I am determined not to turn on the heater...

[robfisher]

Tough times at our house. We used open windows all summer except 10 or 12 of the hottest days. Saved over $400 compared to last year and that equated to a month of food for my family. Not a bad trade. It's now in the high 20's low 30's every night and our heat is set no higher than 67 mostly lower. It's a nice snuggle temp. We do use the fireplace in the evenings and have a five year wood supply stacked up.

To answer the original question. We've always put off firing up the heat or air several weeks past comfort zone.

[eamarquardt]

The wx here is next to perfect. I THINK about turning on the A/C a couple of days a year and actually do so one or two days every 3 or 4 years. I can live without heat but my other half insists. While living alone a couple of years ago (illness, two misbehaving boys, and one wife were too much for me all at one time) the house got down to 42 but that's as low as she went. Sweats, the occasional use of an electric blanket, and a little excercise kept me warm.

Natural gas bill about 10 bucks a month during most of the year and maybe thirty when my wife runs wild with the heater. Electric about 90 bucks a month during the winter and August and September bills were 10 and 20 bucks (got a credit for allowing the pwr company to shut off my a/c at any time they choose, but as it's never on, I never noticed).

Cheers from So. Cal. (25 miles from the ocean),

Gus

[caseydog]

CD!

Sorry, but your're obsessed. Look at all the things we do to make life more comfortable. Wider teardrops, running water, memory foam mattress, recliners, alcohol, etc, why draw the line at heat and air. If you want to go without heat, why not go all winter, what makes a paticular date important?

xr2

There is some practicality to this, especially in the spring. I hate utility bills, the way a lot of people hate taxes. I dread turning on the AC for the first time in May, because I know what's coming the rest of the summer -- BIG utility bills. I try to put it off as long as possible.

Winter isn't so bad, since I have gas heat. However, I do hate that smell from a forced air heating system the first time you run it each year.

CD

[robertaw]

After 42 years in the North, I moved to Florida and was sure I would never have to turn on the heat again. WRONG! Nearly froze to death the first winter when the power went off... Darn!

[caseydog]

I just bought another house, it has central a/c.... when turned on, the electric meter spun like a helicopter rotor in mid flight... I bought 2 window units.. both 5k... one for the living room, one for the bedroom.

The meter runs way slower with only one unit on.. and I put drapes up across the appropriated door ways so I only a/c the living room during the day or the bed room at night...

my bill stayed around 70 dollars all summer. It would be a lot lower, but I have to run a dehumidifier to keep my damp basement from getting all moldy.

I do the same thing with heat.... using the drapes, I can heat only the living room, or living room and kitchen, or living room and my modeling room. The house is old and probably has no insulation in the original part (built in 1936), so expect my heating bill will be.... noticeable.

I did a really good job this summer of keeping my AC at 80+ degrees when I was not home, and monitoring my zoned HVAC systems to only cool down the part of the house I was in at the time.

My peak electric bill this year was about $155, which is good for a three bedroom house in Dallas.

CD

[Arne]

I'll bet there are a lot of people in Dallas that wish their electric bill was as low as yours..... gets mighty hot down there in the summer.... and spring.. and fall..

[BillandMarijo]

My motto is "Hey ...put on a sweater."
Enjoy the evening,
Bill and Marijo

[TheresaD]

Nope... haven't turned mine on either... It's 50 outside 62 in the house...The way I see it...I can't wait for it to be 62 outside in the spring so I can go without a jacket so why not wait a little longer to turn the heat on? Like most, I'd like to wait as long as I can before I have to start consuming lots of oil to heat the house. If it gets a little chilly in the house (it's almost there now) I'll just throw on a sweatshirt. I figure if I let myself acclimate maybe when the real cold hits here in New England it won't fee quite as bad!

[steve smoot]

I am happy to report that we never turned on our central air this summer, not even once. We slept with the windows open and the ceiling fans running.

It's going to be in the 20's this weekend...Burr...I did check out the fireplace today, to make sure it was working..our dogs and one one of the cats stretched out in front of the fireplace for a nap...LOL...I guess they were already cold...

[Miriam C.]

Got a kidlet in the house so we keep it just above 70*f. Have had the heat on for almost a week now. Mike's mom is swinging so we are adjusting hers back and forth.

Forced air, be it heat or cold plays havic with my sinuses so I like to avoid it.

[eamarquardt]

A friend of mine who lives nearby and does use his air conditioner rigged up a solenoid to water misters around the condenser of his air conditioner. The current (and resulting electric bill) dropped almost 30%! Not sure how good this is for the condenser and remember that the humidity here is So. Cal. is often in the single digits but this may help. One would have to watch for corrosion of and a build up of deposits on the condenser. If one had a stream nearby, a water cooled condenser (like those used in marine applications) would work really well and i'm sure that a 40% reduction in current/bill would be attainable. Wouldn't be hard to do at all.

But, as I only THINK about turning on the A/C I need only THINK about reducing my bill.

Cheers,

Gus

[Fenlason]

I have done research on fetishes and BDSM and the, don't turn on the heat/AC till it is... comes under the masochism label as far as I am concerned
It is 41F outside and 70F inside today and I am keeping it that way. Big swings in temperature leave you more open to diseases and considering what is going around.

doesn't that mean when it is 41 outside.. your house should be also

[caseydog]

CD!

Sorry, but your're obsessed. Look at all the things we do to make life more comfortable. Wider teardrops, running water, memory foam mattress, recliners, alcohol, etc, why draw the line at heat and air. If you want to go without heat, why not go all winter, what makes a paticular date important?

xr2

BTW, I just looked at electricity rates by state, and you guys pay a lot less in Oklahoma than we pay in Texas. Yet, you have a regulated electricity market, while we are deregulated. It's supposed to be just the opposite -- at least that's what we were told.

CD

[Arne]

I don't know, but my mechanical stuff is out in the rain anyway... The idea is to give off heat, so the mist would help in that regard. It would cool the coils faster than air.

Same thing about having an a/c in the sun.. it has to work harder to give off the heat produced.. i.e., uses more electricity.

[jdarkoregon]

I DONOT like to be cold, The heater goes on the day it is needed. The A/C on the other hand didn't go on this summer. And we had a record year for hot days.

The heater is on, and so is the fireplace. I'm all warm and toast

If the rest of you want to freeze your behinds off, more power to you

John