On one hand, I can't believe this challenge is over. After five months of frigid temperatures, it seems like it lasted forever. On the other hand, I think I'll still be freezin' my buns since the weather around here probably won't warm up sufficiently for another few months. I mean, it's snowing over here. In Seattle. In almost April.Anyway, personally, this has been a great challenge. Prior to this challenge we generally always kept the house fairly warm - I'm talking 72 degrees day and night. This habit mostly started when the kids were infants and we never really thought much about changing it. So, for us to go down to daytime temperatures of 62 degrees and nighttime of 58 was a big adjustment. How did we do it? Probably the same as a lot of you - we didn't do it all at once. We slowly adjusted the temps downward as we got used to it. Plus, you start the habit of sitting under blankets and wearing more clothes around the house.
Did the kids mind? Well, let me tell you, Emma would be happy to wear her bathing suit and nothing else around the house when its 62ish in the living room, so she didn't care. Henry got in the habit of selecting several layers of clothes and was fine. I think the adults had a harder time adjusting.
What about visitors? Our friends and family quickly learned to come dressed for it, or if they got cold they just kept their coats on. I don't think anyone was ever too uncomfortable, except my Mom, but that's another story. We always have plenty of warm, cozy blankets around so if someone's cold, then it's their own doing.
Instead of running a poll today, as I tend to do, I wanted to get your actual feedback in the comments. For those of you who participated, officially or not, please take the time to answer the following questions:
1. Were you able to stick to your pledge? Did you end up going lower or staying higher than you thought you would?
2. How hard was it for you to adjust to the cooler temperatures?
3. Will you continue with the lower temperatures and will you do this again next year?
4. What kind of complaints did you get from others and how did you handle them?
5. Were you able to calculate how much you were saving on your energy costs? If so, how much did you save?
Thanks to everyone who participated and for those of you who followed along!
50 Crunchy Thoughts:
1. Yes, we were at zero electric heat and used the woodstove. It was very cold at night since the woodstove is not insulted well. Mornings were very crisp. We had to go get more firewood at one point, we are having a loooong winter here too. I didnt consider turning on the electric heat once.
2.It wasnt that bad, my nose is chilly as I type this. We were not as sick as before. It was hard to put the baby to sleep in the cold room (she had a sleep sac and a comforter) so she was fine and a lot less sick than my friends kids.
3. yes!! we started collecting wood already for next year.
4. MIL complained, but she knew about it ahead of time and wore a lot of layers and grumbled.
5. Yes, we cut our electric bill in half!!! Very, very happy about that.
I got into this challenge a bit late, but was happy to join in! Lowering the thermostat was the easy part- and I never froze my buns as I always kept my thermostat down so I guess I hav gotten use to lower temps in the house, On the badside, we finished an addition to the house and added two more heaters, so never did realize a great savings. But we have done very good with the additional heaters! One thing we did was install an Energy Star rated ceiling fan. We kept the living room fairly warm using it.
I can tell you we will do this with you fine folks next year! On trick I learned a few years ago is to do my best Mr. Rogers impersonation and put on a sweater.
Its a beautiful day in the neighborhood and snowing in Seattle!
GREAT challenge, Crunchy -- thank you so much.
1. Apart from a few occasions when high winds or "January thaw dampness" permeated the house, I was able to stick with 68/55. Within the last six weeks, I've gone lower, keeping the daytime temperature at 65 mostly. On two occasions my immuno-compromised, 75 year-old Nana came to visit -- and I turned the heat up to 75 for her comfort.
2. Not really. I like to go barefoot, particularly when I first get up in the morning, which went right out the window when even the carpeted floors are too cold for comfort on naked toes.
3. Without any question.
4. My parents took me to task with good old-fashioned ribbing, and my colleagues -- with whom I discussed the project -- think I'm insane (though to be honest I think they thought so long before this!).
5. Unfortunately, no -- this is my first winter in this space, so I'm not sure what it would have cost otherwise. I did start an energy-use spreadsheet, though, so I can track how my winter use compares to spring, summer, and fall. It's all relative, though, since I do so much traveling -- and the heat was firmly set to 50 when I was away for an extended time.
1. I never felt like the thermometer I got worked right. However, since the gas usage and bill decreased I know it was close to the target. And to be very unscientific, I'd say it felt around 59-60 degrees. Some rooms in the house were colder!
2. Not a problem at all. I like to burrow in sweaters and blankets. I really only notice a difference when I'm sitting still-it's easy to wrap up.
3. Absolutely continuing. I'd started turning the heat off during the day until we had this cold snap (we had snow too...crazy!). One cut back was by not heating the wash room. I think next year there will be other rooms that don't get heated.
4. The family noticed a difference, but didn't complain. Only one of the dogs complains (the Chihuahua). Usually she finds a blanket to curl up under. When the fireplace is running she curls up right in front of the vent.
5. The natural gas bill for is prorated over the year. Last month I got a notice that they are changing the amount from $50 dollars a month to $30 dollars. If I stick to what I'm doing that's a savings of $260 dollars over the year! Assuming that they don't raise rates....
