OT Central Heating

Doe John wrote:
At what temperature do people start to turn on their central heating?
I normally wait til end of October when the daytime temp indoors is
around 55 degrees. Now it is around 57 degrees indoors in the
morning.Very cold. Catching colds constantly. I thought of turning it
on a week ago when my cat would constanty climb on top of me because I
was the best source of heat. I'm a walking elecrric blanket to
her.Feels colder now than in the past since I lost about 40 pounds
since last May.

This is the recommendation of our local electric company (though
according to them this is for energy efficiency while still keeping it
at a comfortable temperature for most people):

The best temperature for your heater's thermostat is 68°F or below.
Before bedtime, turn it down to 55°F or lower (or even off) for more
savings. And if you don't want to wake up to a cold house, let a setback
thermostat turn the heat up an hour before you plan to wake up. If you
have a heat pump, raising and lowering the thermostat could cause the
electric heating strips to come on, significantly increasing your
heating costs.

Finally, thermostats should never be turned up high to heat a home in a
hurry. It won't heat your home any faster.

"Doe John" wrote in message
...
At what temperature do people start to turn on their central heating?
I normally wait til end of October when the daytime temp indoors is
around 55 degrees. Now it is around 57 degrees indoors in the
morning.Very cold. Catching colds constantly. I thought of turning it
on a week ago when my cat would constanty climb on top of me because I
was the best source of heat. I'm a walking elecrric blanket to
her.Feels colder now than in the past since I lost about 40 pounds
since last May.

We don't have central heating, just one big fat gas heater in the lounge
room. Now keep inmind I'm in Australia where our idea of "cold" is probably
a fair bit different to other folks, but I'd probably put the heater on if
its less that 16C (~60F) during the day. It gets turned off at night,
regardless of what temperature it is outside - the coldest it gets in the
house in the dead of winter is probably about 10C (~50F). Mind you, the gas
heater does a marvellous job at heating the whole house adequately (its
always colder the further you go from it though - we have an open plan house
unfortunately) ans with the insualtion we got last winter, the second &
third doona (feather comforter, eiderdown, duvet) wasn't necessary.

The air-con (yes! We finally have air-con!) gets put on when the room
temperature gets above about 30C (86F), for the sake of the Yowlet more than
us. Its "portable" air conditioning, and doesn't work well inthe open plan
area, so we generally retreat to the master bedroom where it works nicely
(before we got the gas heater we spent the first 2 winters in the house with
a small electric bar heater in that bedroom)

Its spring here - we're currently having the sort of weather when you run
the heater one day and the air con the next, and have to keep both summer
and winter stuff out. Today its quite chilly and I had to find my cardigan
and fleecy tracksuit pants again - four days ago it hit 38C (100F) and I was
desperate to find my shorts and sandals!

Yowie

"Doe John" wrote in message
...
At what temperature do people start to turn on their central heating?
I normally wait til end of October when the daytime temp indoors is
around 55 degrees. Now it is around 57 degrees indoors in the
morning.Very cold. Catching colds constantly. I thought of turning it
on a week ago when my cat would constanty climb on top of me because I
was the best source of heat. I'm a walking elecrric blanket to
her.Feels colder now than in the past since I lost about 40 pounds
since last May.

We don't have central heating, just one big fat gas heater in the lounge
room. Now keep inmind I'm in Australia where our idea of "cold" is probably
a fair bit different to other folks, but I'd probably put the heater on if
its less that 16C (~60F) during the day. It gets turned off at night,
regardless of what temperature it is outside - the coldest it gets in the
house in the dead of winter is probably about 10C (~50F). Mind you, the gas
heater does a marvellous job at heating the whole house adequately (its
always colder the further you go from it though - we have an open plan house
unfortunately) ans with the insualtion we got last winter, the second &
third doona (feather comforter, eiderdown, duvet) wasn't necessary.

The air-con (yes! We finally have air-con!) gets put on when the room
temperature gets above about 30C (86F), for the sake of the Yowlet more than
us. Its "portable" air conditioning, and doesn't work well inthe open plan
area, so we generally retreat to the master bedroom where it works nicely
(before we got the gas heater we spent the first 2 winters in the house with
a small electric bar heater in that bedroom)

Its spring here - we're currently having the sort of weather when you run
the heater one day and the air con the next, and have to keep both summer
and winter stuff out. Today its quite chilly and I had to find my cardigan
and fleecy tracksuit pants again - four days ago it hit 38C (100F) and I was
desperate to find my shorts and sandals!

Yowie

"Doe John" wrote in message
...
At what temperature do people start to turn on their central heating?
I normally wait til end of October when the daytime temp indoors is
around 55 degrees. Now it is around 57 degrees indoors in the
morning.Very cold. Catching colds constantly. I thought of turning it
on a week ago when my cat would constanty climb on top of me because I
was the best source of heat. I'm a walking elecrric blanket to
her.Feels colder now than in the past since I lost about 40 pounds
since last May.

