Blog Update!
For those of you not following me on Facebook, as of the Summer of 2019 I've moved to Central WA, to a tiny mountain town of less than 1,000 people.

I will be covering my exploits here in the Cascades, as I try to further reduce my impact on the environment. With the same attitude, just at a higher altitude!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Freeze Yer Buns Challenge 2011

It's that time of year, my fellow frosty cheeks. And, woohoo, this year it's the 5th annual Freeze Yer Buns Challenge! Unlike last year, we haven't yet had to turn on the heat so far this season. Outside daytime temperatures have been hovering just under 60, which means that it stays in the low to mid 60s inside.

Keeping the ante up
Again this year I'm going to be offering some really awesome giveaways for participants of the challenge, so you have something new and exciting to look forward to besides freezing buns and chapped cheeks. So make sure you officially sign up even if you've always just followed along in the past.

This year, as per usual, we'll all share hints and tips for keeping the thermostat low without really freezing our buns off. For those of you who use a form of heating without a thermostat, you are still invited to play. The challenge for you is to use less fuel.

How it works
Since I know a lot of you can't commit to as low temperatures as others, it's just fine if you pledge to drop it down one degree or so from where you usually keep it. Even that makes a huge difference. You'll find that, as the winter wears on, you'll be able to drop it lower as you adjust to the new, lower temperatures. So, if you don't want to take the icy plunge, don't feel like you have to drop it 10 degrees right away.

Pledge to Freeze Yer Buns
To sign up for the challenge, add a comment to this post and pledge what temperatures you will keep your thermostat. This year we're staying lower and so I'm pledging for 62 day and 55 night. You are more than welcome to meander through the posts from previous year's challenges if you want to know what you're in for.

As in the first and last year, this year's challenge mascot is the Arctic Seal. That roly poly little snow covered baby seal needs our help. Help prevent his extinction by preserving the Arctic environment by using less energy, reducing the amount of CO2 added to the atmosphere and stopping global climate change.

How low can you go?

Freeze Yer Buns on Facebook
This year I've created a Facebook Page so you have a one-stop shopping place to locate all the posts on the challenge, as well as post your own blog posts, information or anything related to the challenge. So, if you're interested in keeping up with others on Facebook, go "Like" the page!

94 comments:

Robj98168 said...

God. Already? I wasn't going to join this year, but then you intrigued me with bribes (giveaways)Anyway count me in to freeze my buns and balls and whatever other body part gets uncovered during the night in my unheated bedroom.

And oh yeah- 55/65 for me.

Heather said...

I have been following along in past years, we had tenants and had to keep the house at a toasty 68 (although I tended to turn it down quite a bit at night anyways), but this year we are in for 62 and 55 I think. More out of necessity with the cost of oil than anything else :-) Bring on the wool and fleece!

Laura H said...

Woo! Ok, I'm going for the 55F/62F levels! My house is pretty passively solar, here in sunny Colorado. Unfortunately, I'm down to a one dog household, so the nights will be cooler than last year.

Brandie said...

We managed 63 last year (day and night). Going to try for 62/60 this year, if our new roommates agree.

Angela said...

We got down to 59 all the time last year, so I'm going for 58 day and 55 night this time.

Moade said...

In Texas we are still in the low 90s, high 80s. I cannot even imagine what 62 feels like at this point. We'll wait and see.

Gloria said...

I have a tenant so I'll try 64/55. Added insulation this year and excited to see how much it helps.

Grace said...

We always keep our house coldish in the winter. I would love to join this challenge but my antique, rickety, cold-natured mini-Dachshund says no way. She is so cold she wants to be under a blanket while sitting on a person on the couch watching tv even in our sweltering Atlanta summers. Hmm. Ok, maybe she's just spoiled. Anyway, I will be totally up for this challenge when she decides to leave us and become Queen of the Universe, and not just the princess of our house.

Maria said...

I'm in! In the last week we've felt cold when the house got to 66 (we've turned the heat on twice when it got down to 64). I will set the thermostat to 66 during the day and 60 at night with the hope to get to 65 during the day at some point this year.

Anna Marie said...