1. yep, we stuck to it. We used electric heat in our bedroom and our daughter's bedroom, and set the thermostat to 60 on each. Otherwise, we used just the woodstove. I never thought of turning on the electric heat, not even in the other rooms that don't have heat from the stove (my sewing room, the laundry room). I did turn on the electric heat in the bathroom when taking a shower. brrr. We generally lit a fire in the morning to heat up the house and then let it go, so the house ended up around 60-65 throughout the day. We used about 2/3 of the wood we usually do.
2. not too bad, my hands are COLD while I type, and I wear sweatpants instead of light pj's around the house. I now know and love my slippers. The kids haven't really noticed and are naked half the time even when it's freezing.
3. yes, we'll do it again next year. We'll have to turn on some of the electric heat in the sewing room if it gets cold enough to freeze the pipes, but other than that, we're set. Cold enough to freeze the pipes is highs below 0 F for more than 3 days in a row.
4. no complaints. People just kept their sweaters on .I get more weird looks from my cloth wipes :-)
too bad winter's nowhere near over. we have 3 inches of snow on the ground right now!
oh yeah, no money saved on power bill, since our power is used for lights, cooking, and hot water. We did cut our wood use, though. My husband freaked out and overbought wood last summer - he bought 2.5 cords in addition to the wood we had from downed trees on our property,and we haven't even gone through our own wood yet, which was about 1.5 cords - not bad for upstate ny.
We have kept the heat at 65 and 60 for two years now in our drafty barn. We have a crappy cheap thermostat so I can't tell how accurate the temps ever are and since the walls are probably not insulated and the windows are 100 years old, we feel pretty chilly. I know we have saved a good deal of money and gas but don't know how much. I have started turning the night temp down to 55. I have done the low temp thing for a very long time and will continue to do so. We will be moving soon, probably to SD so i will let you know how it goes next winter.
The challenge is an EXCELLENT idea, by the way. And I love the title of it.
1. Well, I wasn't quite able to keep to my pledge. I ended up raising the temps to about 63 due to the baby. I also had to check the thermostat every day (often several times a day) to make sure that the Mr. hadn't bumped it up a few notches.
2. Adjusting wasn't too difficult. I actually found I slept better in a cold room with lots of warm blankets!
3. Heck, Yeah!
4. Other than Hubby constantly going behind my back and turning up the thermostat, there weren't any complaints.
5. We don't pay for heat in the apt, so I couldn't tell if there was any savings....
1. Yes, we stayed at 15C (59F) all winter long. We raised it 18C during one evening when we had elderly guests over.
2. We were fine as this is our second winter keeping the temps down. We needed an adjustment period after staying at a hotel for a week (we kept the heat off in the room while there but it was still warmer than at home. Within a couple days we had stopped being cold.
3. yes!
4. Didn't get complaints. I warned guests ahead of time. I was very happy to see my grandmother arriving with a wool sweater and a down vest intending to wear them inside!
5. I wasn't able to since we did it last year too. But initially, we couldn't believe how high the bill was and that's what motivated us to lower the indoor temps. So it's definitely lower but I can't tell by how much.
1) A few teething problems this year, but not too bad. We kept the heat on in the house, set at 57-58 at all times to keep the pipes from freezing if the fire went out or we were gone (also if it got lower the cats picketed... and frankly their version of protest isn't something I consider polite!) We maybe had a total of three weeks where we used the gas heater due to illness, wood running out for a day or so, or extreme company protest, but even on those days it was never cranked beyond 64.
Not bad at all for us, we learned a lot about heating with wood and will be better prepared for next winter. If it got TOO cold I turned on the electric matress pad and curled up with my honey. That and four cats kept the bed toasty at night. Husband found out its easier to sleep in a cooler room. I found out I hate burning ash (no heat from a flame just seems weird... and it smells bad!) and love burning hickory.
Yup. Started stacking and cutting wood for next year and will be putting in solar heat catchers and a few other improvements over the summer.
Family kept thinking we were freezing to death... we kept smothering when we visited them! (How folks can wear a wool sweater in a room heated to 78 I'll never know.)
No real clue what we saved, in truth not much this year. (Buying the woodburner and installing it cost a bit.) We still cook, heat water, and occasionaly run a dryer on gas - but the bill never went above $140 a month. The electric went down quite a bit (also usually well below $100).
I do know this. Most of our neighbors and local friends have had gas bills ranging from $250-600a month this season. It will be a year before we recoup completely from the burner install... but it was definitly worth it!
We didn't officially participate because we have been freezing our buns for several years now. But, before we ever froze our buns, we boiled them. LOL. When we were first married and broke and living in Houston, TX, we started keeping our AC thermostat set at 82 degrees and used ceiling fans to move air around.
Now, that we are in the Midwest, we keep the AC off until we just cannot stand it a minute longer (we usually run it July - Sep.) We still keep it at 82 - our kids do complain, but we just send them to the basement where it is a bit cooler :-). When the forecast calls for a rare stretch of weather in the mid-80's we turn the AC off for those days - most days it is 90 and above with a ton of humidity (Houston was actually cooler!) We keep the furnace settings at 52/62, with it going up to 68 for about three hours in the evenings. We have done the furnace setting for about 5 years now and the AC for 25!
