Don't turn on the heat and other regional traditions

[december-fire]

Nice to do housework? Crazy Canuk! lolol

Sheesh! What the heck was I thinking!?!?

 

[december-fire]

I live in a period co-op apartment, old building, 3rd floor. The heat (hot water radiators) is centralized and included in the condo fees. But this also means I cannot control the temperature. So, the unit has been super toasty since the weather turned cooler. I actually have to leave the windows open sometimes, which I don't always enjoy. I do have my own AC so the warm months are not an issue.

Do carb binges count as a regional tradition?

Anne

Carb binges? Those occur too regularly and cover too large a geographical area to be called 'regional'.

 

[whitewave]

I live in a period co-op apartment, old building, 3rd floor. The heat (hot water radiators) is centralized and included in the condo fees. But this also means I cannot control the temperature. So, the unit has been super toasty since the weather turned cooler. I actually have to leave the windows open sometimes, which I don't always enjoy. I do have my own AC so the warm months are not an issue.

Do carb binges count as a regional tradition?

Anne

Whoa. Lol. I can't imagine...

 

[Matata]

The heat (hot water radiators) is centralized and included in the condo fees.

During my childhood winters in Pittsburgh, I'd hang my pjs and underwear over the radiators so they were toasty to put on. When I lived in south Texas, I'd put my underwear in the freezer...it was that hot...and humid...I loathe humidity.

 

[monarch64]

I can't complain about my electric and gas bills; the house I'm renting is really well insulated and small plus one story. I have lived in other homes, though, where I absolutely dreaded opening the bills during the extreme weather months, so I can empathize, Stephanie! I hear people talk about how low they set their thermostat and just bundle up instead of cranking the furnace, but I don't know if it's considered a badge of honor to wait until the last tolerable minute to turn it on.

A tradition here is bonfires after high school football games on Friday nights. Those are mostly in rural areas. There are a ton of fall festivals around harvest time (as you can imagine the Midwest is all about harvest in autumn) and it's a big tradition for a lot of families to attend things like Covered Bridge Festival and others here in Indiana. In my town we have a Lighting of the Square ceremony on the first Friday of December--that's where the Mayor turns on the holiday lights that make a canopy from the central courthouse over the downtown square. All very festive. Oh, and then we have Krampus, which is cockamamie and nuts if you ask me, but kids and adults love it.

This is the time of year I switch out my sheets from cotton percale to flannel, and add quilts and change my duvet cover. Makes me feel comfy/cozy and hibernate-y, but man it is so refreshing to unpile and cram all those covers away come Spring!

 

[OoohShiny]

We're a little less, generally between 400-450 a month. But our apartment is a large closet by most
non- nyc standards at only 700 sq ft.

Wuuuuuuut

You live in a 700sqft apartment and spend US$450 a month on electric?!?

My place is c.500-550sqft and my gas and electric together comes to around £60 a month!

And that's with me having 20-minute showers each day lol

We only really use electric to operate the TV/white goods/iron/cooker etc., though - the hob is gas and the boiler for the hot water and heating is gas, but even so....

 

[valeria101]

.
25ºC are utterly traditional ...

 

[elle_chris]

Wuuuuuuut

You live in a 700sqft apartment and spend US$450 a month on electric?!?

My place is c.500-550sqft and my gas and electric together comes to around £60 a month!

And that's with me having 20-minute showers each day lol

We only really use electric to operate the TV/white goods/iron/cooker etc., though - the hob is gas and the boiler for the hot water and heating is gas, but even so....

Our heat is electric so winter months are brutal for bills.
In the summer when we use the A/C, it's generally around $120-140 which I think is normal. But yea in the cold weather..

 

[House Cat]

OMG I have been to the chicken festival many many many times. And the theater festival. My G'ma still lives there (since the 30's) and my G'pa is/was? painted on the side of the amphitheater (he is one of the few who started it decades ago). I can remember the water shortages and watering your lawn on set days according to your side of the street. And don't get caught washing your car!!!

Red!! Such a small world! I am going to have to pay closer attention to the amphitheater when I drive through the village today! That’s amazing to know he started it!

It’s a strange little place but I love it with all of my heart.

Regarding the heater, it was 53 degrees last night and I was under a down comforter with a fur blanket over that and my heater was set to 66 degrees. I am always freezing. Cold hurts.

