How do you handle heating in the winter..

[lauren grier]

Do you keep the heat off till a certain time of year?
Do you keep the heat off till it's a certain temp outside?
Do you just keep the thermo set at a # all year round? (what #?)
Do you jstu keep it off/turn it on when you feel too cold?

My old apartment- had steam heat, and it got *hot* hot.. so I'd only turn it on as needed for like 10 minutes- and then turn it back off again- we also lived on the third floor.

Here...... it seems to be a bit .. nippier in the apartment already. It's bigger- so i guess that means cooler? I dunno. Anyway.. It's 57 outside currently- we've been dancing close to hitting under 50 at night but im not sure we've dipped into the 40s yet- so I'm not ready to turn the heat on yet, but was curious as to how everyone normally does it. I am cheap too- so.. I like to keep the thermo turned all the way off :p

[newfiemountiewife]

I turn it up whenever I need to, turn it off whenever I need to. I have electric heat, so that each room has it's own thermostat. So during the day when the kids aren't home, I don't turn the heat on in their rooms even in the winter, unless it's bitter cold. I just judge it based on the warmth of the house. I don't scimp on heat LOL

[nikkiARNGwife]

Do you keep the heat off till a certain time of year?
It ususally doesn't start to get cool enough for our heat until late October/November..but whenever I start to feel chilly I turn it on. We have gas logs downstairs and central heating down/upstairs. We turn the logs on first b/c they'll take the chill out of the air.

Do you keep the heat off till it's a certain temp outside?
Nope...whenever my feet start to get cold I turn it on :)

Do you just keep the thermo set at a # all year round? (what #?)
Unless it is REALLY cold here, we don't run the electric heat much...during the day I keep the upstairs set at about 68 and then shut the upstairs off so that we're just heating the downstairs with our gas logs. If I can manage to keep the doors to the bedroom/bathroom etc closed it keeps it pretty warm and we don't even turn on the electric...if I get a chill though and the logs aren't warming it enough I'll bump it up for a while til it gets warm again. We don't run the downstairs at night at all and I keep the upstairs at about 70ish b/c the kids are up there and they tend to kick their covers off.

Do you jstu keep it off/turn it on when you feel too cold?
Pretty much :)

[Sarah8914]

Do you keep the heat off till a certain time of year?
Just until we all get cold.

Do you keep the heat off till it's a certain temp outside?
Same as before...

Do you just keep the thermo set at a # all year round? (what #?)
Not all year round. In the summer, we keep it around 78, in the winter, 69 or 70. 70 seems to be my magic number of never feeling cold, but I try to go lower from time to time to save a little.

Do you jstu keep it off/turn it on when you feel too cold?
Just on auto, it'll cut on when it needs it.

Um, we're still running the A/C a LOT considering the high has been 95+ for the last several days. So... I don't have to worry about heat for a LONG time. And since it doesn't last too long, I don't worry about how often we run it.

[Kat Stokes]

In the summer, I set it to 80 when we're gone and 74/75 when we're home but only if it's really hot outside. 80 is a good temp for me if I don't have to move around much.

In the winter I get really cold really easily but still want to keep my bill low so I set it at 66 when we're gone and 72 when we're home unless I get a fire built. Then I leave it alone.

Our best friends own a heating/air company and they said it's easier to warm up/cool down if you leave your thermostat on and set at a certain temp. It takes a lot longer to heat up the house/cool down the house when it's off because it will run longer, thus costing you more.

[Jengerbread88]

We keep ours 72 all year round. Except, during fall and spring when the temperature outside is in the low 70s, we open windows.... when it starts dipping a bit chilly, we switch to heat, but it's always about 72 in our house...

[emmasmommy]

Do you keep the heat off till a certain time of year? we don't have like, a set schedule. just whenever it gets cold.

Do you keep the heat off till it's a certain temp outside? again, whenever it's cold. our house stays pretty warm without the heat if we keep it shut.

Do you just keep the thermo set at a # all year round? (what #?)we don't. we have hot water heat so if we turned it on, it's usually warmer than what we have it set for. i like the house to be about 71 or 72 (i like blankets) so i just turn it on as needed.

Do you jstu keep it off/turn it on when you feel too cold? yes

[mummytothree]

Do you keep the heat off till a certain time of year?
Well it doesn't have an "off/on" but I turn it down to like 50 in the summer).

Do you keep the heat off till it's a certain temp outside? It's a game in my house,:p I see how long I can go before I bump it up to the high 60's: I shoot for November 1st. 2 years ago I made it till October 31st. Last year I was not as lucky...we had snow on October 13th and a wee babe in the house so I didn't quite make my goal!! :D

Do you just keep the thermo set at a # all year round? (what #?) when I turn it up in the winter I keep it at 66 degrees. If it dips below zero I bump it up ti 68 degrees.

Do you just keep it off/turn it on when you feel too cold? Nope once I turn it on it stays at 66 till I shut it off in the summer.