Oh, our electric bill and our gas bill are about half of any of our neighbor's bills!
1) Stuck to my pledge. :)
2) Not very... we've always been super cheap and unwilling to pay for comfort, so this seemed right in line!
3) Absolutely! I'm never going back. And, I'm not using air conditioning this summer, either. :) (We don'thave it anyway... is that cheating?)
4) No complaints from others... of course, I did turn the heat up to 68 for my private lessons. When others came over it was usually for cooking/drinking/etc... so the house usually was warmer anyway.
5) YES! We saved an average of 19 therms a month... going from an average of 70.16 therms a month between October and March to an average of 51.33 therms between October and March. We cut our usage by 27%... and we were already pretty frugal before with it. I didn't calculate money savings... they've actually gone up, but that's another reason to do this next year.
1. Were you able to stick to your pledge? Did you end up going lower or staying higher than you thought you would?
*After our initial adjustment of numbers we were able to stick to the pledge.
2. How hard was it for you to adjust to the cooler temperatures?
*I am very sensitive to the cold, but as long as there was a blanket handy when I sat down it was fine.
3. Will you continue with the lower temperatures and will you do this again next year?
*Yep.
4. What kind of complaints did you get from others and how did you handle them?
* Mostly children who came to visit complained, but many of them learned to toast their backsides by the stove.
5. Were you able to calculate how much you were saving on your energy costs? If so, how much did you save?
*Our electric bill only wavered a few dollars even during the coldest of the cold snaps.
The only reason I changed my temperature was the addition of South American pets to the household. I just got in the habit of pulling on an extra sweatshirt when I got home, which had the added benefit of keeping my nice clothes clean when I forgot to wear an apron. I will be doing the same thing until it warms up and again next year. It was my first year in this apartment, so no idea of energy savings, but I can say that between the heated hallway, surrounding apartments and south facing windows, the heat hardly went on at all!
1. I learned about it late, but my main problem is that our main heater has no thermostat. Just warmer and colder. All the auxiliary heaters stayed off all winter except when I found one maxed out to 90 after the kids were playing near it. That room was quite warm when I got in there. :) Otherwise, we mostly had the heat low with no problems. When hubby was feeling a bit under the weather, we boosted it a little.
2. It wasn't really hard at all for me to adjust. I just layered up. One Sunday, the heat was broken at church and everyone sat around in their coats half shivering, but I was quite comfortable. One person commented it must have been lactation heat for me since I am a nursing mom.
3. Yes, I will do it again next year.
4. We don't often have visitors, but the ones we do have either didn't notice or didn't comment (or we weren't as low as I hoped).
5. Electric heat is included in our rent, so I have no idea how much we saved our landlord.
Thanks for such a great challenge.
Barefoot Gardener, I feel for you! My hubby was CONSTANTLY turning the heat up. The worst part was that over time, he would turn it up more! We (I) kept the heat at 58 day an night. Once I decided to go for this challenge (I don't think I "officially" signed up), Hubby would complain to me that it was cold, and I would tell him to put more clothes on. Then he started turning up the heat, at first, a few degrees... and by last week, I'd come inside to a balmy 66 degree home!
1. Were you able to stick to your pledge? Did you end up going lower or staying higher than you thought you would?
**Much like Barefoot Gardener, I had to constantly check the thermostat after hubby walked by to make sure our heat hadn't *magically* gone up a few degrees!
2. How hard was it for you to adjust to the cooler temperatures?
**Me, heck no... I'm fine with another pair of socks and a hoodie, but hubby was bothered that he may have to wear more than shorts around the house in December.
3. Will you continue with the lower temperatures and will you do this again next year?
**Bring it on!
4. What kind of complaints did you get from others and how did you handle them?
**Other than from my husband, only my father really complained, and when we turned the heat up to 60, he was fine. I think a lot of the "complaints" were due to hubby and dad thinking of this as "extremism" or "uber-environmentalism."
5. Were you able to calculate how much you were saving on your energy costs? If so, how much did you save?
**I'm only assuming we've saved; over the course of one of our "discussions" I told my oh so frugal hubby that we'll probably save on our gas bill. I haven't seen a gas bill since!
OK - here's my update:
1. I tried to go with no heat, I set my thermostat to 68F (I live in the Phoenix, AZ area) since my house tends to hold heat very well, and my husband is an Phoenix native and a wimp when it comes to cold temperatures. The first time we had lows down into the thirties, the heat ran once during the night. I eventually lowered the thermostat down to 65F, and the heat would run once around dawn when we had a freeze. So my heat probably ran maybe 10 - 15 cycles total this winter. Definitely an improvement.
2. I didn't have any trouble adjusting, and neither did my 5 year old. I found myself feeling very warm in other people's houses. My husband would complain, then cuddle up with a blanket. :)
3. I'm definitely going to do this again next year.
4. We don't have very many visitors, so it wasn't really an issue.
5. Our electric usage dropped an average of 14%. It probably would have been higher, but I started using the dryer again due to allergy issues. :(
All in all, I think it was a very successful endeavor. Thanks for the inspiration!