We have three renters this year (hallelujah!), and we're providing each of them with a space heater in their bedroom so that the whole house doesn't have to be kept to one's standard of 80 degrees! I think the house minimum will be 61 degrees this year- not sure about night yet.

Michelle said...

I'm in, again. 53 at night, 60 during the day - as far as the thermostat is concerned. However, we've added a wood burning cookstove, and that will likely skew the results - favorably, if you ask me! - but we'll set the natural gas furnace as above.

fragmentaerie said...

I usually keep it at 65 during the day, and 60 at night, but I can easily drop it a few degrees. I'm in.

Christine F. said...

We are going to try something different this year... not lighting the pilot in the furnace for the heaters and just using the wood stove to heat the main level of the house. We will still use the Rinnai furnace on the 2nd floor of the house where the bedrooms and 2nd bathroom are b/c surprisingly very little heat seems to rise up there even when the wood stove is cranking downstairs. We will keep the Rinnai at 62 daytime and 55 nighttime and be as conservative as we can with the wood. We usually are anyway as we need it to last into Spring.

swiggett said...

I'm in! I think I'll have a hard time convincing my husband to keep it at 68 or lower, but I'll do my best to keep the thermostat below 70. (Feel like a bum compared to everyone else!)

Yart said...

Count me in. I pledge to 63 during the day and 56 at night. We managed pretty well last year with this. It was cold in the mornings until the heat kicked in. But we all lived to tell the tale... LOL!

Adrienne said...

This is the first year I've had a modern digital thermostat instead of a mercury one from the 70s! So I'll know the actual temp instead of the approximate one. I'm going to aim for 64/60; I hope to adjust that down a couple degrees but we shall see.

owlfan said...

I'm going to try for 57 nights and 63 most of the day, but I know I'll likely have to go to 65 in the evenings when we're all sedentary. I love my programmable thermostat! I don't think I could get up at 57, but set it to 61 and it feels toasty for a couple of hours.

No heat yet here, though it was a close call last week with lows in the 40s and highs only low 60s.

louisa @ TheReallyGoodLife said...

Do you have any suggestions on how we can take part in the challenge with some heating not controlled by a thermostat?

We do have a master central heating thermostat (which is generally on about 15C/60F during the day, and about 10-11C/50F at night) but also use wood burning stoves in our office & living room -- they keep the spaces hotter than the thermostat levels (room temps of 18-20C/65-70F). So I could lower the thermostat but it wouldn't change anything overall.

Any suggestions?

Dawn said...

We are definitely going to do this! We've had the thermostat turned down to 59 for the last month. The temperature here is already getting down to the mid teens at night, so we have been burning wood periodically for some supplemental heat and drying laundry. With a 4 year old, 2 year old and newborn, I don't think we can get much cooler then this.

nava said...

I'm signing up! We only have baseboard heaters in the downstairs, and are looking for something upstairs, and no reliable thermostat, so I am working on turning on the heaters as little as possible, and when we get a thermostat in place to keep it low, but I'll have to update later (if we ever do install one). So far haven't turned on the heaters, but are definitely feeling the lack of weatherproofing!

Brittany Thomas said...

I'm in! I'm going for 60 during the day and 60 at night! Ideally I don't want any heat on during the day but in all honesty I don't remember how cold it gets in my house without heat on a snowy day. So I'll take it as it comes, with a goal of at least 60. I'd love to go lower at night but with a baby that's hard to do...or with my husband, he hates getting out of bed if it's not 67!

SurprisingWoman said...

I personally like 64 during the day and 55 at night. My DH would freeze though so I will say 66 day (from 68) and 62 night from 64.

Let's see how that works.

Sherry said...

We're in Crunchy. We haven't turned on the heat yet here in South Jersey but you can smell winter in the air. We saved so much money last year that we can't not do it again.

Aimee said...

I just bought propane last week... I'm in for a degree lower than we usually do - say, 62 day and 58 night. My husband (from a tropical clime) complains continually, but we can't afford to keep it much warmer anyway, so what the hey!

Rainy Day Gardener said...

