Did you know my neighbors have their air conditioner on right now? Well, you would if you sat here with me. They never turn it off, its the air conditioner or heater depending on the time of year. I mean its right outside my bedroom window, coming on all night and then off and on and off. I don't like to turn ours on until it hits like 85-90 in the house during the day.
I open my windows at night to cool the house off. I like the fresh air, and the way that it cools off considerably in my room by about 10 pm. I like most of the sounds of the neighborhood, cars driving by, dogs barking, the wind blowing, just not my neighbors heater/air conditioner.
To me it seems a total waste of electricity to have it running year round. Honestly, I turn the heater on a few times during the coldest part of the winter, you know, when the house is cooler than 58 during the day. I sleep better when its chilly, so I don't turn it on at night then. We do turn it on on Christmas morning. I know those of you in colder areas probably think that 58 is pretty darn warm, but you have to remember that our extreme temperatures are in the summer, when it averages 110 outside. Nothing works to cool you off, but sitting naked in front of a fan whilst pouring ice water on your body. It is easier to warm up and simpler to work with the cold, to a point. You just learn to layer add more clothes until you look roly poly. Yes, I know. I lived in the mountains outside of Denver for a year. I felt the cold, I learned the fine art of layering. And I loved it.
What temperature do you keep your house at? Does it change from winter to summer? Do you even have a heater or air conditioner? If not what do you do to mitigate the rising or falling temperatures?
6 comments:
I am the same as your are... I know it is because that is how are parents are. The only reason we had the heater on this year so much is because we had an infant in the home.
Yup- just like I have problems not watering plants enough. Mom brought us up to be conscious of our environment. I am so thankful for that!
And yeah, an infant in the house changes the dynamics a bit. And I will probably never get to experience that again. Its really sad.
I keep my house about 67 during the winter. If not for the fact that I almost froze the last two winters without heat, I probably wouldn't keep it so warm. With the amazing radiant floor system I have (thanks to my wonderful parents), there is no noise, unless you're standing near the hot water heater, which is in the basement..
And once it gets mostly warm outside, everything gets turned off and the windows stay open, unless no one will be home for a long period of time. I love living where we rarely have temps that would require an a/c, and on those handful of days each summer (when temps in my house can reach almost 90, because I need to re-insulate the attic), we close the windows early in the morning to trap the cooler air and sit in front of a fan or take a short drive to one of the countless places where it's cooler..
It'd make me nuts if I had to have hot or cold air blowing through the house everyday..
we keep it at 78 during the summer, around 72 in the winter, and haven't had anything on for around 2 months. Nice. That loud noise can definitely be obnoxious!
Rich put the air on the other night and I was SOOOOOO annoyed, otherwise I don't put it on until desperate. He has since put it off. And we don't use the heat much...only a bit in December when it was freeeeezing in the house. It's just so expensive and a waste of money.
We have had our swamp cooler on and off the past few days. I think if we only had the a/c as an option we'd hold out a little longer, but it's hot to me. Although my (older) house is a brick oven; I *know* it would have got over 85 in the house, at least in certain parts; we would have probably turned it on Fri-Sa anyway. I love my swamp cooler because it allows me to leave doors & windows open. I hate feeling so shut in during the summer.
You'd be surprised about the heat. We keep ours at about 65 in the winter. I don't think it came on much this winter (brick oven effect applies in the winter, too). I'd keep it cooler, but the rest of the family complains, and Nathan starts getting sick, too (he's highly susceptible to the croup). However I did an informal survey with my coworkers in Chicago and most of them keep it at about 68 in the winter. LOL
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