The Carter Challenge
 

Or: How long can you go before turning the heat on?

Ideally, we could weight your date-of-first-turning-heat-on by plant zone, to account for regional differences. And clearly, there are some advantages to be had by people with new, well-insulated homes, and some disadvantages to living with young or old people, who may suffer more from unreasonably un-heated homes. My feet are kind of numb right now, but there's nobody else to whine about it.

I'm pretty sure I can make it at least to November before turning heat on.

I'm pretty sure you're a damn fool.:p: Why on earth would anyone want to be uncomfortable if they didn't have to?

Zone 8, 11 year old home, wood frame windows (leaky), January & February only months I need heat. Wife & kids are a different story...they are ready for heat today.

Right now it's a case of letting the shades open on the big southern-facing window. The dog benefits.

not to state the obvious, but -- it depends on the weather.

Halloween sometimes is still warm here, and others very cold. (Makes costume planning difficult!)

Also, I notice that in the beginning of the winter, I'm able to use the heat sparingly, but as the cold continues and wears me down, I use it more.

I've got a fire going right now. Wood is free. :D

WILl. NOT. GIVE. IN.

(stole the kids' socks this morning -to add to my own and my slippersocks)

my thermostat is automatic. When it goes above X, the A/C kicks on. When it goes below Y, the heat does. Right now its set at 55/75. I typically raise that 55 in December.

In college winters I turned on my heat when I was there and turned it off when I wasn't. In Illinois that makes it to just over freezing in your front room when you walk in. But saves some money on bills!

Oh back to the topic...yeah my family turns on heat just before Halloween pretty much because it's sub 40 everyday starting in 2 weeks from now.

We got the down comforters out last night. Heat's still not on, but the house is in the mid 60s in the morning without it. That's fine.

I don't mind it except in the morning.

However, my place was sweltering all summer so I think it's good to let it cool down from the inside out.

Plus, there was the gas bill that needed paid. Now I think they have to come out to check my furnace before reconnect. Sigh. :blush:

Temperatures have been down near freezing at night here for at least the last month. The heat has come on at least twice already.

The temperature in this room is 62.2, but the only heat is coming from The Cellar.

it sure will be nice to go to sleep without the a/c running and three fans on me.

if it happens.

I am a regular Mr. Freeze. I have slept in a truck down to 30 deg F before turning on the heat. I 'like' things cold! This is due to a hyperactive thyroid. My poor wife is used to desert temperatures and prefers things more like 80 deg so I freeze her out all the time. Home heat won't go on until there's frost on the windows!

This past winter I had the heat on a few times, the winter before, not at all. I'm like BrianR, but my thyroid's OK. No one knows why I feel warm, and my body temp is 97.

bathroom floor was a little chilly this morning, but the heat still isn't on......

It was pretty cool in the house last night her in PA, but no heat yet.

I had more goose bumps than Carter has pills.

29 here last nite. No heat yet but it will be in the 70's the rest of the week. Crazy!

Pictures or it never happened.:p:

We didn't even turn the heat on at all this last winter, but then again, we live in a warm climate.

My challenge is not turning the air con on this summer. I'm hoping I can tough it out. I'd like to save the money.

We fail , Gas logs Lit ,
and MMMMMMMMM they felt guuuud this Morning !!!!!!

We still cook in T-Shirts and Shorts in Nov. Out Winter lasts from Dec to Feb. By the end of Feb and early March things start to warm up. Life is good in the South.

Have you tried skillets?

Now you're just braggin'.

:lol:

That's because you're smarter than all these Eskimos, Zip. :thumb:

Look at me, I have the skills and fortitude to survive the cold.
Yeah, but what the fuck for? Your forefathers would slap you silly, having central heat /thermostat, and not using it. Pitiful, just pitiful. :facepalm:

It is 72 degrees in here now. It is still warm from the sunshine we had today, but on chilly mornings I will either take the chill off my turning in the thermostat , or the gas fireplace or using the space heater in my bedroom. It's a nice little radiant with a 400 watt setting. It's nice and toasty. :)

You get to scoff the day you pay my heating bill.....

Under my desk in my home office (where I'm working today) I have an electrically heated footrest. With that I can leave the heat turned off longer.

Ooh! That reminds me. I don't know if I mentioned this before, but my parents are building an addition on their house, and it includes a built in desk. The desk has radiant heating tubes in the writing surface, so on those cold New England days when you are surfing the web and your hand is getting cold using the mouse, the warm desk top has got you covered.

That's a great idea. Does it use electricity or hot water from a boiler?

Why do we work? For money to provide food, shelter from cold/wet, and defense from saber toothed cats. These are primary priorities, everything else is secondary.

Oh wait, alcohol is secondary, and everything else tertiary.

We go to work to earn money to pay to live and to get back and forth to earn money to get back and forth to work to earn money to get back and forth...

Hot water. The whole addition is radiant floor heating, so they just ran some loops through the desk.

VERY cool - err warm. :cool:

Speaking of which, I recommend they not put their computer on top of the desk.

radiant floor temperatures are low compared to radiators. A computer would be fine.

I like that because I think localized heating is usually better and more efficient than heating a large space.

The user usually sits before, rather than over, the desktop, unless they are hand writing a letter or something. I'd rather have the heat under the desk, it will rise on it's own. :confused:

Oh, it's in the floor too. This is just a hand warmer.

Still using A/C...