1. I pledged that our family would not heat the house until it got to 50 degrees. And we did that for about a month, wearing hats, gloves, and jackets inside. Then one day my husband freaked out. I have chronic asthma, and he was really worried that I'd get sick, I was having asthma attacks at night because of the cold... so he bought me a space heater. And I used it in my office, and brought it into the bedroom at night. I'd say we stayed around 65 most of the time. Not 50, but still low.
2. Hard at first. But it got easier. Now 62 seems warm, and we don't use the heater much at all.
3. Definitely.
4. Neighbors thought we were crazy to not use our wood stove. Totally nuts. And they came in but didn't stay long. Family and friends kept their jackets on, but they were ok with it. As soon as we explained that we didn't have central heating, they were fine and just thought it was rustic living.
5. This is the first year we've lived here, so we don't have anything to compare it to, unfortunately.
Thanks for pushing us all to do this!
1. Were you able to stick to your pledge? Did you end up going lower or staying higher than you thought you would?
- We ended up withdrawing from the official challenge soon after it began because one of our pet guinea pigs died from a respiratory infection a few days into the temperature reduction. I suffered from immense guilt, thinking I had sacrificed the life of my pet to save some energy/money. I cried a lot. It made me think hard about the effects of my actions on others, including non-human others. I am not sure to this day if the temperature reduction was the last straw that led to her illness and death (guinea pigs are fragile things, due to rampant 'accidental' inbreeding), but I do know that I consider the impact of things on a lot wider scale now than I did before. After she died, we went back to our regular temperatures of 18C (64.4F) in the day and 17 (62.6) overnight.
2. How hard was it for you to adjust to the cooler temperatures?
-It wasn't hard for me, it was harder for my husband. Without pets to consider, I could have gone quite a bit lower. I like having a blanket and hot water bottle and I like it quite cool when I sleep.
3. Will you continue with the lower temperatures and will you do this again next year?
I expect we will still have guinea pigs next year so we will likely keep our temps the same as this year (18/17) but we are going to do some changes to the ductwork in the house so that the heat from our woodstove in the basement can get upstairs better. That should reduce the amount of time the natural gas furnace comes on more than it did this year.
4. What kind of complaints did you get from others and how did you handle them?
- we don't get a lot of visitors, but the ones we do get do comment on how much colder we keep our house than they do. (One of my work colleagues keeps his house at 80 degrees!) Sometimes we turn it up to 19C/66.2F when expecting company, depending on who it is and how well we think they can deal with the temperature (e.g., 67 year old mom vs. 17 year old niece). Otherwise we have a basket of slippers and lots of blankets.
5. Were you able to calculate how much you were saving on your energy costs? If so, how much did you save?
-Our natural gas use was a bit lower than last year, because we used the woodstove more. But the amount of our heating bill was virtually identical (32 cents more this year) because the cost of natural gas rose.
This was an important challenge, Crunchy - thanks for holding it and for challenging us in so many other ways as well!
1. Yes I did stick with my pledge!
2. Adjusting to the cooler temperature was not too difficult. Only really noticed the cold when sitting still, then fleece blankets were easy enough to cuddle in. Ski socks and long underwear were my best friends! Honestly, some days I forgot to increase to daytime temperature until late afternoon or early evening!
3. Most definitely will continue with lower temps and ready to go for next year.
4. The only complaints I received were from my kids (ages 16 and 20) as they were sitting at the computer in shorts and t-shirts. Go figure.
5. Savings are difficult to measure. We did use less natural gas than last year based on bar graph provided by the gas company, but as to the exact dollar amount I couldn't be sure with price increases, etc. My guess would be somewhere around $50 per month.
Thanks Crunchy for a great challenge. I'm not sure I would have thought of it on my own. Deb in MA
Oops. I guess I'm Debbie C. I still can't get my name to show up!!!
we live in CA, so it was a little bit easier to save on heat, though it does get quite cold here at night.
We have a gas heater (and are in an apartment so we can't track hot water consumption) and basically turned on the heat in two situations - 1. we took a shower (usually an electric space heater in the bathroom) and 2. twice a day for about 20 minutes to warm the apartment (morning and night). Occasionally when it got really cold we turned on the heat for 15-20 minutes to warm things up.
We survived by having lots of blankets on the bed, wearing sweaters, and key - good slippers and socks (I purchased the fur-lined bearclaws) and good pajamas. Layering up with makeshift longjohns also helped.
We did this to save money (I heard about the freeze yer buns off later in the winter), but basically achieved the same end.
1. We stuck with it pretty well. I think there were a few days that we bumped it up during the day from 65 to 66 or 67. This seemed to happen on damp days when the cold just felt like it penetrated through to the bone. Nights at 50 degrees were easy as I like blankets, except it took a while to get used to sleeping with a knit cap on my head.
