Comments on Crunchy Chicken: Freeze Yer Buns check-in

We've been doing better than I expected, but we ar...

2008-12-19T20:50:00.000-08:00

We've been doing better than I expected, but we are starting slow, trying to keep the thermostat at 67-68 most of the time when we're home. My husband has claimed he's cold a few times, and has turned it up a couple of degrees. Still, even then, I figure we're below where we kept things in the past (shamefully), and by a couple of degrees. Lately I've been sneaking it down to 66 degrees sometimes, particularly at night. I actually like to sleep in cool temps, and would go lower, but my husband complains of sinus issues if it's too cool...

Jenni in Ohio

We finally broke down during the cold snap and tur...

2008-12-18T22:43:00.000-08:00

We finally broke down during the cold snap and turned our boiler on, but we are still keeping the thermostats at 60, and the woodstove going when we are at home. I got a pair of Sorel sheepskin slippers from Zappos and they make all the difference in the world. If your feet are warm you can stand pretty much anything!

The thermostat has been at 63, and I'm still worki...

2008-12-18T12:41:00.000-08:00

The thermostat has been at 63, and I'm still working on hubby to get it down to 60 at night. I think our bedroom is probably at that, it doesn't heat up as much as the room with the thermostat in it.

We upped our thermostat a few degrees, so that at ...

2008-12-18T06:27:00.000-08:00

We upped our thermostat a few degrees, so that at night it is 55, not 50. An hour before we wake up the house is brought up to 58, and then we wake up and get the wood stove going. We've been burning less wood, just a fire in the morining and one at night, so the house is around 65 while we're up and around... Ptty training the baby, so we need it warm enough for him to be naked from the waist down! As far as electricity bills go, we use 100% green energy from our provider, live in 1100 sq foot house, and it usually costs between $100 and $130 a month depending on what home projects we're doing (saws, compressors, dehydrators, they all use a lot of extra energy, apparently.) I used to be able to keep it closer to 80 or 90$ but since the price of elecricity went up in the NE last year, this is where our bills find us...The more I cut back on use, the more the price goes up, and so my overall cost stays the same.

it's 43 in our house. so cold that you have three...

2008-12-18T01:53:00.000-08:00

it's 43 in our house. so cold that you have three layers on and you see that sweater laying on the bed and think hmmm i should put that on too.

we had to turn on the electric wall heater in the baby's room, her room is a blast of hot air when you walk in: 54 degrees. i kid you not. and it's making our electric bill skyrocket just to keep it there.

the only room that is warm is the kitchen were we have a hearth, we just hang out there all day and cook and crack nuts.

at night, we snuggle, use lots of comforters and wear polar fleece hats. the baby has three layers and a polar fleece sack a bebe, she is super warm and cozy.

next year, our dining room fireplace will be built with a system that go into each room to keep everyone warm. dreaming of next year while freezing our buns off this year!

I have mine set at 58 during the day and it goes u...

2008-12-16T15:40:00.000-08:00

I have mine set at 58 during the day and it goes up to 62 in the evening and down again after we're in bed. My new habits are paying off - I reduced both my November electric and natural gas usage by 75% in my 1400 sq. ft home http://condo-blues.blogspot.com/2008/12/20-home-utility-reduction-challenge.html. I'm doing the happy dance!!!

I've had mine on 55 when I'm home and 50 when I'm ...

2008-12-16T11:45:00.000-08:00

I've had mine on 55 when I'm home and 50 when I'm out, 'though I turn it up to 60 when my girlfriend stops by. I find it weird that, if I'm busy, 55 feels fine (sometimes t-shirt fine); while other times, I feel f-f-freezing!
I almost always crawl into bed with my hoodie sweatshirt on, then jettison it as the bed warms up.

We've been keeping ours at 65 during the day and 6...

2008-12-16T11:14:00.000-08:00

We've been keeping ours at 65 during the day and 63 at night. That's a big adjustment from the 70 we used to keep it at 24/7. I think I could go lower, but my husband would organize a revolt, probably! He's much less tolerant of cold than I am, and 65 is huge stretch for him.

(suburban chicago)

the upstairs stays aroun...

2008-12-16T09:04:00.000-08:00

(suburban chicago)

the upstairs stays around 60F; I'm not sure what downstairs is set at.

We have problems with the upstairs bathroom pipes freezing during cold blasts (pipes run along outside wall and get hit by west winds), so in the past I've pointed a space heater at that wall during extreme weather. I will sometimes use the space heater to pre-heat the bathroom prior to showering as well, but mostly I just try to take showers in the afternoon before sunset.

long underwear came up in conversation last night, and I observed I own 5 pairs, all different weights. I have more long underwear than pants (3)!

still need to put plastic on bedroom window. can't see outside today for the frost.

I've joined the pledge, but as I have a no-temp-li...

