In this Cafe Society thread about foods with cooking processes that make the house warm, I am reminded again that there are people out there with some sort of value system that tells them when it’s okay to turn the heat on. And I’ve also heard this of people deciding when to turn the A/C on, as well.
I don’t get it. Why does a date on the calendar decide when it’s okay to be comfortable in your own home? Do these people live alone, or are there others in the house that must suffer because the master has decided they can’t be warm (or cool)? What is this whole thing about?
Also, if it’s an exceptionally warm day in January, a day that you’d normally have the heat on, do you turn it on anyway, because of this calendar method that you have of deciding when the heat should be on, instead of turning it on because it’s, you know, cold?
Things like this really make me glad that I’m the boss in my house. If someone told me that I couldn’t be warm at home because they’ve decided it’s not time for me to be, then I would leave and go to a motel room.
I’m not sure I do anything “out of principle,” especially that. It would be a very bloody battle to the death if someone tried to pull that with me too.
Echoing this rant, I would like to also mock persons who dress for the time of year rather than the weather, and expect others to do likewise. It’s it’s fifty degrees out I’m putting on a jacket, no matter that it’s nominally spring. If it’s 80 degrees I’m bringing out the short sleeves, March or no.
Military base housing did this all the time. It started because heat was supplied by central boilers and they actually did have to make mechanical changes. But then I think they just kept it. One summer, in Yuma AZ, the on-base housing finally came out and “turned on” our AC. This was technically putting in the temp control ‘chips’ that turned the heat on. In those days, there were top and bottom controls. The guy who did my house forgot the bottom ‘chip’ and for a day, we waited for the thing to finally turn off. The fish tank was below 50 degrees and we were all in ski wear when they finally sent a guy out to ‘fix’ it.
I don’t personally use AC and I don’t heat a whole lot because I’m accustomed to acclimating to the various seasons. It might be partially a cost savings thing, but it has more to do with the fact that I am outside a lot and it is more difficult if you’re not acclimated. There are also some people who think this seasonal acclimation is a key factor in maintaining a healthy immune system.
That’s fine by me as long as you either live alone, or the people that live with you feel the same way. I, personally, like to be warm when it’s cold. I’m a bit more flexible with the A/C, as I’m used to extremely hot temps from living in AZ, but I need heat when I’m cold. And I’m not doing jumping jacks, and I’m not putting on 5 sweaters. I’d be like, here, here’s 2 dollars, please turn the heat on!
If I couldn’t afford to heat my house, I’d either move to a more affordable home, or I’d come up with some cheaper heat source. I wouldn’t just freeze.
I kind of do this. I have a vague goal of only heating/cooling the house 6 months out the year, so I get all excited when I can make it three months between turning off the furnace and turning on the AC, or vice versa. Of course, now I can’t remember when the AC went off, but I’d imagine that it won’t be time to turn on the furnace for another 6 weeks. Bottom line: I like to have the windows open, I like to minimize energy consumption, and I’m OK with putting on a sweatshirt.
We have turned on the heated mattress pads the past few days. Those things are awesome.
Heating the house with the oven (particularly if you’re also cooking extra food just for an excuse to have it on) is definitely more expensive than heating with your furnace so even if money is the reason it’s a bad one.
This is such an incredibly naive statement! Not everyone can afford to do this or even has the time.
Anyway my parents definitely subscribed to the “put on a sweater” method and now that I pay my own heating bills, guess what, I’m in their camp.
Best thing ever is my automatic thermostat, though. That way no more guesswork or waiting for a specific day. When the temperature drops below I have set it, it automatically turns on, and that way I’m not wasting money when it gets unseasonably warm.
I paid a lot of money for my house, my furnace, my a/c, and I’m going to use them dammit! My thermostat is set to kick on the a/c it the house hits 73 and set to kick on the heat if it hits 67 no matter what time of year it is.
I do have the common sense however to program the thermostat so the range is from 64 to 78 when I’m at work.
In my house, it’s usually because the people requesting heat (i.e. my kids) are dressing like it’s still August. It’s just about time for my annual “If you’re not wearing socks, long pants, and a sweater, don’t even bother using the word ‘cold’ in my presence” speech.
I don’t see how it’s naive to think, “Hey, I can’t afford to heat my house. Let me go live in a smaller or more energy-efficient home so that I don’t freeze.” To me, that’s realistic. But anyway, I would consider using an automatic thermostat to be more on the side of “turn the heat on when it’s cold” than “wait until a certain day on the calendar to turn the heat on”. I’d definitely do the automatic thermostat.
Heating oil is over $3.80/gallon. So you be I will delay turning on the heat…for as long as possible. We have a solar room/sunporch, that will get up to 90 F on a clear day-we use that to heat the house. Of course, it doesn’t warm up till mid afternoon-so the mornings can be …chilly!
Bottom line: I like to have the windows open, I like to minimize energy consumption, and I’m OK with putting on a sweatshirt.