# Northern Dopers, have you turned your heat on yet? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 19, 2014, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-dopers-have-you-turned-your-heat-on-yet/698898 "2014-09-19T02:12:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-dopers-have-you-turned-your-heat-on-yet/698898/121 "2014-10-07T01:17:27Z")
Ski pass A. Check. Furnace on. Ski pass B. Check. First snow. Ski pass C . . . Houston, we have a problem. Without ski pass C, there won’t be a major snowstorm this way. Needs must have ski pass C for the universe to function. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-dopers-have-you-turned-your-heat-on-yet/698898/122 "2014-10-07T02:48:54Z")
I’m beginning to think we’ll never turn our heaters on around here. (SoCal) Today was 86, tomorrow is going to be 85, and the 10 day forecast doesn’t break into the 70s. I’d much rather be cold than hot. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-dopers-have-you-turned-your-heat-on-yet/698898/123 "2014-10-07T05:18:47Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > This wasn’t that pleasant autumn smell - this was, I think, burning residue from whatever our furnace guy used to clean and service the burners in July. I’m hoping the next time it’s on, it smells better. I was being facetious - the first time the furnace comes on, it always smells terrible. That particular stink does smell like autumn to me, though - furnace is coming on again! ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-dopers-have-you-turned-your-heat-on-yet/698898/124 "2014-10-07T06:58:28Z")
Any thing below 77 fahrenheit or 24 celsius I need the heat on in the house.I have a low tolerance to the cold. But the strange thing I can go out side in a t-shirt and shorts at 55 fahrenheit / 13 celsius and be okay . This has always puzzled me.And if it was 77 fahrenheit or 24 celsius out side I would be hot. I normality do not put fan on to it gets to high 80’s. and put the A/C on if it is in high fahrenheit 90’s. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-dopers-have-you-turned-your-heat-on-yet/698898/125 "2014-10-07T07:07:34Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Nope, no heat yet. No need - Leet the Wonder Dog[sup]TM[/sup] is my large hairy hot water bottle at night, and during the day it isn’t that cold (in the 50s mostly). Today upper 70s. > > I will prepping the snow blower this weekend, which guarantees at least a month of 80[sup]o[/sup]+. > > Regards, > Shodan It is only October where do you live that you get snow in October. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-dopers-have-you-turned-your-heat-on-yet/698898/126 "2014-10-07T11:16:32Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > Any thing below 77 fahrenheit or 24 celsius I need the heat on in the house.I have a low tolerance to the cold. > > But the strange thing I can go out side in a t-shirt and shorts at 55 fahrenheit / 13 celsius and be okay . Its just what you are used to is all. You probably compensate by dressing in layers. Sweaters and sweatshirts aren’t fashionable, but when you feel cold, they work. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-dopers-have-you-turned-your-heat-on-yet/698898/127 "2014-10-07T18:38:38Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > Its just what you are used to is all. You probably compensate by dressing in layers. Sweaters and sweatshirts aren’t fashionable, but when you feel cold, they work. So you saying that I’m use to it being warm?And my body is not use to the cold? But what I don’t understand why can I go out in t-shirt and shorts 55 fahrenheit / 13 celsius and be okay. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-dopers-have-you-turned-your-heat-on-yet/698898/128 "2014-10-07T21:03:42Z")
> [@The\_Holdsworth\_Effect](#): > > A corollary, maybe a new thread? When do you put snow tires on? We have a tire store that will take chains back if you don’t use them 😉 If I don’t put them on when I get the car inspected (October) I put it off and never get around to it. It seems early but then we have gotten late October storms now and then. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-dopers-have-you-turned-your-heat-on-yet/698898/129 "2014-10-07T22:30:04Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > It is only October where do you live that you get snow in October. Here in Alberta, we are almost guaranteed to get our first blizzard by Halloween (usually ON Halloween, just to make partying and trick-or-treating miserable). ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-dopers-have-you-turned-your-heat-on-yet/698898/130 "2014-10-07T22:57:32Z")
