I got an email from someone that said that they could not comment on my blog. I am not sure if this just occurred after blogger updated to its new format or if it has always been that way. I went into the settings and corrected that, now anyone, even anonymous commenters, can leave comments. If anyone has trouble commenting, send me an email and I will try to fix any remaining problems. Thanks for letting me know about the commenting problem.
I got to wondering about heating homes since winter is coming soon to some of our northern states. I used to live in Pennsylvania and always had a big complaint come winter time. It seemed to me that everyone kept their homes way to hot and it also seemed that the colder it got outside the higher they turned the heat. Oh how that bothered me. It not only was uncomfortably warm, since in the winter I usually wore warmer clothes (not shorts and t-tops), but it dried out the air and made your nose and throat sore. Why did people do that and I suppose they still do.
I must have been the exception to the rule. I kept the temperature in my home around 68 to 70 degrees in the day time and turned it down further during the night. I could breathe better and had less nose and throat irritations. I wonder if it is an instinct to turn up the heat in reverse proportion to the outside temperature. There were two things that I hated in the cold winters of Pennsylvania. One was the darkness and the other was the over-heated homes. I did love the snow and a warm bed on a cold night, but just hated the hot, dry, stagnant air in most all the homes. Keeping the inside temperatures down and burning a fireplace to suck in some outside air made it a lot more comfortable.
How many of my “northern” readers understand what I am talking about? Are any of you the ones who super-heat their homes? Tell me what temperatures in your home are you the most comfortable? Do you run a humidifier in the winter?
You all have a great day now, you hear?
Few people I know can afford to keep their homes that hot. The only exception is people who heat with wood -some of them don't know how to regulate it properly.
ReplyDeleteDry air is a huge problem, especially for people like me with lung problems. I keep a big kettle of water on the woodstove at all times, plus hang laundry inside. It all helps. Of course, heading to warmer climes in the winter works best of all.
In winter I set my whole house heater( propane) to 65 or so and keep my little daytime area warm with a small electric space heater thingie. ( My electric blanket I set to broil! )
ReplyDeleteMy ole skinny body don't have any insulation fat layer . My feet get cold about next month and don't warm again till May or so.
And yes, I have a humidifier.
I DON'T DO COLD!!1
I'm like Ben! As long as I keep my feet warm, I'm good to go!
ReplyDeleteI would rather wear sweats during the Winter than keep the heat turned up high!
6bears. I like the feel of a wood fire’s heat. Much better than forced air or stagnant radiators. I have had fireplaces that would burn 3 foot logs and wood burning stoves. Not now, and I miss them.
ReplyDeleteBen, I understand. I like my feet sticking out at first, then I pull them in for the rest of the night. I have never had an electric blanket. I like the feel of cold sheets.
HJ, I agree with you on dressing to stay warm and keep the heat lower. Makes for a better atmosphere in your home and also costs less.
I have been in a few homes like that, but I think it is mostly due to what I call the "Drafty Cabin" issue. In many of these often older homes, the heat comes from a mostly central source like a wood stove, or a propane heater. unfortunately, people are often else where, either near a drafty window or in a different room, and expect pure heat to move via convection to where they are.
ReplyDeleteWhen my wife and I bought our home, we immediately started looking at how to improve the effecentcy. All the older windows were replaced with double pane high effecientcy models as we could afford and we invested in heaver insulating curtains to cover them. Draft blockers are a staple around the doors. But the best thing we did was insulate our ceiling and floor with spray on foam. Now we keep our home at about 68 in the winter, and even the farthest corners are as comfortable as the center.
When I lived in Cincinnati, which has really cold winters, I kept my thermostat at about 65 degrees. I went out and bought several sets of thermal underwear, and even got some for the kids. You can buy baby thermals, and in our warm drillies we were healthy and happy. When one of my sisters babysat though, we'd come home to an 85 degree house! I lived in a house in Ireland that had no heat except for one fireplace in a small living room. That's where I spent most of the day, and I could see my breath! My fingers got so cold though.
ReplyDeleteNow I have a small Lasko electric heater that I use to warm a small area around me, and mostly don't bother with heat, but I can do that in Sacramento.
Grant, I moved out of Pennsylvania in 1979 and I am sure the home heating is more efficient now than it was back then. But a lot of people I knew always kept their house warmer than needed in cold weather. Maybe since the cost of heating has gone up, the indoor temps have come down;
ReplyDeleteGypsy, you know how to do it. 65 sounds good to me, but not to my wife. It has to be in the upper 60’s for her, like 69 or 70 or . . . I am hot in the evening and cold in the morning and my wife is the opposite. Opposites attract, right?
If it were 75 to 78 degs year round I would be thrilled to the bone. But since it don't work out that way, I'm gonna be comfortable. At 65 degs I would be freez'n plumb to death. Stoot, that's almost the temp of a ice cube. I've walked into cold houses winter and summer at 72 degs. 75 to 78 for old Billy Bob.
ReplyDeleteBB, you and my wife would get along great. She is putting a sweater on when I am fanning myself. We got to keep ole Billy Bob comfy for sure.
ReplyDeleteThe people across the street from us ages 82 and 85 keep their home so hot in the winter, it made me get sick when I locked myself out of my home in 2007...I came home and had to take a shower just to cool off, it was a warm November day and I remember walking to the bank to get a piece of paper notarized and sweating all the way up and back, their home in the summer they have to keep the air conditioning on all the time, when I chat with them I am outside will never go into the house, it was so hot I thought something wrong, that is they way they like the temperatures, of course at 82 and 85 I guess that what makes some people happy, high heat in the winter, cooling in the summer, but it comes at a big cost, most people just stay long enough to say hi and bye..we have ceiling heat in our home and wear warm clothing to combat the freezing temps, the ceiling heat only works in a couple of the rooms, the insualtion is long gone in a 33 1/2 year old home...but our energy costs are not much we just keep bundled up most of the 300 days it is raining and cloudy..just saying!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI have known people like your neighbors across the street. BTW what is "ceiling heat"? Is it forced air registers in the ceiling or some methode of warming the ceiling so that it radiates heat?
ReplyDeletei believe that temps are a "mind thing". after a winter of 30's, 40's, 50's and much below.....we feel like 65 is paradise! therefore, our temps stay at 65 in winter and a.c. doesn't come on till the mid 80's. it woks for us.......now old people with bad circulation are those who insist on living in ovens.... it is physical thing
ReplyDeleteI guess that as long as one can afford it, he should be allowed to keep his home at the tempeture where he feels best.
ReplyDelete