We don't have central heating, just one big fat gas heater in the lounge
room. Now keep inmind I'm in Australia where our idea of "cold" is probably
a fair bit different to other folks, but I'd probably put the heater on if
its less that 16C (~60F) during the day. It gets turned off at night,
regardless of what temperature it is outside - the coldest it gets in the
house in the dead of winter is probably about 10C (~50F). Mind you, the gas
heater does a marvellous job at heating the whole house adequately (its
always colder the further you go from it though - we have an open plan house
unfortunately) ans with the insualtion we got last winter, the second &
third doona (feather comforter, eiderdown, duvet) wasn't necessary.

The air-con (yes! We finally have air-con!) gets put on when the room
temperature gets above about 30C (86F), for the sake of the Yowlet more than
us. Its "portable" air conditioning, and doesn't work well inthe open plan
area, so we generally retreat to the master bedroom where it works nicely
(before we got the gas heater we spent the first 2 winters in the house with
a small electric bar heater in that bedroom)

Its spring here - we're currently having the sort of weather when you run
the heater one day and the air con the next, and have to keep both summer
and winter stuff out. Today its quite chilly and I had to find my cardigan
and fleecy tracksuit pants again - four days ago it hit 38C (100F) and I was
desperate to find my shorts and sandals!

Yowie

On Mon, 18 Oct 2004 21:39:26 -0700, Rrb wrote:

Doe John wrote:
At what temperature do people start to turn on their central heating?
I normally wait til end of October when the daytime temp indoors is
around 55 degrees. Now it is around 57 degrees indoors in the
morning.Very cold. Catching colds constantly. I thought of turning it
on a week ago when my cat would constanty climb on top of me because I
was the best source of heat. I'm a walking elecrric blanket to
her.Feels colder now than in the past since I lost about 40 pounds
since last May.

This is the recommendation of our local electric company (though
according to them this is for energy efficiency while still keeping it
at a comfortable temperature for most people):

The best temperature for your heater's thermostat is 68°F or below.
Before bedtime, turn it down to 55°F or lower (or even off) for more
savings. And if you don't want to wake up to a cold house, let a setback
thermostat turn the heat up an hour before you plan to wake up. If you
have a heat pump, raising and lowering the thermostat could cause the
electric heating strips to come on, significantly increasing your
heating costs.

Finally, thermostats should never be turned up high to heat a home in a
hurry. It won't heat your home any faster.

Gosh, all this talk about heating, and thermostats! I'm starting to
wonder if all of Houston has been beamed into the Twilight Zone or
some other dimension..........I'm running my A/C at this very moment.

Ok. I just took a reality check. I went out and looked at the
electrical meter on the back of the house, and that kilowatt dial
thingy is spinning like crazy, so we must still be with y'all.
$$ Ka-chinnng $$ Ka-chinnng $$ Ka-chinnng.

Maybe Houston, with all the people, pavement, refineries, traffic,
chili cook-offs, and BBQ pits has created it's own little climate or
global warming effect and now we don't get winter anymore. (?)

-bonbon

On Mon, 18 Oct 2004 21:39:26 -0700, Rrb wrote:

Doe John wrote:
At what temperature do people start to turn on their central heating?
I normally wait til end of October when the daytime temp indoors is
around 55 degrees. Now it is around 57 degrees indoors in the
morning.Very cold. Catching colds constantly. I thought of turning it
on a week ago when my cat would constanty climb on top of me because I
was the best source of heat. I'm a walking elecrric blanket to
her.Feels colder now than in the past since I lost about 40 pounds
since last May.

This is the recommendation of our local electric company (though
according to them this is for energy efficiency while still keeping it
at a comfortable temperature for most people):

The best temperature for your heater's thermostat is 68°F or below.
Before bedtime, turn it down to 55°F or lower (or even off) for more
savings. And if you don't want to wake up to a cold house, let a setback
thermostat turn the heat up an hour before you plan to wake up. If you
have a heat pump, raising and lowering the thermostat could cause the
electric heating strips to come on, significantly increasing your
heating costs.

Finally, thermostats should never be turned up high to heat a home in a
hurry. It won't heat your home any faster.

Gosh, all this talk about heating, and thermostats! I'm starting to
wonder if all of Houston has been beamed into the Twilight Zone or
some other dimension..........I'm running my A/C at this very moment.

Ok. I just took a reality check. I went out and looked at the
electrical meter on the back of the house, and that kilowatt dial
thingy is spinning like crazy, so we must still be with y'all.
$$ Ka-chinnng $$ Ka-chinnng $$ Ka-chinnng.

Maybe Houston, with all the people, pavement, refineries, traffic,
chili cook-offs, and BBQ pits has created it's own little climate or
global warming effect and now we don't get winter anymore. (?)

-bonbon

On Mon, 18 Oct 2004 21:39:26 -0700, Rrb wrote:

Doe John wrote:
At what temperature do people start to turn on their central heating?
I normally wait til end of October when the daytime temp indoors is
around 55 degrees. Now it is around 57 degrees indoors in the
morning.Very cold. Catching colds constantly. I thought of turning it
on a week ago when my cat would constanty climb on top of me because I
was the best source of heat. I'm a walking elecrric blanket to
her.Feels colder now than in the past since I lost about 40 pounds
since last May.