I am freezing in 95 degree weather. I wouldn’t run the air conditioning in the summer if it weren’t for the family.

 

[Alexiszoe]

@anne_h , what you wrote brought back so many memories! I used to live in an apartment in an old, early 1900s building, and I had the same crazy intense heater and leaving the windows open for air! But I guess it's always better to be warm than freezing!

And carb counts is just a way to indicate winter is here!

 

[YadaYadaYada]

Tyty, what is it about high school kids and this aversion to pants?! I've never been to Florida so don't know how cold it gets there but it has to be a little better than up here!

December Fire, we also have peak times and off peak, I want to say that the off peak hour starts at 8:00 so try to do all the laundry between then and when I go to bed. For the amount we pay we should be able to use it anytime at one rate, it's ridiculous.

Anne, if carb binges count as tradition I don't think it's regional! Pretty sweet that the heat is included in the condo fees, one less bill and all that. BTW I love love your avatar, such a pretty ring!

Monarch, I'm not getting the badge this year because we caved and put the heat on in the kid's rooms last night (just at 60 though). One thing I do like about electric heat is that you can turn it off in rooms you're not using during the day, other than that it stinks! Never heard of Krampus until maybe a year or two ago, that is scary. I know a big thing around here is Elf on the Shelf but we do not participate in Creep in your Sleep, if you are good you get presents, no extra backup other than Santa is needed around here lol! Funny you mention the sheets though because I put flannel sheets on the bed maybe a month ago and then it got super hot so we were dying in there so put the cotton on and now it's cold. Go figure.

Elle Chris and I are pretty much in the same boat, during the summer our bills are around $120-$130 and in the winter they skyrocket. I guess that could be considered a regional tradition, crazy heating bills in the winter, unless you go solar, some friends on FB have put solar panels on and are reaping the benefits but then you are paying on the system for 30 years.

 

[GliderPoss]

This reminds me of childhood - my Dad would just tell us to put yet ANOTHER wool jumper on rather than turn the heating on! Now I can easily do the same thing but cannot suffer through the heat - will turn on aircon as soon as it hits 30+ degrees Celsius.

 

[YadaYadaYada]

That is funny HotPozzum, let's face it, our parents just knew how to save money, use less, fix things instead of replacing them and of course layer instead of turning on the heat. I would much rather be hot than cold!

 

[daintyG]

This reminds me of a friend of mine growing up. We lived in Arkansas and they waited until about June to turn on the air conditioning. Same principle. However, they would at least open windows and use box fans. I didn’t enjoy staying there in mid- or late May.

 

[KKJohnson]

This sounds like my mother! Lol she will sweat all day long in the summer and endure this with her hot flashes and freeze all winter before she touches the thermostat. I grew up like this but our house didn't have central air and heat (living in south Texas that is unheard of) the house also didn't have insulation...as long as you and whoever else is living in the house is safe without heat then no harm in holding out!

 

[Jambalaya]

I always use my heat if it's cold and my aircon if it's hot. I don't like being uncomfortable and am willing to spend the money not to be.

 

[Jambalaya]

Anne_H, I'm thinking of moving, but the apartment buildings in the more urban area where I want to move to - they all seem to have the heat included in the condo fee. I hate the idea of not being able to control the temperature in my home.

Is it your experience, or others' experience, that you get too cold when heat is out of your control?

Also, is it just the temperature you can't control, or is it the times of day that you get heat? If the former, don't people just leave it on much of the time? How does the inclusive-heat thing work? And does it include air-conditioning?

Thanks!

J.

 

[Arcadian]

I keep my thermostat about 78 year round. There's only a few times I turn it off. BTW I don't have heat, but its never truly "cold" here. (maybe 40's??.. I lived in Massachusetts, thats barely cold!)

I'm mindful of the dog though. She has very little bodyfat so cooler mornings means she gets to wear a sweater...lol at least they're cute

But down here, 50 degrees and folks are wearing big puffy coats...lol its kinda funny.

