Keeping the Heat Low

Our super awesome new thermostat
with some laughable temperatures!

Well, it's that time of year again when the central heat kicks on and we decide how low we want to go. I wasn't planning on hosting a Freeze Yer Buns 2016-2017 unless I hear otherwise from y'all. If you want a more formal event to keep you on track, let me know! (I can't believe the last one was in 2011.)

The first thing we're doing differently this year is that we've kicked our space heater to the curb (aka storage). My older child was overusing the space heater rather than just putting on more clothes. The final straw was hooking it up to our Kill A Watt electricity usage meter. After a few calculations it looked like we were spending something like $600 a year running the damn thing! I know, you don't need to tell me.

Since my husband is off chemo for the next 3 - 6 months (more on that later), he's able to regulate his body temperature a bit better. So, the household temperatures don't need to be as warm. My youngest child walks around half dressed and is impervious to the cold, so that's not a concern there. I tend to be cold, but I have an arsenal of wool and down to employ.

Anyway, the heat first kicked on October 2nd. We chatted a bit about how we wanted to program our newish, more accurate thermostat this year and settled on the following. Our biggest limitation is that there's always someone home. Between working from home and homeschooling, we can't exactly set the thermostat low during the day like I'd want to:

Daytime:
9:00 am - 9:00 pm - set to 67 degrees

Nighttime:
9:00 pm - 9:00 am - set to 60 degrees

Now, before you start arguing that these seem like sultry temperatures, let me remind you that our central heating isn't exactly efficiently dispersed and the thermostat resides in the warmest part of the house. So, if it's 60 degrees in the living room, it might very well be 52 degrees in the bedroom. Or lower. I honestly prefer sleeping in a really cold room so it works out fine for me. And everyone has super cozy, snug blankets so it's not an issue.

What about you? How low are you going this year?

*Warning - this post contains a link to an affiliate program that might make me money, wherein I use said $ for giveaways and suchlike.

How do you heat your home?

With September in full swing and the weather cooling down rapidly, I start thinking of how long we can stretch it before we have to start turning on the heat. In anticipation of this year's Freeze Yer Buns Challenge, I'm always trying to calculate ways to reduce our heating costs.

Since we heat with oil, I'm conscious of not only the carbon emissions impact, but the cost. We try to limit its usage by supplementing with electric heat (which is inexpensive in our area of the country and generated by wind and hydro). But, one of my fantasies is to get a fireplace insert to heat our home with wood.

Fireplace inserts these days are much more effective at generating heat and emit far less smoke and contaminants as compared to older models. Plus, I like the idea of having a back up heating source during times of power outages or just to have a nice toasty fire. It's much more homey and romantic than forced air heat.

Unfortunately, they are also expensive, which is one of the reasons we haven't gotten one. That and the fact that we would have to acquire wood in order to use it effectively. I'm always curious about what other people use, whether it be oil, gas, electricity or something else.

So, what kind of system do you use for heating your home? Are you happy with it? What would you prefer to use if you could choose anything?