Ok, we're in. This will be our first year. We'll do 60/65 from 65/70. I feel like I need to put on wool socks right now :)

Anonymous said...

My goal is for the furnace not to kick on at all after November 1st. The weather's been so nice that our furnace hasn't been on yet, but that's fairly unusual. Most October's are too warm for the pellet stove, but need a little edge taken off.

The wood pellets are made from what would otherwise be waste, they are locally made and completely renewable.

(On the minus side, pellets have to be trucked, which is less efficient than a natural gas pipeline, the pellet stove uses a small amount of electricity, and they come in plastic bags.)

So if we are careful about when we fill the pellet stove and what level we keep it on, the furnace won't kick on at all, even at night.

Right now, we've bought 100 bags of pellets, and we need to buy at least 57 more to make it to April 1st.

Anonymous said...

We did 55/62 last year, and that was easy since we live in SoCal. I discussed 50/60 with the family and they are all in! I am programming my thermostat now...

Lisa Nelsen-Woods said...

I'm going down to 58 degrees - day and night!! I bought a bunch of fleece to make PJ pants for Christmas Gifts. I'll make union suits for myself with any extra fabric :)

Mitty said...

We are in for 64 day/62 night. We turn the thermostat in the living area to 60 when we go to bed, but we have to keep the bedroom zone at 62 (according to our contractor) to keep the bathroom walls warm because of a condensation problem that leads to mold.

Michelle Longo said...

I commented on the FB page but not here (I don't follow directions well!). Last year I tried to participate, but the heating system broke and we couldn't turn it off. It ended up being almost 80 in here some days! When it was working "properly" it used way too much oil for not a lot of heat. We replaced the system and I'm hoping to keep the thermostat at 63 during the day and 58-60 at night. The dog has pretty bad arthritis, so we'll have to see how he feels. We also plan to use the fireplace more for heat in the living room and we've installed french doors to keep the heat in that room better. I think I need to buy gloves though, because the finger-numbness is less than desirable!

Maria said...

I did it last year and it worked out really well. I will say 60 degrees this year day and night...Unless Nonni comes over and then I have to raise it up for her! :)

Todd said...

I'm going to try to keep it at 55 all the time.

Haley B. said...

It's that time again - hooray! I'm trying for 57/60 this year, but I hope not to start until after December 1.

Chloe said...

I'm doing 60 day and night. Maybe nudge it down a bit once I'm acclimated to that.

TraceyT said...

I'm in. 60 during the day. 55 at night.

Kathy said...

I'm in! We're ready for extra layers of clothes and blankets on the bed. We did 55/62 last year so we'll go for it again.

Crunchy Chicken said...

swiggett (and others) - don't feel like you aren't holding your own. Lots of people have supplemental heating via wood stove/heat. Every one's circumstances (weather, humidity, etc.) is different. What's important is what works for you. So, even if it's just a few degrees below 70 and you are pushing what you (or family) are used to.... that's great!

Chris K. said...

I'm in! We haven't had to switch on the furnace yet this year either, even though we've had a couple good frosts already. Thank goodness too, because it really needs cleaning! We'll be keeping it 65 during the day and 55 at night here. As of this moment, even though the high only got into the 50s today, it is 76 degrees in the house because of the canning (apple-tomato salsa. YUM!) I did today and the baking I did this evening (apple acorn crumble. Yum? Don't know yet. It is a new recipe.)

Lee R said...

I'm in!

We normally keep the heat set at 64 during the winter,we don't adjust it because our bedroom is partially underground,and it's already 10-15 degrees cooler in there than the upper level of the house.

I'll set a goal of 62 degrees and see how well that works,we've got a reptile pet,so can't turn it too low,otherwise it might get sick,and a reptile vet is much more expensive than a heat bill in January.LOL.

Leigh Whannell said...

We're expecting our first baby in Feb. so we gave ourselves the challenge of seeing how long we could keep from turning the heat on and how low we could keep it until baby is born to save money. Anyone have any tips for keeping a house cooler with a newborn in tow? We're aiming for 58/54.

Chris K. said...

