House temp in winter??

[jennielynn1970]

Ok, so my mother and father complain that I keep my house way too cold in the winter months. I'm always too warm at their house, so I think partly them (ever since my dad had all his heart surgeries and the slight stroke, he's been colder than normal, I've noticed).

Most of my rooms downstairs are big, with high ceilings. During the day when I'm at home (weekends), I'll keep it at 68*... give or take a few degrees. I like it cooler at night, so it's usually about 65*. It's been really chilly at night the last few nights, but I still have my one bedroom window opened about 3" to get in some fresh air.

I don't mind wearing long sleeves and sweats in the house, I mean, to me, that's comfy. I don't like being overly cold. I mean, if my nose is cold, then it's too cold, lol!! I also try to conserve on the gas bill, cause between that and the electric bill for the AC in the summer, it can be really costly.

I dunno. Maybe it's me being cheap but also I feel comfy with it being a little cooler.

What are the normal temps that you guys keep your houses at?? I don't have central air or anything. My house is from 1904, and has the big old deco grates in the walls. I have a new furnace, so it's not like the heat doesn't work... maybe I am being cheap? :o :p

Oh, there is a fireplace, but it's gas, and I only ever used it once. I don't trust it.

These were taken the day I moved in... you can see the area a little better with the ceiling and wall grates. Now it's more cluttered, lol.

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t261/jenn_librarian/movingday1.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t261/jenn_librarian/movingday2.jpg

[chocolatepuppy]

We keep our house fairly cool. About 67* most of the time in the winter, cooler at night. If you're moving, it's fine, it you're sitting around, cover up. ;) Actually, while the furnace is running, you're warm, when it's not, you're cold. :rolleyes: Btw, your place looks real nice. :)

[jennielynn1970]

Thanks for the compliment on the house, lol. I bought it from a pastor's family in 2004, and there really wasn't much to do to it (or so I thought!). Basically, since it's an old house, it just needs things like new electrical (especially the fuse box as I can't blow dry my hair, have my flat iron on, and be running a fan in my room. Sigh. It needs new pipes, and the kitchen is new, it's an extension, but they never INSULATED it when they added it on! I have a portable heater in there for the winter time (as it's on a slab), and it gets down to 42* in there!! :eek: Needless to say, when I went to get a new fridge, it was suggested that I not do any icemaker or water in the door because the lines would freeze in the winter.

[kittycats_delight]

The temps in my house are about the same as yours but they are too cold for me. Unfortunately the house doesn't hold heat well. We have a large entrance door that is all glass and steel and lets out a lot of heat. The windows are quite cold too and a lot of heat escapes that way. The cost of gas is quite high here so we also try to keep it down as much as possible. It is not so cold outside here yet but we need the heat on cause the house is cold now. One of those houses that is hot in the summer and cold in the winter no matter what you do. :rolleyes: Ideally for me I would prefer it to be about 22° C or 72° F but that is just me.

[Edwina's Secretary]

I'm with you. During the day/evening about 68 is just right...and 65 for sleeping. My parents house was like that, but as they are in their 80's they like it too warm for my taste. When I visit them in the winter I keep a window open where I am sleeping.

I love your hardwood floors.

[catnapper]

Anywhere from 62-65 degrees. We can't stand it any warmer.

Its basically that chilly here in the summer too :o

[momoffuzzyfaces]

With my arthritis I just can't stand to be cold. I usually keep the furnace on 74 or 76. If you are comfortable in your own home, that's all that matters. ;)

[NoahsMommy]

I think we keep it at 70 in the cooler months...it will go up to 75 in the hotter months unless we're hot, then we turn the A/C on and bring it back down to 70.

I think "70" is comfortable for the three of us. My parents tend to be "eskimo-esque" in that they normally will have the house a lot cooler than I like it, but they've gotten better lately.

Your home may feel cooler beause like you said, you have hard-wood floors and tall ceilings. My parents home is like that too, but with the large tiled floors and very tall ceilings.

Is it really all nice and wintery somewhere??? We're at 85 F right now, with super-fun (NOT) Santa Ana winds of at least 20-30mph. We have every door/window shut and locked and the A/C is on.

[lizbud]

I love your house. I do like the older homes better than newer built.
They have a lot of character. :) I keep the temp at 68 daytime, 65 at
night.

Maybe you could get one of those space heaters for them when they visit. They have some very fancy looking ones now that look more like furniture.