2. It was challenging to adjust. I don't mind snuggling under a blanket or wearing extra layers when sitting, but I found I got irritated with the bulky feeling of layers when I was trying to move around and get things done.
3. No more low temperatures for me now. We're already thinking about how to get through the hot months with minimal energy use. We're willing to freeze next winter, though.
4. Essentially no visitors, so no complaints to deal with.
5. Our monthly gas bill was running half or less than what it was last year. This was not entirely due to freezing, as I also hang clothes out to dry now and we use a lot less hot water for showers/baths.
1. I decided to put the house 55 at night and 58 during the day. We met this 80-85% of the time. There were a few days that I'd get mad at being cold or find it harder to get things done when it was at 58, and we'd take a couple days at 60 day and night - maybe even a day or two at 62.
2. Not hard because I'd done the same the year before, though I did drop the temps back more this year. My husband had a harder time because he didn't dress for the cold, but hes usually pretty active so that helped.
3. Yep, I'm committed to this. My daughter is too, we've since said we're not using the heat anymore this year and she supports that even during a couple of cold snaps recently.
4. My daughter (age 12) didn't care, the hubby fussed that mornings were to cold to get up and get moving but thats all - oh and he finds any complaint to not get up in the morning. I'd get frustrated if I was doing mostly sedentary work because then I'd be too cold, but if I was up moving around, things were warm enough (almost too warm - I'd turn the heat down even). And some days, I'd just feel like it was to cold, but that was rare.
5. With the 55/58 temps, we used about 2 gallons of fuel oil a day. When we'd increase that to 60/60 or 60/62, our consumption would increase to almost 4 gallons a day. So, we saved almost $5 day/$35 week with the decreased temps -- that was enough motivation for me and my family.
While not an official participant we did make major adjustments this winter. We are renting this house and unable to make more serious adjustments (insulation) that would be needed to go as low as we would like. I was disheartened, on the coldest bitterest days we had to bump up 2-4 degrees morning and night b/c the heat just didn't hold in as we like.
It was hard, b/c it was more of a mindset change - going from automatically bumping it up when chilly to evaluating what else we could do to be more comfortable and allowing messing with the thermostat when we were out of options. Once our mindset changed it got much, much easier.
We will give it another go next year - hopefully will be in our home or an apt - I think house rental has got to be the least efficient of our options, but it may be one more winter here.
No complaints, occasionally we used a small electric fan heater to warm up the living room for company. This was more efficient as the gas heat is one zone and we really didn't need to warm up the whole place for guests. We also used the same small fan in the office if we had to work at night as that room is the "cold room" of the house. It kept us from bumping up the thermostat but could take the edge of the chill.
I have no math on this gig as our last winters were spent in a huge dorm for work and the school picked up the tab on everything. Plus a single family house is no comparison to a dorm.
We kept the heat either off or at a high temp of 65. Since we live in Texas, it was not too hard. I probably had the hardest time, but started using a heating pad on my feet at night when I felt really cold.
A couple of visitors mentioned being chilly, but nobody really "complained".
I am not sure how much we saved, but I know that our bills were at least a little lower.
How about "toast your buns" for the summer? That's when it really gets hard core... (at least here)
1. Yes, we stuck with the pledge (62/56), with the exception of two family gatherings where I turned the heat up to 65 for those who find wearing long johns to be too inconvenient.
2. Not hard, partially I'm sure because we did the same temperatures last year. I still felt like I was participating, though, because we scaled way back on the number of hours the heat is set at 62. I layer: long johns, 2 pairs socks, wool clogs, jeans, and 4 layers of shirts (i.e., turtleneck, sweater, fleece vest, big sweatshirt).
3. Absolutely. This is for real.
4. The only complaints came from my sister, and I did turn the heat up to 65 for her on the two previously mentioned occasions.
5. I haven't tried calculating my savings.
We stuck with the pledge all winter (and still are since it isn't warm here yet). I was sometimes cold in the evening and spent a lot of time under the blanket. Even at 55, I never got cold at night, just wore jammies and put an extra blanket on the bed. We didn't have any guests this winter so no one to complain about it. I did like going to my friend's house, she had her heat at 72, it felt like a sauna! We saved about $300 this winter! We will definitely do this again next winter and maybe even go lower in temp.
We were able to go lower then we originally intended and eventually kept the heat off entirely. However, this was easier for us since we live in an apartment and the neighboring apartments provide extra insulation.
It wasn't too hard to do, we just wore more clothes and keeping blankets on the couch. We both really like to have blankets so it worked out well.
Yes, we would like to start the winter with no heat although we may be in a house and we will adjust as needed. We are planning on going this summer without AC as much as possible. Since we don't have any overhead fans in our apartment this may be a bit harder then no heat.
We don't have many visitors but no one complained.
I only have on bill right now to compare since we joined the challenge late but we shaved 1/3 off our bill which was pretty cool.
1. Yup! I stuck to it! No heat, baby! And I only ended up taking about 7-8 of my allowed 15 cheat days!! And those too, I only had the heat on for a few hours any of those days.
