Living Well For Less--Your Top Tips, Please!

[cutenirish]

okay it's 67 in here (no heat kicking on) and i'm a flipping icecube!!!!!!!! I'll be pulling out my wool socks soon-I know once we have kids the heat will have to GO up to about 68 or more :( so i'll suffer now and enjoy cause someone ELSE needs it besides me :)

[Mary]

Usually in winter I have it at 65 when I'm home in the evening. Lately, I've had it at 66 or 67, just because I haven't adjusted to the cold quite yet. In the mornings, I have it at 64 or 65. During the day, I let it drop to 58. At night, I keep it at 62. I have a programmable thermostat which is wonderful.

[faeanne]

used to be 62 when awake/home 58 when out/sleeping!

Now I'm trying the 61 all the time thing so far so good but it's not been freezing just yet! I prefer 65 when awake/home but it's just to expensive and our house is just 1250 sq feet! cape cod!

Before I got to your response I thought I was the only one who set the thermostat low. Ours is continually set at 64, but I was thinking of lowering it a couple degrees too. At the very least when we are sleeping. Right now- since it's not winter the heat isn't on all the time. When the house gets too chilly I turn it on till the house gets warm, then it gets shut off again after a while. At night it depends on how cold it is on whether it's turned on or not.

I'm of the mind frame- if you're cold during the day go put a fleece or sweatshirt one & some slippers. At night we have lots of heavy blankest for the boys & they wear "footed" pj's. My dh & I personally have a waterbed because there's not a vent in our room. Fleece works wonders in keeping warm- pullovers during the day & blankets at night. Oh, our 3 boys are ages 3, 6, & 9. When any of them was little (like around a year & younger) we did have the heat set higher.

We have the old dial thermostat- I want to install a digital one because I've read that's a great way to help lower your heating bill. Thanks for the reminder- that's something I kept forgetting to look into! Anyone have any recommendations on them?

[esperanza]

Before I got to your response I thought I was the only one who set the thermostat low. Ours is continually set at 64, but I was thinking of lowering it a couple degrees too. At the very least when we are sleeping. Right now- since it's not winter the heat isn't on all the time. When the house gets too chilly I turn it on till the house gets warm, then it gets shut off again after a while. At night it depends on how cold it is on whether it's turned on or not.

I'm of the mind frame- if you're cold during the day go put a fleece or sweatshirt one & some slippers. At night we have lots of heavy blankest for the boys & they wear "footed" pj's. My dh & I personally have a waterbed because there's not a vent in our room. Fleece works wonders in keeping warm- pullovers during the day & blankets at night. Oh, our 3 boys are ages 3, 6, & 9. When any of them was little (like around a year & younger) we did have the heat set higher.

We have the old dial thermostat- I want to install a digital one because I've read that's a great way to help lower your heating bill. Thanks for the reminder- that's something I kept forgetting to look into! Anyone have any recommendations on them?

You're absolutely not alone. I kept replying to this and then deleting it before I posted.

I keep mine at 60. I have small children. They'd run around naked if I allowed them, so they are clearly not affected by it. We wear extra layers during the day and use flannel, down bedding at night.

Our gas and electric bills last year were around $300 and that was with keeping it at 60. Katrina and heating with gas kicked our butt's I'll set it at 68 when company comes over since I know other people may not share my view on heating. If I put it any higher than that, I would need to wear a seasonally inappropriate t-shirt b/c by the time I have adjusted to a temp of 60, 68 makes me sweat.

The "thermostat war" season has begun. DH wants it higher, I want it lower.

[kurlisola]

I really don't pay attention-lol! I like to feel comfortable, so if I'm cold, I'll turn it up. If I'm warm, I'll turn it down. We have dual digital thermostats at our current house (one upstairs & one downstairs). I think the upstairs one is probably set lower since we are only up there at bedtime. At our previous house, I did pay more attention because dh & I would have thermostat wars. I kept it between 75-80 degrees (rarely at 80...sometimes I just had a real chill)& he wanted it at 72-74 degrees. We had a manual knob thermostat there. Now, when we lived at the townhouse for a couple years, we solved my "chills" by having a space heater next to the computer or in the family room. The regular thermostat was set about 72.

[jonjaktez]

I don't know the exact temp that our's is set at because we have the old space heaters. In the den it's ok when either we are in there or to take the chill out of that side of the house except at night when it's off. The one in the living room is on all the time, high when we are really cold and low when keep the chill out and at night. At night, we have electric space heaters that are on to keep the chill out and we have lots of blankets on the beds. My house is about 100 yrs old and has old heating system. Our Electricity bill runs about $300 year round. We are getting a central heating/ac unit soon.

[spadesbouncer]

I DO NOT EVEN HAVE HEAT....Our unit went out and they want over 2000 to fix it and i just cannot pay it.. We all have electric blankets and we do have those little electric heaters.. We really need to get another one.. So i guess it doesn't really matter what i set it at i am still cold..LOL

[BzyBee]

Well, it is 60 in the house when I got up this morning..but we haven't turned the heat on at all yet this year. It will warm up when the sun hits the house in a little while.
We take a more natural approach and don't turn on the heat until someone slips into mild hypothermia. LOL...not really...but it is kept cool here overnight and up to 65-69 during the day. Some days just feel colder so I have to turn it up a bit, or run the fireplace.

Right now I feel cool enough to add another layer, but not cold like my toes are freezing...I hate to have cold feet and they act as my primary thermostat...:Nod:

We keep a little heater in the bathroom to run while we shower...I do like it a bit warmer till my hair is dry and I am dressed.
We have looked at electric heating pads or blankets...maybe when we find a great deal we would get some.

I love warm pajamas and blankets on the bed...comfy slippers and a mug of hot chocolate. Those things just aren't as good at 70* as they are at 65*...KWIM??

ETA...we do have a programmable thermostat, and DH installed a separate switch so that we can control the heat strips if the temp dips down. We don't want them running much as that is what runs up the bill.

[mocha poka]

We don't turn the heat on here either! Something is wrong with the gas unit in this house (we rent) and since the gas company says it's not a leak so it isn't life threatening the landlord doesn't have to fix it. Our gas bill was outragous last winter and even when we set it on 64 it stayed the same $$. So my DH just turned it off and now we just have a few space heaters and keep a fire going all winter long! So our gas bill stays at around $35 yr round. We have a ranch style home and it stays toasty!!

I DO NOT EVEN HAVE HEAT....Our unit went out and they want over 2000 to fix it and i just cannot pay it.. We all have electric blankets and we do have those little electric heaters.. We really need to get another one.. So i guess it doesn't really matter what i set it at i am still cold..LOL

[too-old-now]

When it gets to 69, I become too-cold-now.

Based on the private message I got regarding this reponse, I want to apologize to anyone who thought this reply was of an "adult nature". I really was ONLY talking about the thermostat!