 

[anne_h]

Hi Jambalaya,

In my building the heat is hot water radiator. The building was built as apartments in 1925 and much later converted to co-ops/condos. But the original radiator system remained (along with period antique elevators, which are rather cute actually). I don't control when the heat comes on or off, or the temperature. I bought this place only recently, so what I've been doing since the heat was turned on this autumn is opening windows for cold air, when needed. But then I hear various outdoor noises, which I don't always like. I've recently noticed the radiators seem to have shutoff valves, and the building manager said I can tinker with those to maybe attempt heat control TBD! So far, I've never been too cold, only too hot.

My unit does have its own external AC, so in the summer I can control the coolness down to the degree, which is important!

Anne

PS - My unit is on an upper floor. My thinking is that upper floors will probably be warmer than the lower floors due to warm air rising (?)

 

[doberman]

My parents retired and moved down south. I keep the house at 63° and when they visit they go on and on about the cold. So i turn it up to 65°. I go down to visit them and they won't even turn on the a/c and it's all muggy and gross. I have to peel my clothes off at the end of the day. My son and I spent a lot of time on the ice/snow so we aren't bothered by cold at all. My husband whines a bit, but I remind him we're saving money and he cheers up lol.

 

[Arcadian]

My parents retired and moved down south. I keep the house at 63° and when they visit they go on and on about the cold. So i turn it up to 65°. I go down to visit them and they won't even turn on the a/c and it's all muggy and gross. I have to peel my clothes off at the end of the day. My son and I spent a lot of time on the ice/snow so we aren't bothered by cold at all. My husband whines a bit, but I remind him we're saving money and he cheers up lol.

you live where? In Mass, the house was always at 68 degrees in winter, 75 in summer. But we also had the house rewrapped and insulation blown in , and redid the windows so that helped. (my office was the coldest being in the basement, and I looked like an eskimo working down there....lol)

Still, I believe the gas bill was something in the neighborhood of 200 dollars/month during the coldest time of year. Electric was maybe 90 dollars year round because of the solar panels. We did not get to run the fireplace much as it was quite shallow and always set off the smoke detectors.

But your poor parents...lol

 

[doberman]

@Arcadian We live in NJ. Honestly the low house temperature doesn't even register lol. You want cold, try a 6am freestyle session in mid-january. Now that's cold lol.

 

[Arcadian]

Ok, gotcha @doberman, but 60 can be a bit on the chilly side for some. Even without heat down here my house never dips below 70 (we can dip to 40ish degrees here,)

But when we lived in Mass, he was like you, refused to turn the heat on, or wanted it off at night but, happy wife, happy life, and I wasn't gonna be freezing as I sleep, and Lord knows I froze enough in my office, so 68 it was.

Being down here I don't know if I could handle NE winter weather anymore, which is why I sympathize with your folks.

But of course while you all up there are nearly in a deep freeze (or really are in one) and here its 77 degrees. But hey lucky for you, most of the bugs are dead up there (I wimped out and slept on the dogs bed last night because I saw a palmetto bug in the bedroom )

 

[doberman]

@Arcadian All of our beds(including guest beds) have heated mattress covers, so we're cheating a bit.

I wish the ticks would freeze. Those miserable things are all over this year, we're constantly pulling them off the dog.

 

[lilmosun]

When we got married, my dh wouldn't turn on the heat until late October and wouldn't let me turn it on after April...which I never understood. Why should we freeze just because of the month? . Finally, I would say "If you want to save money, turn the heat on or I'm taking the kids and going to a hotel". Now that we're older, he is the one who has no tolerance for the cold and I am like "You turned on the heat already??"

 

[YadaYadaYada]

I'm kind of comforted that I'm not the only frugal one who waits it out as long as possible!

Our weather is so unpredictable here, so it's been freezing all weekend and today we have a light rain and it's maybe 40.

 

[AGBF]

I will sacrifice other things to be comfortable temperature-wise. I cannot bear to be cold. I can bear Connecticut heat, but prefer to have air conditioning. I would never wait to turn on the heat in the fall or limit myself to 68 degrees! 78 degrees is more comfortable to me in winter.

I have to admit that other people now try to use my air conditioning more that I would in the summer, however! Nonetheless, I will always pick winter over summer, The North over The South!

 

[elle_chris]

Since I posted last (a few days ago), I caved and put the heat on. Set it to 69 and I'm finally warm enough to walk around in my pj's.. ..
Thing is, it was between 66-67 in the apartment so not really cold.. but for whatever reason, I was freezing this year.