…you come home and find the cat sleeping under the covers on your bed.
I’ve been fighting it, too. It’s too early to turn on the furnace! It’s still fall! The gas bills will kill us! It’s not that* cold! Put on a sweater!* I put out a space heater. Both dogs laid down in front of it. The little dog jumped up a little while ago and stuffed her face up the sleeve of my robe and stood there for a long time. I think her nose was cold.
But, dammit, I will not give in, not yet!
I will sit in front of the TV at night wallowing in total denial while my hands and feet slowly turn to popcicles. Tonight I finally had to burn wood :mad: , so winters a- comin’. I hate it when I hear that furnace go on; all I can see are dollar signs @$2.29 a gallon for oil rising up the chimney. I bought 1,000 gallons and it will last until the end of May if it kills me.
Yet another reason this apartment kicka ass- heat is included.
Until the rent goes up. 
Mine too I’m actually really glad that I’ve got control of the thermostat even though heat is included, because my place faces south and in the winter the sun’s low enough in the sky to come straight in, so I’ve basically got a greenhouse. Even with the constant rain and clouds around here, I spent more of last winter with windows open than with the heat on.
I imagine that it would probably be best if I kept my mouth shut about that one as winter progresses.
Yep - and even better is that I just renewed my lease last week at the same rate I’ve been paying for the last year. So I’m locked in with no increase until next November (of course, the increase then could be painful…)
Well, I know it’s not time to turn on the heat yet when we can just get out our electric blanket, turn on the space heater in the kids’ room, and call it good enough for now!
I know what “fur” is, but what’s a “nace”? Is that something that we don’t have here in gloriously temperate California?
Oh, look, I think your house is shaking.
Must be one of those “earthquakes” you guys seem to have a lot…
Ooh, we’re having cold weather tonight, too. It’s going to be in the lower 50s. I may have to shut the A/C off soon.
I set the programmable thermostat to kick on when it hits 64 in the house. Meanwhile, we have already put the electric blanket on the bed, and we have afghans in the family room to cover us up when we’re watching TV. I’ll wear a fleece top in the house if necessary.
The front of our house faces south, but there are lots of trees and evergreens out that way, so we get minimum solar heating late in the day. So we’ll make do with sweaters and hot beverages. Oh yeah, and the fireplace insert…
I won’t turn mine on yet, either, and we’re Upstate NYers. Part of it is that we do live in an apartment, which is smaller than a house and therefore just with the computers on & two bodies in it it’s not that cold. Part of it is the high cost of heating, and we have all electric, but a big part of it I must confess is a sort of feeling that I’m tough! I can take it!
We got replacement windows a couple of weeks ago, to replace old, wooden sash, leaky windows for which we never did have storm windows.
We’ve already noticed a significant different in the comfort level of the house. It has dropped into the 50’s a couple of nights, and been a bit cool in the evenings outside, but we haven’t noticed it at all. Yesterday, the outdoor thermometer said 55, but the indoor thermometer was 78, and the thermostat was still set to turn on the A/C. I even opened the windows for a little while, to cool down the house a little.
Mr. Kiminy and I have a waterbed with a heater that helps at night (and which the cats have started to appreciate as the temperature drops), but even the kids have been comfortable with just an extra blanket or two. Yes, the 14yo does complain about the cold during the day, but she complains about being cold when it’s 90+ F outside, and she’s already wearing a long-sleeve T-shirt AND a hoodie, so we aren’t taking her complaints very seriously here.
I, like many Southerners, am a wuss. I tried to turn mine on last week and found out to my surprise that it’s busted! Luckily it’s under the house warranty, but they can’t come for ages.
When I was in an apartment in Vancouver, I didn’t have my heat on for several years. I had neighbours on both sides, above, and below, the hallway was far too warm, and the sun came in all afternoon. And I think at least one of those neighbours just switched the thermostat to ‘ON’ for all winter.
Then again, the heaviest jacket I wore for most of that time was just a nylon shell to keep the rain off. Growing up in Saskatchewan winters keeps you from feeling the cold anywhere else.
Furnace? It snows here and I’ll go all winter without a furnace. I refuse to give in. I’ll turn on the oven and leave it open, or walk around the house covered in comforters. But for the life of me, I will not pay a dime this winter for heat! They took enough money for AC!
Nevermind the fact that it looks like the apartment complex is pooling our heating costs in propane and giving us the average. Because of my suffering, everyone elses’ bills are lowered. Where’s my thanks?!
The top ten answers are… drum roll
- when you can’t feel your toes.
- when the dripping faucet stops.
- when your hot dinner is cold by the second bite.
- when your kids start wearing headsets with fur trim.
- when you have to cut an ice hole to feed the fish.
- when cans and bottles explode in the pantry.
- when the dog can’t find his balls to lick.
- when the cat’s fur is stuck to ice on the window.
- when your butt sticks to the toilet.
- when you house sit for your boss who’s gone to Cancun.
My storm windows are officially in as of a few minutes ago. I was hoping we’d be starting this chilly season with new windows, but finances wouldn’t permit. Maybe next year…
There’s a bunch of firewood stacked by the back door and a bunch of kindling waiting to be broken and cut to size. And I think I remember where the snow shovels are. I think we’re ready for winter. <sigh>
We haven’t turned the furnace on yet, but we have had a couple of fires in the woodstove.
We just bought a new car and replaced our roof, so finances are strained - we do have about four cords of wood stacked and ready to go. We have a rancher (all one floor), and it heats the whole house pretty well.
With natural gas prices expected to be doubled, that thing ain’t getting turned on till it’s damn cold outside.