2. I'm not going to lie. There was a lot of damning Crunchy Chicken in my apartment. :) (Damning with fondness, Crunch.)
3. Well, in LA it's already warm, so I'm mostly focused on not turning on A/C. As for next year ... it kind of depends. This year I lived alone, so I could do whatever the hell I wanted to without having to worry about others. I am pretty sure that next year I won't be living alone... so I'll have to see.
4. Not really any complaints. I made sure I had plenty of blankets. I actually originally intended my cheat days to be partly for when I had guests, and offered to every guest to turn on the heat, but they were all mostly fine. But again, that's the advantage of living in LA. You really CAN do without heat here.
5. I saved so much money!! I think my bills this year were a third as expensive as my bills last year. It was the awesome. And yes, Crunchy, while I DID damn you when I was cold, I also did say a, "Thank You, Crunchy," when my electric bills came! :)
I never officially joined, and I wasn't going to comment on this one, but it seems like everyone thought it was so great and so easy. I had a lot of trouble with this one, so I thought I would throw in my two cents.
I did turn down the thermostat to about 65-ish, much lower than our usual 72-ish. It's not a great thermostat, so I can't say for sure. I HATE being cold. I feel depressed and miserable and lethargic and I just can't get moving. I want to sit under blankets all day, which doesn't really get the laundry or the cleaning or the homeschooling done.
Our house has two furnaces, so we did install a programmable thermostat on one of them and set the temperature lower for that part of the house (16.5 degrees celcius). Then, I put up a curtain over the stairway to block cold drafts.
For next year, I would FAR RATHER install more insulation and replace our 40-year-old furnaces than try to lower the temperature more. In fact, that is exactly what we are planning to do before next winter.
1. Oh, yes, we stuck to the original pledge and then made adjustments to go lower.
2. I have rosacea and my face actually enjoyed the lower temps. However, my feet were unhappy with me. Yes, it was a bit hard and I'm looking forward to warmer weather. It's actually colder than it usually is this time of year. As soon as it gets up to 57 degrees outside, I open a window and sit in a spot where I can bask in the sun. Ahhh.... I find, though, that when I visit other people who keep temps above 65, I'm too hot.
3. Definitely. Hopefully, I'll have some things in place (insulated windows, some kind of solar) to make it a bit easier.
4. No, we don't have many visitors. A young lady who helps me once a week (I work from home) actually got into the challenge. I was turning the temp up on the days she came into work, but when she heard about the challenge, she said not to turn things up her account. She started bringing in a sweatshirt to wear while working.
5. Energy bills were higher this winter than last but we maintained or dropped our cost. Several people who have houses smaller than ours had higher bills than us. Lots of folks in our area have been spending about $400-$500 a month on energy. Our last bill was around $262.
Again, we're looking forward to warm weather...but before you know it, we'll be hot and dripping sweat. Maryland weather! :)
We survived the summer without the air con this year (last year was the only time we've had it) with the help of our trusty portable fans. We got through a heat wave a couple of weeks ago (in autumn!) only to hit cold and rainy weather immediately after. Not really really cold. Not American cold. Not snowing. But quite a shock when you've been sweltering the week before. We haven't turned the heater on yet, but we did have one of those stupid conversations where we realised we were sitting around feeling cold for no good reason. We adjourned to the bedroom, changed into warmer clothes, pulled out our warm slippers and thick socks and then got back to watching television in comfort.
Let the Australian Freeze Yer Buns Challenge Begin! (Note to self: find the thermometer)
1. We more or less stuck to it (62/58). My hubby cajoled me into going colder at night, but there were about 4 or 5 days when, due to colds or emotional lows, one of us turned the heat up to 64 (gasp!).
2. No adjustment necessary after many years in drafty houses.
3. Yes, definitely continuing.
4. My neighbor, who comes over to study with me in the evenings, is from South Africa, where "winter" goes down into the 40s. They do not heat there at all, she says; winter's too short to install any kind of heating system. So she got in the habit of bringing her slippers over with her. I think it may have even made her eager to go home to SA when she finishes her PhD (or at least think nostalgic thoughts about home)!
5. It's a new-to-us apartment this year, so I have no idea about savings. BUT: we have our [projected] yearly electricity costs averaged out for all 12 months of the year, and our heat is electric. Our monthly bill just went from $117 (the utility company's projections) down to $62 (based on meter readings), and I wonder whether we won't get money back when we move again in August.
We had to adjust just slightly when the temps dropped to -34 (w/out windchill) but only slightly. Once the cold snap ended after 2 weeks we went back to our pledge....
2. We adjusted fairly quickly to it wearing fleece pullovers and sweaters, and slippers.
3.We will continue this agian next yea. With prices up on propane we can't afford to go higher.
4.We didn't get to many complaints and if anyone considered comlaining they thought twice about saying so to our faces.
5.Lets see we went from 600 gallons last year to 500 this year. We cook with propane also. We roughly saved $200. All toll we are down 200 gallons from 2 years ago.
We adjusted pretty well. Discovered our house is quite inefficient, though! Kept the house at 62 and still paid over $150 for one month of gas!