[MamaBee]

Kat - hmm... interesting, we often thought it would be better to keep the thermostat at a certain temp instead of turning it way down when we aren't home during the day... yeah, who tells you to do that? the power company... :P

Do you keep the heat off till a certain time of year?
Yes... during the summer, the air only goes on when it really bad... or if my hubby is home... if he isn't home, the air is off and the windows open, I like heat.

Do you keep the heat off till it's a certain temp outside?
No... sometimes it may be 60's in the fall, but there is a damp chill in the air...

Do you just keep the thermo set at a # all year round? (what #?)
Hovers around 72... a little higher in the winter.

Do you jstu keep it off/turn it on when you feel too cold?
In the winter, we keep it at a 72 or so.. and turn if up when I get too cold.

[Stacey42]

I've got a programmable thermostat. It kicks on the heat if the temp in the house drops to 68 or so. It kicks on the a/c if it gets to 80 (though sometimes I bump it up to 85 this time of year when I have the windows open for a breeze). It's set up to be a few degrees cooler at night than during the day so the actual temp varies a bit by time of day. I go by temp, not date of the year.

I've been known to adjust it a bit if I feel chilly but mostly I put on a sweater. I'm always a bit cold in the winter

[taracotta7]

We normally keep it at 72. I am very cold-natured though so I am always freezing and wrapping up in blankets! :) I don't mind. I would rather be cold than too hot!

[lovely1m]

I turn it on once I get cold and leave it set to a certain temp all winter long then.

[nun69]

we turn it on once it gets cold...now that we are in the new house and have to PAY The electric bill, we will see how it goes..but we have a programmable thermostat too, so I am hoping we can set up to just come on a little in the morning and then again in the evening....we'll see..

[NeverendingJen]

We have electric heat, so ours kicks in as needed. I have only the a/c turned on right now, because it's still in the high 70's at the coolest. Once it gets colder here(like november or so), I'll switch the heat access switch again and it will be set at 68.

[jessica31876]

we use space heaters because we just do not have that many days that get cold enough to get a central heat unit installed. At night we put on sweats and add an extra blanklet if it gets really chilly. Night is usually the only time we really need heat anyhow. During the day the sun is still shining even when its chilly outside so we open the curtains and let the house get warmed up from the sun

[suladesign]

I'm in China and here the heating is a quite curious thing!

The heat is controlled centrally not by the individual households. It gets turned on Nov. 15, turned off Mar 15, no matter how warm or cold it is at that time. (Last year, we've had serious snow by Nov 12, but no heating. So I use a little electric heater, when it gets cold for me.) Most private households don't have heat all winter, where I live! It's FREEZING!!!!

Once the heat is up and running later in November, it usually gets so warm in our apartments, that most of us foreigners turn on the A/C again, just to counter the heat! Talking about waste of energy!

I know this isn't helping you La and everyone else, but I thought I'd just throw this in just to remind you how thankful you can be to have individual heating! :thumbup:

[AmyM]

Do you keep the heat off till a certain time of year?
No. But something about October here is always crazy. We'll have the heat on at night and air on during the day sometimes. It'll go from high 80s-40's at night a lot of times.
Do you keep the heat off till it's a certain temp outside?
No, but don't use it much until December
Do you just keep the thermo set at a # all year round? (what #?)
We like to be cold year round :) Everybody in this house is hot natured. So in the summer it stays about 72, maybe lower depending on weather. Winter I rarely ever bump it above 65.
Do you jstu keep it off/turn it on when you feel too cold?
Too cold? What's that? ;)

[rach3975]

It all depends on what our weather is and how uncomfortable the house is. We usually have a little bit of air on during the day through mid-September, go a few weeks with no air or heat, then switch to heat.

In the summer we keep the thermostat at about 77 and in the winter we set it for the low 70's. (Well...I intend to have it set on 72 but keep bumping it up because I get cold so easily. This is while walking around in a fleece jacket that goes down to my ankles.) Unfortunately our whole house is one heating/AC zone based off the main level, so sometimes I have to use more heat or air to get the bedrooms comfortable at night. I think the same temperature can feel different in different houses or with different heating systems. Our house is comfy with the heat pump set on 75 in the winter, but in my parent's furnace-heated house 70 is uncomfortably warm.

Our heat pump does a pretty good job of turning itself off when the house has reached the right temp and then kicking in again when needed. We may bump the temp setting up or down if we want it to go on or off for a while, but we don't actually turn it off.

[AmberK]

We have a programmable thermostat too. The house is at 74 during the day in summer and 68 at night- we like it to be cold when we sleep. :) During the winter I believe its set to 74. But seriously, who am I kidding- we dont get winters here in Texas! LOL!

[Lizzy257]

When I get cold, the heating goes on :D. We haven't had it on since early May, but it's starting to get colder now, so I would say once October hits, the heating will be on!

[gypsystar]

Generally speaking, I turn on the heat whenever I get cold but I try to keep it turned down low as long as I can. I also try to wait as long as I can which varies. I like to avoid running a/c during the day and heat at night but I feel like that ends up happening more than once each fall. We still can get some really hot days even when the nights are getting cold enough for heat. I haven't found an exact science to yet so I'm enjoying this thread!