Leigh: Congratulations! My suggestions for keeping the temp low with a newborn around are to cosleep so body heat keeps baby warm at night, breastfeed since it is always on tap and wonderfully warm, and wear baby in a sling again for the body heat. Additional pluses to all that: you don't need as much baby stuff and you'll form a much closer bond to your precious little sweetie as a result of all that close time.

Heather said...

@leigh Definitely baby wearing! Not only will it keep baby warm, but they are little heaters themselves, and you will stay warm. When my oldest was born, it was during the winter with $4.50/gal oil, we had fleece buntings that we put her in. They were probably for outside, but she wore them all the time. They were big enough to put lot's of layers under if she needed them, but between the bunting and putting her in the moby, she was always very warm. And now we have fleece buntings for every size up until 2 years old :-) Good luck!

Kim said...

Count us in!

62/55 also... mostly because it's so much easier to do down here in NC than it was AK! Even though this fall has been much cooler than last fall, we still haven't had to have the heat on yet either. Only turned it on a few times last winter, in December and January. I practically feel like I'm cheating!

SLClaire said...

We're in. I'll lower it a degree during the day and evening to 61F versus last year's 62F; then aim for 60F during the day later on. I'll leave the nighttime value at 50F (it never seems to get that low at night so effectively it means no heat at night). So far this fall we haven't turned the furnace on. The glassed-in south-facing front porch has generated enough heat on sunny days that it hasn't gotten below 66F in the house. We're going to add insulation to the porch roof and start shopping for a woodstove to reduce natural gas heating use even more.

(Shelley) said...

We've kept the thermostat at 58 day and night the last several winters. I'm thinking we can knock it down a degree at night this winter. However, it's several degrees colder upstairs where the kids sleep. The 5 year old, 4 year old, and 3 year old stay warm in two layers of pajamas and lots of blankets. I'm worried about the 1 year old, though, who is too little to stay underneath blankets. Anyone have any suggestions?

fae said...

We'll be playing along officially this year (last year was unofficial). I'm limited in how far I can go, what with my eldest cat being nearly 20 and pretty frail, but I think we can probably stick out a 62 (we fluctuated from 62-64 last year, depending on whether I had caught a cold...) for the most part. Last year the furnace wasn't fired up until mid-November, hoping to hit that again. We'll have our first freeze this week here.

Lisa - the Granola Catholic said...

I grew up with 55 degrees at night, great for sleeping by the way. We heat mostly with wood but only when we are at home. I will be setting my thermostat at 65 during the day and 58 at night. Our key to success will be the programmable thermostat. I really won't be heating the house when we are not home. So hopefully the heat will not kick in till 4pm.

Linda said...

Ooh what fun! Can I join in from Scotland? I read about the on Rainy Day Gardener's blog.
We're normally at 60 degrees by day and I don't know what at night because we never leave the heating on overnight. We did briefly when our children were newborns, for the first month, but after that we popped a hat on them and wrapped them up snugly. None of us can sleep if it's too hot at night - in fact we prefer open windows at night just to add that extra chill!

montessoridiva said...

We will go to 60 at night and 65 during the day. If we can go lower (that would depend on the 8 year old twins), we will.

Lizzie Bordello said...

Unfortunately it looks like I will have to turn the furnace on soon here in lovely MN! I'll be setting it at 61 for the day, and 54 overnight. Once I get the husband accustomed to the 61, I might try to sneak it down one more degree to 60 and see if he notices. ;p

Bee Girl said...

Alright, after much family discussion, we're in for our first Freezin' Our Buns Challenge!!! We're going from 68/55 to 63/52. We have a programmable thermostat, which makes it a bit easier to manage!

Mrs Mallard said...

Bring it! We'll aim for no higher than 68 during the day and 65 at night.

We've made it through some 65-66 degree mornings unscathed already, though, so I have hopes of going lower, but will set a realistic goal since I have to keep all my peeps in mind. If it were up to me...

Becky said...

We're in this year after following along the last couple of years. We'll maintain last year's temps of 54ºF day and 52ºF night, but may try 50º at night to see if we can handle it. The first goal is to not turn the furnace on until Nov 1st though and here in MN this week it's supposed to be in the 40s for highs a couple of days so....