[Gin]

Since I'm cheap, I keep the temperature low; 60 degrees during the day, and 55 at night. I just put on my heavy slippers and a coat.

I love your house, with the gorgeous hardwood floors and high ceilings! I live in an old bungalow too.

[jennielynn1970]

My mom and dad were just here, and my mother was wrapped up like an eskimo! LOL! She said she wanted to leave to go to dinner because it would be warmer in the restaurant. :o I have to admit, since I have not turned the heat on yet, it was 64* when I looked at the thermostat. I guess that is chilly, lol. So, since they are old fogies I turned the heat on just for them!

Calloway also was helpful and jumped up and made himself very comfy between my mom and dad on the sofa and emitted a lot of body heat for them! My mom kept saying how sweet and content he was, and gave him lots of love. She said "It's too bad we have 4 at home, otherwise I'd take you with me." She loves tuxies just like I do, and was totally taken by his sweet face and demeanor. If I could find a little old couple for him, he'd be their perfect companion!

It's not "wintery" here yet, but it's darn cold and windy today. I'd say, mid 50's if that during this afternoon. There is a football game tonight at the highschool stadium, and I want to go just so I can get hot chocolate and french fries and walk around the field. This is perfect football weather!

[critter crazy]

Well we tend to keep the heater down, or even off. We have electric heat, and it gets very costly, so we thrive on our woodstove, but that has a tendancy to get the house a tad too warm.:D But if we arent using the stove, and rely on our heat, we keep the temp between 65-70. Which I find is perfect!:)

[jennielynn1970]

The temps in my house are about the same as yours but they are too cold for me. Unfortunately the house doesn't hold heat well. We have a large entrance door that is all glass and steel and lets out a lot of heat. The windows are quite cold too and a lot of heat escapes that way. The cost of gas is quite high here so we also try to keep it down as much as possible. It is not so cold outside here yet but we need the heat on cause the house is cold now. One of those houses that is hot in the summer and cold in the winter no matter what you do. :rolleyes: Ideally for me I would prefer it to be about 22° C or 72° F but that is just me.

I two doors at the front of my house. The front door to the outside, then the small entrance way, and the main door to the house. They are both the originals, and had mortise locks in them. They still have the buttons on the side where if you push the one in, it locks the handle and you can't turn it to get in the house even with a key. I found that out 2 winters ago when I locked myself out during a snow storm and the next door neighbor broke the one pane of glass to get me back in, and then closed the inner door and locked me out AGAIN!! Both doors let in a lot of cold air in, the windows too. There are new windows in the kitchen, and new windows on the 3rd floor from when the previous owners remodeled the attic into livable rooms.

I think that my house generally stays cooler downstairs in the summer than my apartments did. Again, I think it's the high ceilings. I hardly used the AC at all this summer, and it stayed fairly cool during the day with the lights off and the ceiling fans running.

I wish I could renovate the fireplace. I hate it. I would love to get something electric or at least not gas. I don't trust the gas logs. Lord knows how long they've been there, lol, and I guess I need to get the chimney looked at as well. I took out the gas water heater and put in an electric one, and am much happier with it.

[jennielynn1970]

Well we tend to keep the heater down, or even off. We have electric heat, and it gets very costly, so we thrive on our woodstove, but that has a tendancy to get the house a tad too warm.:D But if we arent using the stove, and rely on our heat, we keep the temp between 65-70. Which I find is perfect!:)

I would LOVE a woodstove! I love being outside and smelling the woodstoves and the chimneys. I'm so jealous of those!!! I have a stinky gas fireplace that when I did turn on and try it out when I first moved in, the living room got really hot, but I don't think the chimney was working right and the fumes got really overwhelming. So... no fireplace! It just sits there and collects dust on the gas logs. Not sure how I'd yank them out either. I'm pretty sure I'd have to have someone cap the gas pipes and then deal with getting the chimney cleaned and checked out as well before I burned regular wood in it.

[Hellow]

Well, i like to keep our house at 72 - 74*F but my parents like it at 69*F, too cold for me.

[Freedom]

Brrrr, I'm shivering just READING this thread! So many of you keep the house too cool for me! I am happy at 70. Overnight it drops to 68, then at 10 PM it drops to 65.

The problem is my Dad. Being in his 80's and with diabetes and a few other things, he is ALWAYS cold. So he likes it at 74 or 75. I have spent the past few winters wearing shorts and T's in the house, only getting "dressed" when I was going out. He wears the threal underwear, and flannel lined trousers, a flannel shirt, a flannel quilted shirt, and a down vest on top of all that. So I can't fault him for not dressing warm enough.