2008-12-15T22:09:00.000-08:00

I've joined the pledge, but as I have a no-temp-listed dial-controlled, in-the-wall electric heater, I can't tell what temps I've got it set to. But I completely disconnected the heater in the bedroom, so my heating bill is 50% less right there! I do have it low enough that I started worrying about the pipes in the bathroom three rooms away - so am keeping the one heater on during the nights while we are in the middle of a record-breaking freeze! Once we're back up in the high 30s, I'll leave it off more. The pipes are wrapped/insulated etc but it freaks me out, really it does. I leave the bathtub faucet dripping a bit so that the water is always moving. (Don't worry, it drips into a bucket, and I use the water for housecleaning and watering plants)

I have lots of blankets on the bed, can see my breath at night, but even if I didn't have all those woolen and space-age-fleece blankets, I would stay toasty because the cat loves to sleep on top of me. :) 10 pounds of hot furry purry happiness keeps me warm!

So far, we haven't used the furnace at all.

2008-12-15T20:55:00.000-08:00
So far, we haven't used the furnace at all.

The thermostat is set for 55°, but we've been using the woodstove as our primary heat source, and so the furnace has not kicked on at all.

That said, we were without power for four days, and used the woodstove exclusively.

I have the two furnaces...the short story is one i...

2008-12-15T18:41:00.000-08:00

I have the two furnaces...the short story is one is essentially off (at 55 degrees) when the other is on (upstairs on at night where the bedrooms are, downstairs on during the day), so, going from the "on" temps, I had pledged a high of 64. Well, I've ended up doing a high of 63, but sometimes as low as 60 during the day if I'm heated up by cooking/cleaning/playing with the kids. I also remember (usually) to turn it much lower if I'll be out longer during the day. At night, I have it set to drop to 62 upstairs from 12am-about 6:45am, then up to 64 briefly for wake-up time. And I'm in the Midwest, where we're looking at the negative wind chills right now. So I'm feeling like we're doing pretty good! Last year the heat was set up to 68/69 for a high, and never near as low as 55 (both were always running to some extent), so this is quite a difference for us.

It's 56 in the house right now, down from a high o...

2008-12-15T17:55:00.000-08:00

It's 56 in the house right now, down from a high of 61; it's in the 40's outside. I have the space heater on in the computer room because that's where I am right now but when I leave it goes off. DH is getting a little freaked out; he walks around in a t shirt and sweats without socks and bitches about being cold! I keep telling him to put some damned clothes on :)!

We've kept the heat off entirely until now. With ...

2008-12-15T14:41:00.000-08:00

We've kept the heat off entirely until now. With temperatures in the low 40s last night and a *very* poorly insulated house we did put a space heater in our son's bedroom last night set to 60 (the lowest it will go - I think he would be fine at 55). While we dress him in three layers (onesie, long underwear, fleece sleeper) he will not tolerate a hat or sleep sack and is still hit or miss at keeping his blankets on so the extra heat is probably necessary for now.

Otherwise, we're doing just fine with five blankets on our bed, two cats (i.e., bed warmers), lots of soup and baked goods, and sweaters/fleece. My only problem is that I am five months pregnant and I would really love some proper long underwear but I can't find any in maternity!

We've been at 58 night and day so far. It's 19 rig...

2008-12-15T14:12:00.000-08:00

We've been at 58 night and day so far. It's 19 right now outside, 58 inside, and no complaints.

At first the kids did complain first thing in the morning, but I agreed to turn it up to 65 in the mornings (I get up a half hour before they do). I turn it back down once they go to school.

My husband likes it cold, so he's fine with it.

I tried for 58 at night and 60 during the day, whi...

2008-12-15T13:38:00.000-08:00

I tried for 58 at night and 60 during the day, which works great for the room the thermostat is in but not for the rest of the apartment. Setting it at 62 means that it is around 57 where the pipes are. I don't want to go much lower than that for fear of freezing the pipes.

This challenge is awesome! I didn't officially sig...

2008-12-15T13:30:00.000-08:00

This challenge is awesome! I didn't officially sign-up for it, but my husband and I decided to try 65 day/60 night. In years past we have kept the stat at 68ish. The 65 during the day is no problem (as long as we dress in layers), and I think I'm going to take it down to 64. We'll see from there. Here's the problem...we are down to 63 at night, but our toddler daughter keeps waking up cold in the middle of the night. Last night she slept in socks and cotton footed pjs with fleece footed pjs over that. She doesn't keep the blankets on....she's a bit of a wild sleeper. My husband and I have found ourselves waking up at night quite warm with the stat on 63. I'm sure we could take it down to 59 or 60 at night if we could keep our little one warm. Any ideas?

I finally have a gas wall unit in my apartment - 3...

2008-12-15T13:01:00.000-08:00

I finally have a gas wall unit in my apartment - 3700 BTU and it looks HUGE. I keep it set around 55 during the day and up to 68 at night.

After no heat for 3 years, I'm not suffering seeing my breath in bed. Brrr!!!

Hopefully this will reduce the amount of mold on the walls and in my closets!

We've kept our heat at 60. We've learned to bundle...