It's funny how you acclimate to the lower temps though. We would sometimes set the thermostat up to 60 if company was coming over, but by the time it hit 58 we were all sweating and had to turn it off! This is our fourth year of setting it lower than 60º though and by now everyone visiting knows to wear extra layers.

chickenwiskers said...

We've been bun freezing for YEARS. Usually 55 at night and 61 during the day. The heat does not get turned on until Holloween and it gets turned off April 15. OH by the way we live in the SNOW-belt in Ohio, Geauga county.

Patti said...

In FL so haven't needed heat yet, but will go for the 62/55

Aydan said...

I moved from the East Coast (where I never had to use my heat) to the Midwest this year, so I'm going to go conservative and say 65° F day/55° F night. We'll see. I haven't turned the heat on yet, and it's been about 54-58, day and night, but that's a little nippy sometimes.

Jennifer J said...

We do daycare 24/7, and are required to keep the temp at 68 degrees. However, for the last two years it has been at 65/day, 58/night. Moms send sweatshirts and snuggly jammies, and nobody has complained. On windy days or if we get too cold to move, we pop it up to 67 for a couple hours. I am going to try to get it down to 55 at night this year. The Pistachio Project sent me over here - thanks to you both!!

Emily said...

60/65 to start with, maybe going lower if the space heater keeps the baby's room warm enough for diaper changes... Don't want to freeze his little tushie! :)

Michigan_Mom said...

Ok I'm in!! We live in Michigan right on the shores of Lake MI so keeping it as low as some is impossible although I get complaints from the family all winter for the chilly house :) Anyway I'm starting out with 64 during the day and 60 at night. Hopefully we won't have too many blizzards this year !!

Katrina said...

We're shooting for 60-65. Woo hoo!

Patricialynn said...

Count me in, even though I may have to fight with my husband about this one.

This sounds nuts, but I'll be keeping my heater set at 72. Why? Because our heater is broken, and 72 really means 62 - it's off by ten degrees. If the heater controls get fixed, I'll keep it at 62.

Lisa said...

I need to make it official on this here post but I'm always in on this Challenge! 62/57 has been our norm but I bet I could get the night temp a degree or two cooler (I just don't like the extra strain I put on the furnace if I make the spread more than 5 degrees)...

Hi, I'm Peach! said...

Count us in too!

It's 12:24 am, October 24, 2011 and weather.com says it's currently 67 degrees in my crime ridden little city of Bradenton, Florida. We've got the windows open and we're wearing shorts and tank tops... this is all the good news.

The bad news is that we are cold weather crybabies and we better get used to at least being cold because we're moving to Northeast Ohio in the spring!

I'm going to buy {beg, borrow, freecycle, Craigslist?} a thermometer to keep in the house, so we can see how low we can go.

Cold House Journal said...

We're in, of course! With no furnace or thermostat it's hard to know what to "pledge"... but we're already a couple days past where we first fired the wood stove last year, so that's something. I'm not sure we can pledge to beat last winter's average indoor temperature of 52º, because, um, that was a little extreme, and one of us might kill the other of us if we tried to go any further. But, I'll pledge to do our best, short of domestic unrest : )

Abbie said...

Count me in!

I don't actually have a real thermostat in my 450 sq ft apartment; thermostat-less plug in oil radiators are my provided source of heat. Last year, I held off plugging them in until Nov. 15th, and kept it around 62(home)/50-55(night & away).

This year, I pledge to do the same 62/50-55. But I'm going to try my hardest not to plug in until Thanksgiving!

Chrissy said...

We're in! Sounds like a good challenge! We usually keep the temp down a little lower than most people we know, but lets see if we can go lower! 62/50 sounds good. We usually just turn the heat off at night.

kfowler said...

I'm in! I'll do 62/55. We had our thermostat at this all growing up and it was no problem- even during large snow storms.

Donna said...

I live in chilly New England, so I guess you could say I'm accustomed to the cold (we might get our first snow on Thursday!).