The cat took to sitting in front of heat vents whenever it turned on, and then reluctantly leaving when it cycled off.
I didn't officially sign up for the challenge, just too cheap to pay for the oil to heat the house. We keep it at 64 for an hour in the morning and hour at night and 62 the rest of the time. We do have a woodstove though and can get the house to about 68 when it's running. Getting in the shower first thing was always the hardest part. I'm trying to figure out how to make better use of passive solar heating so we can use even less oil next year, we cut about 100 gallons off so far (it is also our source for hot water).
1. We adjusted it and stuck with 67 when we are home and 64 when we are sleeping or at work.
2. I've traditionally kept the thermostat at 68 anyways so it wasn't a stretch. My husband wasn't willing to go lower than that.
3. Yes. But we probably won't go lower, except maybe at night and when we're out.
4. I got some complaints from my mom. So I gave her one of the lovely blankets that she crocheted me.
5. No! WE're in a new home this year.
1. Yes, we stuck to it! I'm so proud and, without this challenge, we might have inched our heat up a few degrees. By the last month, I'd just turn the heat off some days and let it drift into the 50s.
2. There were definitely some cold days in November, December. We invested in hot water bottles and went to bed in multiple layers. My husband wasn't so happy with it but he stuck it out and by February, our bodies had acclimated.
3. Yes and yes!
4. My parents asked if we were ever going to heat the house. We did turn up the heat for their two day visit. My husband complained daily but he was a good sport, drank a lot of hot cocoa and I always made sure he had a hot water bottle at bed time. My little guy was too cold in his room (coldest room in the house) so we double the boys up and it's worked great. We'll keep them that way and don't need to heat the front half of the house.
5. In our last gas and eletric bill, we were awarded a 20% discount because they said our overall usage was down 43% from our average of the last three years!
I'm another one who didn't officially participate - but I always kept it in the back of my mind. I'm only home and awake about 3 hours a day so I admit I bumped it up during those three hours, but the rest of the time it was between 58 and 60. I'm in Minnesota so during our very very cold snap in Jan and Feb I think I nudged it up to 62 when I wasn't home so my poor cat didn't freeze to death.
My boyfriend had minor complaints but got used to being cold. Next winter when we're splitting the heat bills I think he'll come around to my way of thinking.
This was a very cold winter. I thought we wouldn't light the gas pilot, but we lit it twice and had the temperature up to 70 when we were in the apartment and awake. (We had visitors and I was sick, so we turned it up during those periods.)
We are used to being cold since we don't usually even keep our pilot on. But as I said, this winter was really cold! I only turned on the heat when it was near to 50 indoors and I was home. I practically lived in a sweater/hoodie combo and wore slippers.
It has been a chilly spring in the mornings, but we will keep the pilot off.
My sister was always cold, but I gave her socks to wear when she visited, and she wrapped a blanket around her.
Since this winter was so cold, and since it is rare that we turn on the pilot at all, I'm guessing that we spent a little more than usual.
1. Yes, for the vast majority of the time we stuck to our goal of 65 when home days and evenings and 58 at night when sleeping. The first month or two, I would sometimes cheat for an hour or two in the evening when we were sitting around relaxing and freezing! and put the temp. at 70. But I realized a month or two ago that I hadn't needed to do that for a long time. We totally adjusted!
2. I probably already answered this question in #1.
3. Yes, we will do this again. Probably even lower--62 day/evening when home since we adjusted to 65 (down from 70) so well.
4. Nobody complained. We don't often have visitors anyway.
5. We saved a lot of money. Even in Minnesota here in very cold Jan. and Feb., we saved at least $40/month from last year. The other months we saved considerably more.
This challenge was great. Until March 26. Then I hit the wall, big time! I was whiny, tired of being cold, tired of bundling up, and tired of winter. I turned the heat up to 67 day and 62 night.
Then, I looked back at our heating bills for the past 3 years and March was always our highest month.
A side benefit of the challenge is that my husband is now so used to being and sleeping in cold temps that he turns down/off the heat in his hotel room when he's traveling for business (which is about 1-2 weeks a month).
My parents are cold house people as well, so we got plenty of support from them.
Purely coincidental (?), but my family was healthier this winter than in winters past.
Possibly the hardest part of the challenge was coming home to a cold house. When we leave for longer than 1 hour, I turn the heat off. I got used to wearing my hat and gloves until it got back up to at least 60.
I also spent more time at the library and in other public spaces so I wouldn't be heating our whole house for just me. My daughter's preschool is in a church which has lots of unused rooms during the day. I brought tea and homework, and used my time very productively.
This is now a lifestyle for us. (Except maybe towards the end of March when my inner brat is just done!)
1. We were, I don't have a numbered thermostat due the fact that the plate came off before we moved in, but it was off the whole time.
2. For me it wasn't too bad, my daughter didn't even care. The hubby didn't like it much, but he got used to it once he realized I would keep turning it off if he turned it on.