We missed the MN snowfall, but the snow making system was tested today at one of the cross-country centres in Thunder Bay, ON. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-dopers-have-you-turned-your-heat-on-yet/698898/131 "2014-10-08T00:26:50Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Driving: I keep big heavy boots and extra socks in the trunk since I don’t wear boots on a typical day. Also extra mittens and hats, and hand and foot warmers > [http://www.grainger.com/product/26KF14?gclid=CJ\_ZvJGZ9cACFShp7AodSUkA3w&cm\_mmc=PPC:GOOGLEPLAA-\_-Safety-\_-Workwear-\_-26KF14&ef\_id=VCBH@AAABWz6jp8-:20140922160200:s](http://www.grainger.com/product/26KF14?gclid=CJ_ZvJGZ9cACFShp7AodSUkA3w&cm_mmc=PPC:GOOGLEPLAA-_-Safety-_-Workwear-_-26KF14&ef_id=VCBH@AAABWz6jp8-:20140922160200:s) > > in case you have to hang out by your car. I carry a snow shovel in car as well. > > In your house: What kind of heat do you have? Are you in the city and we can assume you are on city water? How is your water heated? As mentioned, it’s different if you’re in the country on a well and won’t have water if the electricity goes out and you don’t have a generator. > [@Fleetwood](#): > > Where exactly do you live? What you need depends upon how long it take to get resupplied. In the city of Boston or the close-in suburbs, you can probably walk to stores. The further you get into the willy-wags, the further you need to travel. Always have ample supplies for the kid. I assume you and your spouse are relitivly healthy and can tighten your belts for a few days. > [@carnut](#): > > For your car, have boots, a sleeping bag, a candle (the kind poured in a glass) and matches. The candle is for warmth if you get stuck in a remote place. Also carry a small shovel and some kitty litter or sand to use if you get stuck in a snow drift. > > For home, be prepared for an electrical outage, especially if your house has above-ground wires instead of buried cable. Candles and matches are good. So is a good flashlight. Perhaps a non-electric heater but be careful with that around a small child. > [@chiroptera](#): > > For the car: A snow shovel, and a piece of scrap carpet (or kitty litter) for traction if you get hung up on ice or snow. These two items are ALWAYS in my vehicles and have been put to use too, either for me or others who get stuck. I have to drive a lot and have learned to be prepared. Better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it… > > For home: Candles and matches, flashlights (plural), lots of extra batteries, some sort of non-electric heater, for preventing your pipes from freezing at the very least. Generator if you can afford one. > > A car charger so you can charge mobile devices. Last year my power was out for eight days during the giant ice storm…and car chargers were sold out in stores within the first day. That became a real issue! Thanks, all. We’re in Chestnut Hill, about 1.5 miles from a grocery store. My wife commutes everyday to work on major surface streets. Luckily she can work from home if the weather is bad and I’d just skip class that day. I’m assuming if there’s snow we’re not going to go anywhere outside of the city. We’re in a condo. I’m not sure how the water is heated (magic?) or what type of heat we have (I press a button on the thermostat and it turns on. So far it’s been really crappy. There’s two controls: one in the living room and one in the room. It seems as if hot air doesn’t come out of the bedroom, but out of the living room). I also don’t get any damn service in my unit (T-Mobile) so I’ve been using Wi-Fi to make calls. I’ll have to call the company about that, because if we lose electricity then we’re SOL. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-dopers-have-you-turned-your-heat-on-yet/698898/132 "2014-10-08T01:08:56Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > So you saying that I’m use to it being warm?And my body is not use to the cold? > > But what I don’t understand why can I go out in t-shirt and shorts 55 fahrenheit / 13 celsius and be okay. Radiant heat from the sun makes it feel warmer. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-dopers-have-you-turned-your-heat-on-yet/698898/133 "2014-10-08T01:21:46Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > Thanks, all. We’re in Chestnut Hill, about 1.5 miles from a grocery store. My wife commutes everyday to work on major surface streets. Luckily she can work from home if the weather is bad and I’d just skip class that day. I’m assuming if there’s snow we’re not going to go anywhere outside of the city. > > We’re in a condo. I’m not sure how the water is heated (magic?) or what type of heat we have (I press a button on the thermostat and it turns on. So far it’s been really crappy. There’s two controls: one in the living room and one in the room. It seems as if hot air doesn’t come out of the bedroom, but out of the living room). I also don’t get any damn service in my unit (T-Mobile) so I’ve been using Wi-Fi to make calls. I’ll have to call the company about that, because if we lose electricity then we’re SOL. Sounds like you have it easy! Most likely both your hot water and heat are gas but without the electricity to run the fans for your heat, you’ll be SOL when power goes out. It would probably be smart of you to figure out what you have, though. When we had the huge 8-day ice storm power outage last year, I ended up bunking with a neighbor who had a gas stove which kept her house warm-ish. And it was only because of pure luck that my pipes didn’t freeze and burst, causing very expensive mayhem. I’m better prepared for this year. I have a generator now. 🙂 If you are renting and in a condo you’re probably OK. But I am still in the “better have it and not need it than need it and not have it” school. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-dopers-have-you-turned-your-heat-on-yet/698898/134 "2014-10-10T14:51:03Z")
It’s currently about 48ºF here. I finally turned the heater on a couple of hours ago to take the chill off (as opposed to turning it on to check function, as I did last week). I’ve turned it off again. ---
