
We (I) always turn down the heat at night to about 55. Generally speaking, you should sleep better when it is cold.As soon as I get up,5ish, I turn the heat up to about 65 and it basically stays there all day. We homeschool so we are home all day every day. One thing we do have is Gas heat as opposed to electric. Our gas never goes above 60$ a month(water heater too) in the winter. Drinking warm things in the mornings helps my girls. Hot water with honey, tea, coffee, even heated up juice works. I am oveweight so I’m am more insulated then the kiddos. They have learned to say that they are cold or they grab a robe to put on. School is in the kitchen in the east morning sun so they warm up fast. I have found that fleece really doesn’t float my boat. I don’t think it keeps us warmer, causes alot of static, and just a bother. Silk socks would be the absolute best thing for you as well and silk longjohns, if you absolutely can’t get and stay warm. The outlay is a bit high, but you make it back in how long you can use them. Rinse at night, dry by morning.
Hold on you can make it. It is a longer cold period for us as well and we are in North Texas.
Wendy
Janeen says
I admire you for sticking to having the temp down. We keep our temps at about 68 or 70 all the time. Our bills are significantly less than last year due to attic insulation and windows that we had installed. Even when I turn the temp down to 68 my hubby wakes up at night and says ” did you turn down the temp”. He notices the slight difference right away.
I know the point is to save money, but if you are so unhappy maybe it is worth it to turn the temp up to 67 or so during the time you are the most cold. Then turn it down again when you go to bed. I bet the 2 degree increase will feel like a real luxury!
Sending you warm thoughts!!
Battra92 says
I hate being cold. I’ve often said if I had the money I’d spend six months in the north and six months in the south.
Do you have a humidifier? Moist air is better than the harsh dryness of the winter. I feel for you, though. I swear it gets so cold and dry here at work I could make beef jerky in my cubical. ^_^;;
Mrs Green says
I hear you on this one too. We heat our home with wood and it gives out a different sort of heat which means I can tolerate a lower temperature than I can with an electric heater. Our room temperature (you can’t control the wood burner as such ) is about 61 when I get up and I need it at 68 to be comfortable, so I pile the wood on first thing and let it draw up. I do lots of other things to be ‘green’ and I’m afraid that freezing my nuts off is something I find acceptable. I do have a hot water bottle I carry around with me – could this help you?
And remember that the place you lose the most heat from is your head, so a hat can make a HUGE difference.
If you’re not seeing much of a change in your bills, can’t you notch it up a degree or two?
I’m sure you do it anyway, but if there are any days with the tinniest bit of sun – maximise on that sun; pull those curtains right back and let it into your home. And I assume your insulation is as good as it can be? That makes a big difference too. This year, DH put draught excluder around the front door and I can’t begin to tell you how different it feels.
maddie says
I completely agree with you! Tonite, we walked into a VERY cold house and I just went ahead and turned on the space heater and the forced air heat. It’s ok now, but I’m still bundled up and have a blanket over me…and the laptop helps too! Need to head to a hot shower and turn down the thermostat.
My kids do not complain either…I have noticed them dragging their fleece blankets around more, but they don’t comment on it being cold.
Gail says
We keep our thermostat at 65-67. I was tolerating that just fine until about 3 wks. ago. It seeems as though it is much colder. Being in the mountains with alot of wind doesn’t help! I was complaining some, but then thought about people who have no heat, not even a home. Yes, there are people/families trying to live in their cars and it’s more prevalent than you might think. Knowing there are people who have much, much less than me and don’t have any heat, humbles me to quit my complaining. I do thank the good Lord every night for my flannel pjs and flannel sheets! I also get that bah-humbug attitude towards the electric co. and don’t want to give them a penny more than I have to!
Becky says
I hear you! I just commented about it on here recently. We were a tad dissappointed with our bill to say the least. I do the fleece, tank bra (surprisingly makes a big diff. for me) and long sleeve t-shirt, etc and there are still cold days. The upside is I appreciate the hot showers more and it has motivated me to work out b/c sometimes if I decide to just “chill out” during the boys naps I am too cold so I hop on the treadmill. Shivering here and searching for that “silver lining”.
Just Gai says
We keep our house at 59 during the day (when we are out at work/school) and at night. In the mornings and evenings, when we are at home, we raise it to 66. I’m the only member of the family to spend any time at home during the day and I’m sometimes a bit chilly, but never enough to change the thermostat. The girls sometimes complain, but I just tell them to put on a jumper. It does, of course, depend on the weather outdoors. I always feel warmer when the sun is out, no matter how cold it is.
Adrienne says
We have it at 66 most days. There are those days though for one reason or another that it feels significantly colder. On those days I push it up 1 degree. It’s surprising the difference it makes. It’s still much colder than I had it last year and knowing I can inch it up for the day makes it much more livable to me.
MrsMoney says
I thought I could be one of those bloggers with it at 55 then I decided it was STUPID to be freezing and saving money! Not worth it. It’s around 60-65 in my house. When I get cold, I turn it up. I agree- it sucks to freeze and not save that much money!!
Kristen says
Tina, I agree that 75 would be too warm. 70 sounds wonderful, though! lol
Jenny, my children hardly seem to mind. My oldest(my 9 year old) complains some about it, but the younger ones are fine. In fact, my super-skinny four year old runs about in short sleeves, or lightweight princess dresses a lot of the time. I don’t understand it!
Jenny says
How do your kids cope with the cold??
Tina says
Sorry, I don’t have any suggestions…we’ve got our thermostat set on 70 (down from the uncomfortably warm 75 my husband insisted on having it set on in previous years) and I must say, I admire you for being able to deal with 65 for this long! 70 is okay for sleeping (with warm blankets, I could probably even go a bit lower), it’s fine for when you’re up and moving around during the day, but in the evenings when just sitting around on the couch, it can get a bit chilly…I’m sure 65 is even worse! Here’s hoping you’ll get an early warm-up!
Kaylen says
You definitely have my sympathy.
We keep the house at 18 during the day/16 at night (64.4/60.8F according to Google). Thankfully we’re both the sort of people who find the rest of the world too warm, so it’s not a hardship for us. We do keep blankets in the living room for when we’re lounging around, and we have a very snuggly dog who helps to keep us warm.
Keeping the air conditioning at a reasonable temperature (25, usually) — that’s a different story.