3. Yes, we will.
4. Didn't get any.
5. We saved about 40 dollars per bill, so about 20$ per month.
1. I was able to stay around 62 daytime and I didn't ever heat at night. (I only have an electric heater so it isn't as exact as a thermostat.)
2. It was not as bad as I imagined it would be to adjust to the cooler temperatures?
3. I will absolutely do this again next year?
4. No company, no problem.
5. I saved about $50-80 I think.
Thanks for the challenge, Crunchy.
This was a great challenge. I did not officially sign up for the challenge, but I committed to leave the heat off.
1. With the exception of when my family from Texas came to visit (I live just outside of Vancouver BC, Canada) around Christmas with their infant son. I did not turn on the heat. I did turn on the gas fireplace a few times (less than 5) when it was really cold, damp and windy.
2. It wasn't really that bad. Like others I layered and when I was sitting down I snuggled under a blanket.
3. I will do this next year.
4. No one really complained. I told everyone ahead of time what to expect. Some left their coats on.
5. I'm not sure how much I saved as this is my first winter at this place.
1. I couldn't stick with 58, we did 59 for most of the winter (winter is not over here - 8 inches of snow predicted today!)
2. It wasn't hard, but I had a nice warm office to go to during the day. I think I would have gone up to 62 if I was home all day.
3. Yes, we'll continue.
4. We turned up the heat to 67 when my folks came to stay, and kept blankets on hand for other people. My goddessdaughter has her own longjohns that stay here all the time.
5. Our heating season is October-April, usually. A few years ago it was snowing on May Day. We didnt' turn the heat on at all in October, and I'm going to try to cut it off in mid-April. That, and the lower temps, combined to save us nearly $100/mo even though natural gas prices went up.
And, I just used part of that savings to sign up for wind energy.
That said, I'm really convinced what we need to do is move to a smaller house. This place is a Victorian-era barn.
1. For most of the time we were able to stick with the pledge of having no heat (in Philadelphia, PA). The days when we did turn on the heat, we turned it up to 60 and it felt hot. I didn't have any expectations as to my success or failure, so I am happy how it turned out.
2. There was only 2 days when it was truly miserable and there was icey winds to add to the freeziness. Other than that it wasn't too bad. But if I didn't have to work or do other stuff and could just curl up in bed all day, I may have been able to go without heat completely.
3. Next year I expect to be in Los Angeles. So I will be more enthusiastic about freezing my buns. We're going to continue living as we did during the past few months.
4. I was too embarrassed to mention this to others, so we turned up the heat to 65 when we had people over.
5. Nope. Last year the bills were in a roommate's name, so I had no idea what the usage was like.
I do realize a few things though. Since my husband and I are lightweights we didn't cook very much to heat the kitchen. I think cooking alot would be more effective for a family size larger than 2 or 3. The best benefit of this challenge was being able to wait for over 20 minutes in the cold for a late bus day after day and read a book while waiting. And since I was always well bundled up, I was the only one at the bus stand not bitching about the weather.
I found out about this too late, or I would have signed up. At any rate, we keep our thermostat at 62 - which means it's 62 at the thermostat, and about 61 a foot away from the thermostat, 60 in the living room and 58 in the bedroom.
At this point in Central Massachusetts, its into the 40s or so during the day (20s at night), and I turn the heat off. When we lived in Texas, I set the AC at 84 and the heat at 60. People acclimate (I work outside). It's not that hard - but we'll see how it goes when I have kids.
No visitors complained, although the only guests we had were of a similar mind. We have piles of blankets around, and have these gray little fuzzy space heaters that meow. Incessantly. And grumbling 80 lb "lap dogs" that are happy to share their heat with us. Make nice foot warmers.
We have oil heat, and although we're very frugal, we still spent a ridiculous amount of money on oil (double what we spent last year)- although our consumption was about average for us.
It's interesting to note that we don't get sick. I work outside. My husband works inside, but takes public transportation and so is a walking germ factory. We didn't get sick at all. There were a few times we felt we were getting sick, but it never fully materialized.
1. Yes, we stuck to it. And we're still sticking to it, since the nights are still cold, and while daytime temps are moving into the 40s and 50s (at last!), it's not enough to warm the inside. However my husband did not like working at home in 62 degrees, so I let him go back up to 65, the temp. I thought we'd use only when all 3 of us were at home & awake together. He refused to use a space heater in his office (he doesn't like the way they smell).
2. I didn't mind at all, and was surprised at that. My 12-yr-old son never complained or even mentioned it at all.
3. We will absolutely do this again next year. Maybe I can even get the nighttime temp. down to 58.
4. The only complaints I got were from DH (above) who's generally pretty good about compromises. My mother-in-law however couldn't tolerate the 65 limit and turned the thermostat up to 68 without asking--not that I would have said no if she had, of course!!
5. Since we weren't living here last year (we were in glorious sunny California and didn't even have a heater), AND since we just put in a new furnace (EnergyStar, of course!) I don't know if we saved money. I'm sure we did but I have nothing to compare it to. This was a pretty cold & snowy winter for us, too, so even if I could find the records for 3 or 4 years ago, I'm not sure they'd mean anything.
It was fun, though!
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