**Author:** ![minionkat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@minionkat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minionkat)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-dopers-have-you-turned-your-heat-on-yet/698898/135 "2014-11-01T15:52:16Z")
I turned the heat on today. Not much, just to take the damp chill off the air. But there it is. We had wild wind last night and it seems November is well and truly here. All kinds of leaves on the trees yesterday, today nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2014, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-dopers-have-you-turned-your-heat-on-yet/698898/136 "2014-11-02T15:01:51Z")
We’re not like you weenies who have to have heat in the home at the least little chill. Our heat only gets turned on when there are subzero temperatures for more than 24 hours straight, otherwise we do just fine with multiple sweater layers and lots of hot soup. In extreme situations we might light a fire in the middle of the living room. Just like our pioneer forebears, only we eat better. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2014, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-dopers-have-you-turned-your-heat-on-yet/698898/137 "2014-11-02T18:39:39Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Here in Alberta, we are almost guaranteed to get our first blizzard by Halloween (usually ON Halloween, just to make partying and trick-or-treating miserable). Just about right on schedule - Halloween was a GORGEOUS day (warm and no wind); November 1st, however, the snow started and is still falling this morning. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2014, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-dopers-have-you-turned-your-heat-on-yet/698898/138 "2014-11-02T21:58:45Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > We’re not like you weenies who have to have heat in the home at the least little chill. > > Our heat only gets turned on when there are subzero temperatures for more than 24 hours straight, otherwise we do just fine with multiple sweater layers and lots of hot soup. In extreme situations we might light a fire in the middle of the living room. > > Just like our pioneer forebears, only we eat better. In Northern Ontario, our pioneers were primarily loggers. I can’t say that we eat better than they did. The way for employers to keep employees in the logging camps was to feed them exceptionally well, in both quality and quantity (the quantity was unimaginable by today’s standard, due to how many calories they were burning by cutting for long hours in the depths of the winter cold – from six to up to nine thousand per day, two or three times what we would eat today). Here’s a verse from a logger’s song from the Ottawa Valley in the north-east of the province, excerpted from http://www.foresthistory.org/Publications/JofFH/Conlin.pdf"]Joseph R. Conlin’s “A Social History of Food in Logging Camps”, Journal of Forest History, October 1970. **Now the board at the Caldwell, The truth for to tell, Could not be surpassed In the Russell Hotel.** In the north-east of the province, our city’s most popular (popular as in lineups across the atrium, up the stairs, out the door, and down the sidewalk during peak periods) traditional restaurant, the Hoito co-op, was started nearly a century ago by the local Finnish Labour Temple when a Wobbly spoke to them about the logging camp workers’ desire for food in town as good as what they were getting in the camps. If you’re into healthy and delicious home-cooked meals, or if you want to sit down at a long communal table, then you’d do well to be one of our pioneers, but if your DeLorean won’t start at -40, then just head on over to the Hoito. Here in TBay, the [Hoito](https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hoito-Restaurant/177201919037466?sk=timeline), the [Kangas Sauna](http://kangassauna.ca/) (that started as a family grocery store, but too many customers kept begging to use the family’s sauna), the [Kamview Nordic Centre](http://tbnordictrails.com/) (a Cross-Country Canada National Development Team site), and [Loch](http://youtu.be/HZnUZU47xPo?list=UUISUjnINNA2Iw2ahJuMOm1Q) [Lomond](http://youtu.be/zcKAyf48tXE?list=UUISUjnINNA2Iw2ahJuMOm1Q) (Ontario’s best lift area skiing), make for a winter wonderland, so having to turn on the furnace is a harbinger of very good things to come. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Holdsworth\_Effect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/848f3c/32.png) [@The\_Holdsworth\_Effect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Holdsworth_Effect)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-dopers-have-you-turned-your-heat-on-yet/698898/139 "2014-11-03T04:55:17Z")
Jackmannii- I’m trying to eat like **some** of my forebears because I suspect they had better food- but I’m sure we have MORE. This sometimes involves a lot of butter. We haven’t had the formal heat on yet- but the wood stove has been going for three weeks. I get cold when the house temp is under 60. That’s with three layers on. It’s down to 40 outside at night now, so the heat will need to come on soon. Ours is in the floor, and warm stone (slate) is really nice. Plus we have an electric heater in the bathroom. My sister is cold at 75. She doesn’t visit in the winter (not after the first time,and that involved a death in the family) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-dopers-have-you-turned-your-heat-on-yet/698898.md?page=6)