This year, I'm going to keep my thermostat at 59 during the day (only turning it on when there's risk of the pipes freezing), no more than 63 in the evening while I'm awake and at home, and 52 at night.

Karin said...

We love the programmable thermostat and have for years. In fact, when I go "back home" I can't believe what a pain in the neck it is to rely on an old dial type; how do you preheat the house before you get up in the morning, people? We keep our thermostat at 58 (night) and between 60-62 during the day, depending on the time of day. We live in a damp coniferous forest in a house of drafty old windows so I'm unlikely to drop down much below that during the day due to the omnipresent concerns about molds and mildew. I will take the challenge, though, and reprogram to 57 at night!

04092 said...

Last year our programmable thermostat was set to 50 & 58. Rather than go lower than that (because dipping down to 49 might just be psychotic), we'll shorten the 58 degree window in the morning and evening - have it drop back to 50 a little earlier. As a bonus, that might encourage us to go to bed at a reasonable hour - win win!

Kelly said...

New to this....we are going to aim for 65 day/60 night. Hopefully able to go lower later in the winter. We are in Middle TN and we've had several nights in the mid-low 30's and it is no problem for us. The nice thing here is that we've had the a/c off for over a month (was too warm still last year) so we are enjoying the break!

RIrie said...

Helloooo there!

We've been doing this for years, but lately it's been more out of necessity then out of a desire to be better people LOL...Last year we kept the house 58 until 3 PM then I bumped it to 62 until about 7 then down to 55 at night. We used no heat at all in the second floor ( bedroom) zone. My son has a separate heater in his basement apartment and he often kept it around 70 which annoyed the heck out of me. He just promised no heat until December because he knows how tight cash has been. I'm not babysitting anymore in the afternoon so I'm committing to 57 from 9AM until 5 PM. 62 from 5-7 then 55 after that. RI is already expecting it's first snow so this could get interesting.

Donna said...

I live in Florida so not sure if it is okay for me to join in the challenge.... We will be shooting to keeping our heat off as long as possible this year and when it is on keeping it at 68 during the day and 62 at night. Our blood is thinner and can't stand it cold but I want to try and keep it as cold as possible to save on the heating costs.

Jesse said...

I'm planning on getting extreme. I live alone in an apartment in Indiana. I'm goin to go as long as I can without turning the thermostat on at all. It's been staying consistently at 61ish for the past few weeks. Good luck to all and may we look forward to spring!

Leslie Richman said...

I'm in! It's still warm here in the daytime, low 40s at night. We haven't used the heat yet. I hope to stay in the mid-to-low 60s on the thermostat.

KatieB said...

I am signing up this year. I'm going for 60 night, 65 day.

I made a bedwarmer last winter of rice in a cloth sack. I nuked it for 30 seconds to a minute, then put it the bed. I slept toasty all winter.

I love fall though. Didn't run my heat or AC and dropped $40 off my electric bill in one month.

Frozenbanshee@gmail.com said...

Awesome! 60 in the day and 55 at night!

Anna said...

Wish I could go all in, but I live in a basement of a house run for the comfort of a cancer patient. The one thing I can do is not turn on any supplemental heat in our area. That should put room air temps at about 62 F daytime in the depths of January.

equa yona(Big Bear) said...

Our space heater, which is the only thing we heat with, only goes down to 60 and then 'low'. The coldest it has ever read in the morning is 48 degrees, so I guess that is what 'low' means. We do use a small heater in the upstairs bathroom to take showers, but otherwise we don't turn the electric baseboard heater on up there. I reckon it often gets down in the 40s. I'll have to take a thermometer to the bedroom this winter and see.

Jennifer Simpson said...

We've not turned on our heat yet (E. TN) but it's 59 in here right now at 8:30 am. 59 is definitely doable for a nighttime temperature so I'm thinking 55 at night and 62 for the day.

Dogs or Dollars said...

I am officially throwing my fuzzy knit hat in the ring.

We've been keeping it 64 in during times we are home and awake, and 54 when we are gone or asleep.

Sarah C said...