We manage OK in winter but summer is more difficult. I turn on the a/c, he turns it off. He sits still, I am working. I turn on the a/c, he turns it off. As I'm already in shorts and T, I can't get much cooler. And he wore his flannel lined trousers all summer this year!

[joycenalex]

tomorrow, we winterize the house....plastic shrinkwrapped over the windows, check and refill any found air leaks in the basement and check the attic for airleaks/more any more insulation needs. we have a programmable theromstat, at night/when we're not here, its 64, 4:30pm-10 69, weekdays 69, weekends, after 9am, 69. i wear sweats and sweaters alot, and socks to bed. princess peanut wears a kids thermal shirt in winter, alex loves cold weather, the cats, being heat seeking missles, heater hump and are VERY affectionate

[Grace]

I love your house - thanks for the pictures!!

We have a very well insulated house, and keep the temp between 61 - 65° in the winter. Today I had a couple of windows open and it was 45° outdoors. In the summer I try to keep the AC about 80°, but often need to lower it. I don't do well with high temps.

I'm one of the older ones, >65, but I hate hot weather and hot rooms.

[critter crazy]

I would LOVE a woodstove! I love being outside and smelling the woodstoves and the chimneys. I'm so jealous of those!!! I have a stinky gas fireplace that when I did turn on and try it out when I first moved in, the living room got really hot, but I don't think the chimney was working right and the fumes got really overwhelming. So... no fireplace! It just sits there and collects dust on the gas logs. Not sure how I'd yank them out either. I'm pretty sure I'd have to have someone cap the gas pipes and then deal with getting the chimney cleaned and checked out as well before I burned regular wood in it.

I love my woodstove, i dont even mind all the extra work it entails. We cut down, and chop our own wood, as we have plenty off trees on our property.Right now we are using all the left over tops, from having the property Logged as well as all the downed trees from this and last years storms.

I have a huge fear of gas, and would never have it in my house. Everything in our home is electric. It is more costly, but I think much safer. Altho, it does have its downsides, as when we lose power, we lose everything!:rolleyes: Can be a tad anoying, since where we live, we lose Power alot!! we actually lost power today for two hours. But we always have heat!!

I can remember a couple years ago we had a horrible snow storm, and we lost power for quite some time! I was melting snow on the woodstove to water our horses! Comes quite in handy!!;)

In a couple of year we plan to switch everything over to an Outdoor woodstove! That is my ultimate Dream!:)

[jennielynn1970]

How do you heat the inside with an outdoor woodstove? I'm totally unfamiliar with those. I thought they were only inside deals??

Actually, when I bought my house, I refused to look at anything that was totally electric, lol. I don't mind oil (grew up in a house that used all oil heat), and most of my apartments were either gas or oil heat (I rented mostly in houses or old buildings, not complexes). My first roommate was actually the one who got me to not like all electric. She was frugal to the extreme, and would have the heat off in the apartment and wear her snowpants and a jacket. I heard this from the roommate she had before me. While I like to save money, I will not freeze to death, lol!

I had been dating a guy who was born and raised in Egypt, and when he had stayed with me after his father rented out their house while he was back in Egypt visiting his relatives (nice, huh?? He came "home" to a totally different family living in his dad's house!!). Well, let's just say that we had different thoughts about what was a comfortable temperature. He was home during the day, and I never thought about how warm he would make it if I wasn't here until I got my first gas bill after he was here. HOLY COW!!! During the winter, $100 isn't unheard of for me for a monthly gas bill, although it's normally about $80. When Moe was here, my first and 2nd bills were over $400. He didn't see a problem with this, because he said he was a "guest" and should be comfortable while he's staying here (and no, he didn't help to pay the bills). I came home a few times to the thermostat being 85* and him in a tank top and shorts. I was not a happy camper. Let's just say that things did not end amicably, and he has since moved,(and I also understand a little more about why his father behaved the way he did, lol).

[critter crazy]

How do you heat the inside with an outdoor woodstove? I'm totally unfamiliar with those. I thought they were only inside deals??

Actually, when I bought my house, I refused to look at anything that was totally electric, lol. I don't mind oil (grew up in a house that used all oil heat), and most of my apartments were either gas or oil heat (I rented mostly in houses or old buildings, not complexes). My first roommate was actually the one who got me to not like all electric. She was frugal to the extreme, and would have the heat off in the apartment and wear her snowpants and a jacket. I heard this from the roommate she had before me. While I like to save money, I will not freeze to death, lol!