2008-12-15T12:02:00.000-08:00

We've kept our heat at 60. We've learned to bundle up and when I'm chilly, I go for a quick walk (I walk 4 miles total every day). When I come back, 60 degrees feel mighty warm. Last month our utility bill was the lowest on the street, lol. I've been keeping the drapes and blinds closed to help keep the chill of the windows isolated to the other side of the drapes. It helps. I also bought fleece pajamas for us. With the down alternative comforter and a couple of fleece blankets, we're very comfortable at night.

I pledged to do 67 during the day and 65 at night....

2008-12-15T11:34:00.000-08:00

I pledged to do 67 during the day and 65 at night. We've actually done very well at not setting the thermostat higher than these temps. Problem is, we learned that our apartment apparently has no insulation. It's like opening the fridge when you put your hand next to one of those cracks! Ack! We caulked major cracks near the windows, put up insulation strips around the porch door, and installed those plastic window coverings for insulation on all of our windows. I think we should receive a rent rebate :) If these items don't work, we're going to put up drapes as well. And let me tell ya, we get temps in our spare room down to at least 54 at night. So yeah, we're definitely freezin' our buns off!

Well Crunchy,we may not be freezing our buns off.....

2008-12-15T11:10:00.000-08:00

Well Crunchy,we may not be freezing our buns off..but everything else is feeling pretty cold! We live in northern VT and even though our home is very tight-when the temps get below 15F-keeping the temp at 58F is a bit of a challenge.

We pledged 61F (6am-8am; 4pm-8pm);58F the rest of the time. 56F 24/7 in the bedroom and basement (on different zones).

Has never been a problem-because those 58F temps were while we were at work. Enter the economy and one layoff..and now I'm home during the day. I'm in lots of layers on those below 20F days but I've managed to tough it out..even working out later in the day so that I can take my shower after the heat turns on in the afternoon.

Today the outside temp was 40F!!! House stayed at 60 all day...felt warm and toasty!Didn't even need my hat!

I have toyed with the idea of getting a space heater for my feet (since now 99% of my day is spent taking classes on-line)-but can't decide if I want an oil-filled one, ceramic or what. Summer might be here before I finally make up my mind on that one.

Based on latest oil bill (57 days worth)-we've been averaging .78 gal oil/day. (We have oil hot water & heat). We do have solar preheat and solar panels-but they are currently covered with snow an ice so aren't being much help.

We've been doing very well, I think. We had some b...

2008-12-15T10:09:00.000-08:00

We've been doing very well, I think. We had some below freezing temperatures, but the condo stays pretty warm. Wearing wool socks and sweaters helps. I only turned the heat on in my son's room one evening because he was sick so he was feeling colder. And the heat it on in the bathroom. Other than that, we haven't turned the heat in the living room yet, or my bedroom.

We're doing pretty well. It's been cold, windy, a...

2008-12-15T08:06:00.000-08:00

We're doing pretty well. It's been cold, windy, and snowy in Michigan so far. We're heating with wood only and don't have a thermostat. We have a thermometer on the wall and it usually reads between 62 and 66 in the day and as between 55 and 60 at night. We have a small space heater in the bathroom we use in the mornings (the ceramic tile floors are freezing!!!). I stay home with our 17 month old son all day and our 4 yr old daughter is in pre-k half day. My husband seems happy enough with the temps and he's thrilled about our utility bills. We all wear lots of layers and have no complaints. I've been knitting earwarmers and handwarmers for Christmas. My mom keeps a pair of slippers here for when she visits. The kids have bed rooms upstairs but we let them sleep in the living room right now. We were having a hard time getting the heat up the stairs and making the bedrooms liveable. It's okay... they think it's like camping.

I vowed not to turn my heat on this year because t...

2008-12-15T06:42:00.000-08:00

I vowed not to turn my heat on this year because the last few years out winters have been mild. But this year, we have reached freezing tempertures. That in itself is an animiaolly, but the fact it happend on December 7 is even weirder.

We have chucked the NO HEAT plan and gone with keeping it on 55 when we are at home. That is, when its cold. Yesterday we had a high of 70 and by tonight we are suppose to be down to 33 again.

I pledged 65 during the day and 55 at night. We w...

2008-12-15T06:41:00.000-08:00

I pledged 65 during the day and 55 at night. We were doing fine with that, then the heater broke and has to be replaced. We've waited5 days now for the men to come. We've had some days as high as 65 and some nights as low as 21 degrees, but we are surviving just fine. We had our attic reinsulated during the summer. I think it has helped keep the house temp in the 50's even when it is really cold. The children haven't complained at all. We have lots of blankets at night. My father in law is visiting, so we bought a small space heater for him. It will be nice to have the heater working for when we have company, but it's been amazing to realize how OK we've been. Let me just end by saying I am cold blooded by nature. I feel cold easily and thought this would be really really hard. I've worn tights under pants, layered shirts and occasionally have to put gloves in the house, but I'm not miserable like i thought I would be!I think a lot of it has to do with our expectations. We expect to be a little chilly, so it doesn't bother us. When we expect a constantly comfortable temperature, the slightest aberration is unbearable.