We're in. I wasn't going to do it because we spent the last 2 years freezing in a drafty apartment. We're in a house now, and since the heater just broke, I might as well join the group. HA!

We're going for 66. The last 2 years, we couldn't get above 60 because of the horrible heating system in our apartment.

Vanessa Williams said...

Ok I'm in! 65 day, 55 night. But shh, don't tell my husband. ;)

Brad K. said...

Last year worked pretty good at 56. My propane furnace doesn't work at 55, the lowest this thermostat goes, so that looks like my target.

This lets me appreciate warmer and sunnier days.

Kristin Carpenter said...

Woo! We're in again this year. 65/60.

Claire said...

Last year we were pretty successful letting the night time temps fall to 55 and living temps at 64. We'll shoot for that again this year! I just bought some new LL Bean slippers and hope they will help my feet stay warm!

Alice said...

Nice! Heard about this through Kayla K's blog. I don't have a programmable thermostat, so I just plan to keep it around 62...

contessa20 said...

62* during the day and 55* at night. I think I'm going to need some more slipper socks y'all! :)

Andrea S in MT said...

We are in for our third year with you! 55 at night and 65 during the day!

Carissa said...

This is my first time participating in your challenge, though I've been progressively lowering my thermostat for the past few years. We're going with 60/55.

Tristin said...

My boyfriend has made me turn up the day time heat this year, so we're at 60/50.

BC said...

Oh Man, after reading everyone else's numbers I feel like a wimp though I grew up in Alaska and spend a lot of time out in the snow. Our nighttime has been set to 59 (which ends up being lower upstairs in our room) and days at 66, though if I'm home during the day it often ends up a 68. So my goal is 65 during the day and 56 at night. And I'll give myself one day a week (like when I'm sitting and doing paperwork or reading) at 67. I'll see if I can get it lower through the winter, especially one the snow insulates our drafty A-frame. We've already got 36" of snow in the Washington Cacades!

BTW I just found this blog today through Mother Earth News. I couldn't resist clicking on the "Freeze Yer Buns Challenge" Icon. Cheers to many jumping jacks to come! And baking to warm things up :)

alewyfe said...

Sign us up! Especially if there are goodies... We don't have a thermostat (or at least not one that's connected to anything that works- our furnace is ok, but not safe to use the way the previous owner of our house had it vented), and split our time between our gutted shell of a new-to-us 100+ year old house (bare brick, no insulation, brr) and our work studio two blocks away. Luckily we can shower and stay at the studio when it gets too cold out... hopefully by next year the house will be super-insulated. Right now we're just trying to get a proper vent-pipe for the furnace so we can keep the pipes from freezing when we're not there to stoke the wood stove. It was 48 F in the morning the last time we slept there... wee bit nippy. We don't heat our studio either, which is in a converted warehouse (with horrible drafty single pane windows that we've covered with plastic), but luckily we're on the first floor and they heat the basement to some degree to protect the pipes- free radiant heat through the slab floors! Between cooking heat and all our appliances, and the weatherizing we've done there, it stays toasty now. The first winter I was there was cooold though. We heat the "fermentation closet" where the beer lives (with a tiny space heater and a temperature controller to cycle it on and off) and I would climb up onto a shelf in there with a mug of cocoa, a book and a blanket... ah, 65 was sooo toasty! My partner has antifreeze for blood I think- he loved winter camping as a scout. I grew up in the south, and have grown to love wool and long johns in the dozen or so years I've lived in the frigid north. Brr. I've been stockpiling downed wood near our house and hauling it with an 8' bike trailer... that's an easy way to get some strange looks in the city! "Are you going camping?" "What are all the sticks for?" No, we have a wood stove, i's about to get really cold, and I plan to use it. Why pay for wood when it's laying around for free? The side benefit is that you get warm twice- once by cutting, hauling, splitting and stacking it... and again when you burn it. Win, win.

Unknown said...

Hi, I'm in! I read about this last year and it interested me, so I'm back this year. I keep my thermostat set at a low 50F, but I have a woodstove in my living room for more heat and comfort. I have a switch at the top of my cellar stairs to turn my furnace off. I do this most work days still, even living in northern NH.