This is the recommendation of our local electric company (though
according to them this is for energy efficiency while still keeping it
at a comfortable temperature for most people):

The best temperature for your heater's thermostat is 68°F or below.
Before bedtime, turn it down to 55°F or lower (or even off) for more
savings. And if you don't want to wake up to a cold house, let a setback
thermostat turn the heat up an hour before you plan to wake up. If you
have a heat pump, raising and lowering the thermostat could cause the
electric heating strips to come on, significantly increasing your
heating costs.

Finally, thermostats should never be turned up high to heat a home in a
hurry. It won't heat your home any faster.

Gosh, all this talk about heating, and thermostats! I'm starting to
wonder if all of Houston has been beamed into the Twilight Zone or
some other dimension..........I'm running my A/C at this very moment.

Ok. I just took a reality check. I went out and looked at the
electrical meter on the back of the house, and that kilowatt dial
thingy is spinning like crazy, so we must still be with y'all.
$$ Ka-chinnng $$ Ka-chinnng $$ Ka-chinnng.

Maybe Houston, with all the people, pavement, refineries, traffic,
chili cook-offs, and BBQ pits has created it's own little climate or
global warming effect and now we don't get winter anymore. (?)

-bonbon

On Mon, 18 Oct 2004 12:57:21 +0000 (UTC), Cheryl Perkins
wrote:


I tend to turn on the heat only in rooms I use and only when I am home,
except for some minimum amount in the area with the washer and sinks when
I'm scared about the pipes freezing. I don't go by temperature as such,
but I think I like things a lot cooler than most people (going by the way
public places are heated) and would consider 20 C (68 F) a daytime
maximum, and too warm for nights when I'm snug under the blankets. So
when I *do* turn on a thermostat, it's 20C in the day, and back to 0C at
night. I wear sweaters or sweatshirts if needed, and the cats have their
own genuine fur coats. They've always slept near or on me, but they hate
being covered up by blankets for warmth, so I don't think they mind the
temperatures. In fact, Betsy has taken to protesting if I dare to try to
share *my* bed; she'd clearly prefer to sleep alone, stretched out across
it, rather than share my warmth and her space.

All the rooms have vents which can be opened or closed to allow heat
through the ducts. I keep all of them closed except for downstairs the
upstairs bedroom. By keeping all the vents open, would the house heat
faster and thus save momey? Gas during the winter costs around 400
dollars a month. Very inefficient thermostat or house . Even during
the coldest months, the temperature won't approach what the thermostat
is set at.

On Mon, 18 Oct 2004 12:57:21 +0000 (UTC), Cheryl Perkins
wrote:


I tend to turn on the heat only in rooms I use and only when I am home,
except for some minimum amount in the area with the washer and sinks when
I'm scared about the pipes freezing. I don't go by temperature as such,
but I think I like things a lot cooler than most people (going by the way
public places are heated) and would consider 20 C (68 F) a daytime
maximum, and too warm for nights when I'm snug under the blankets. So
when I *do* turn on a thermostat, it's 20C in the day, and back to 0C at
night. I wear sweaters or sweatshirts if needed, and the cats have their
own genuine fur coats. They've always slept near or on me, but they hate
being covered up by blankets for warmth, so I don't think they mind the
temperatures. In fact, Betsy has taken to protesting if I dare to try to
share *my* bed; she'd clearly prefer to sleep alone, stretched out across
it, rather than share my warmth and her space.

All the rooms have vents which can be opened or closed to allow heat
through the ducts. I keep all of them closed except for downstairs the
upstairs bedroom. By keeping all the vents open, would the house heat
faster and thus save momey? Gas during the winter costs around 400
dollars a month. Very inefficient thermostat or house . Even during
the coldest months, the temperature won't approach what the thermostat
is set at.

On Mon, 18 Oct 2004 12:57:21 +0000 (UTC), Cheryl Perkins
wrote:


I tend to turn on the heat only in rooms I use and only when I am home,
except for some minimum amount in the area with the washer and sinks when
I'm scared about the pipes freezing. I don't go by temperature as such,
but I think I like things a lot cooler than most people (going by the way
public places are heated) and would consider 20 C (68 F) a daytime
maximum, and too warm for nights when I'm snug under the blankets. So
when I *do* turn on a thermostat, it's 20C in the day, and back to 0C at
night. I wear sweaters or sweatshirts if needed, and the cats have their
own genuine fur coats. They've always slept near or on me, but they hate
being covered up by blankets for warmth, so I don't think they mind the
temperatures. In fact, Betsy has taken to protesting if I dare to try to
share *my* bed; she'd clearly prefer to sleep alone, stretched out across
it, rather than share my warmth and her space.

All the rooms have vents which can be opened or closed to allow heat
through the ducts. I keep all of them closed except for downstairs the
upstairs bedroom. By keeping all the vents open, would the house heat
faster and thus save momey? Gas during the winter costs around 400
dollars a month. Very inefficient thermostat or house . Even during
the coldest months, the temperature won't approach what the thermostat
is set at.