[Milmomma]

Well ours is a temperature thing too. We don't have A/C, but I love the heat so its not a big deal to me. We are in S. Korea and they do floor heating with gas. If I get my way the house is 78 most of the time. Though I don't have to turn mine up that high since we live on the 6th floor and get the heat through the other units below us. Its kinda nice being in the middle in the winter. At 78 I still am in sweats with blankets, but I'm just a cold person.

[Emmy]

Do you keep the heat off till a certain time of year?

I turn the heat on when we need it, but *am* rather resistant to turning it on before the end of October.

Do you keep the heat off till it's a certain temp outside?

No, based more on how the house feels inside.

Do you just keep the thermo set at a # all year round? (what #?)


No we (and by "we" I really mean "I" :p) tolerate cold much better than heat. We run our air more than most people in the summer.

Do you just keep it off/turn it on when you feel too cold?

Once we hit the season of needing the heat on a regular basis (say November 1st) we keep the heat on but lower and raise the thermostat as needed. During the day we keep it at 62ish and at night we'll turn it down to 58/60. We all like cool more than hot and as I tell my kids - don't complain at me about being cold if you aren't wearing socks and a sweater. :p At night we all have 3 quilts on our beds and the kids sleep in fuzzy jammies so they are plenty warm. Last year when the twins were born we kep the heat at 70 and we all about died from it being so warm in the house LOL.

[SweetMelissa]

Do you keep the heat off till a certain time of year? Last year I think we turned it on in October
Do you keep the heat off till it's a certain temp outside? We keep it off until it gets to be about 60 outside then we turn it on at night.
Do you just keep the thermo set at a # all year round? (what #?) We keep the AC set to 76 and the heat at 78.
Do you jstu keep it off/turn it on when you feel too cold? Yup pretty much. We start off by turning it on at night and then we usually turn it off during the day. Then about early December we put the heat on during the day & night.

[newfiemountiewife]

I had to turn my living room heat on this morning for a few minutes. I hate cold. :p

[ColleenSwerb]

We have a programmable thermostat, saves SO much money. In the winter we turn it on whenever it gets too cold inside for me (I tend to be more sensitive to the cold than Jordan, and he's more sensitive to the heat than I am, lol). It's usually set at 72 or 73 when we're home, and about 60 when we're at work all day (I think). Right now we've had a stretch of a few days of NO A/C or heat, just open windows and awesome weather, that's our favorite :) I also live in 2 or 3 layers during the winter. I tend to always be cold in the winter, lol.

[tuneskids]

we've had our heat on for over a week now (yes, it is that cold here). We have a programmable thermostat. During the summer/warmer months, we turn the unit off (we don't have A/C). When it starts to get chilly out, we set it to 70 and it kicks on when the temp drops below. If it does warm up, we just turn the set temp down. And when it gets really cold (December/January), we sometimes set it to 72-75. lmao

[*Celeste*]

Do you keep the heat off till a certain time of year? No
Do you keep the heat off till it's a certain temp outside? No
Do you just keep the thermo set at a # all year round? (what #?) No
Do you jstu keep it off/turn it on when you feel too cold? Yes
We have a pellet stove so the downstairs is toasty and the upstairs is freezing all winter long.

[MandaT]

Do you keep the heat off till a certain time of year? We try to keep it off as long as possible.

Do you keep the heat off till it's a certain temp outside? As long as the house is staying consistantly above 65 the heater stays off, as long as it's below 83 the AC stays off. Those are pretty bearable temps if we're dressed appropriately.

Do you just keep the thermo set at a # all year round? (what #?) We only set the thermostat at a certain temp when the unit is on (central heating/air). We'll probably turn it on sometime mid-October/early-November & it will be set at a constant 68*, unless we leave for an extended period of time.

Do you just keep it off/turn it on when you feel too cold? Once it's on it's on, then we're not worrying about heating up fridgid temps, with 3 kiddos in the house we need to keep it comfortable, mostly for them.

[mkcdaisy]

Its only me in the house so I can do whatever lol. During the summer it stays on ac at 78 and I use fans to circulate and help. I don't turn the ac on until I absolutely have to and the same goes for the heat. It will be mid to end nov or first of dec before I have to turn on the heat and even then its low like 65 to 68. I turn it up a bit when i get a chill and then turn it back down. I normally just put on more clothes or get under a blanket. I get hot to easy and can't stand being hot when I sleep so it stays pretty cool at night. I do turn it up alittle on days I have the girl scouts at the house and then turn it down after they leave.

[rachaelsscraps]

My entire family is a blanket wrapped, hoodie & slipper wearing bunch, so we don't have to turn the heat on until November-ish. I like to keep the thermostat at 68, but when we go out I turn it down to 65.

The only problem we have is that the idiots that built this house put NO heaters in the upstairs bedrooms and we keep the baby's door closed to keep the cat out (last year she was still in our bedroom so I don't know what we're going to do about that this year- I'm not so keen on those little floor heaters- don't trust em to leave one in her room!)