I had been dating a guy who was born and raised in Egypt, and when he had stayed with me after his father rented out their house while he was back in Egypt visiting his relatives (nice, huh?? He came "home" to a totally different family living in his dad's house!!). Well, let's just say that we had different thoughts about what was a comfortable temperature. He was home during the day, and I never thought about how warm he would make it if I wasn't here until I got my first gas bill after he was here. HOLY COW!!! During the winter, $100 isn't unheard of for me for a monthly gas bill, although it's normally about $80. When Moe was here, my first and 2nd bills were over $400. He didn't see a problem with this, because he said he was a "guest" and should be comfortable while he's staying here (and no, he didn't help to pay the bills). I came home a few times to the thermostat being 85* and him in a tank top and shorts. I was not a happy camper. Let's just say that things did not end amicably, and he has since moved,(and I also understand a little more about why his father behaved the way he did, lol).

I am not realy sure I understand the whole concept of the outdoor stove, but I am pretty sure it is like Forced hot air. My aunt and uncle have one, and it is the Greatest!! They heat everything, including their Pool!

here is a pic of one.
http://www.deb-design.com/boiler.jpg

[jennielynn1970]

OOOH! Here I am picturing one of those pot bellied stoves outside! :rolleyes: I can be so blonde some times. Duh Jennie, of course there has to be a structure around it or something!!

I want to look into getting my gas logs replaced at some point, since they have been sitting there unused for 3 winters now (who knows how long the other family didn't use them!). If the time comes in the near future to get the furnace replaced (it's less than 8 years old though), I'll have to see what other options are out there.

[critter crazy]

OOOH! Here I am picturing one of those pot bellied stoves outside! :rolleyes: I can be so blonde some times. Duh Jennie, of course there has to be a structure around it or something!!

I want to look into getting my gas logs replaced at some point, since they have been sitting there unused for 3 winters now (who knows how long the other family didn't use them!). If the time comes in the near future to get the furnace replaced (it's less than 8 years old though), I'll have to see what other options are out there.
He he he he!!! You are so funny!!!:D

[krazyaboutkatz]

I live in a condo on the 2nd floor and there's another floor above me so I stay fairly warm in the winter and it doesn't get as cold here as it does where you live Jenn.:) I have electric heaters but I don't use them because I don't trust them. I have carpeting everywhere except for the kitchen and bathrooms so this helps too. I just dress warmer and when I'm under the covers at night I'm fine. My cats also help to keep me warm.:) I'd say that on the coldest days it could get between 55-60 degrees but I can deal with it.

[Rachel]

I do like a cooler environment for sleeping, i.e. 65 F. For the day, I'm more into 70 F, but I probably could manage around 68 if I had to. In summer the thermostat is set at 78 degrees before the a.c. will turn on. What I find strange is when some people to have the a.c. set at a colder temp in summer than they have the heat in winter.

[smokey the elder]

I usually keep the heat at around 68F in the day and down to 62-64 at night; I have programmable thermostats. I can't keep the place too cold because we rented a place when I was in high school that was an icebox in the winter and a furnace in the summer, so I refuse to be too uncomfortable. If it's too cold for me to do fancywork (my hands get stiff), the heat comes on.

[Alysser]

:p I have no clue what the house temps are here, but it's always freezing. Funny how my mom complains about the cold and then makes it freezing. The only warm spot is the upstairs bathroom.

[sirrahbed]

64 - but only when the gas heater is on and we are not using the buckstove

we are cold loving, antique folks with free solid fuel dry in the yard

if the buckstove is on and we still shiver in seatshirts or sweaters - then I request a few hours of 64 with the gas heater

hubby likes to wake up in the morning, make coffee, and might throw on a 99cent quick ignite log if I plan to stay in bed another hour :p

[jennielynn1970]

Ok, I'm feeling better!! I'm not the only one who likes it cooler, and not just because I'm trying to save money. My mother makes me feel like I'm so odd and it's an icebox in the house. I really think my dad's health has a lot to do with why their house is so warm now, and my mom, she's just a stick and has always been cold (the woman is 5'10" tall and weighs maybe 118lbs - she has a ton of food allergies and cholesterol issues and can't gain weight... and I didn't inherit that part of her genes why???? :p )

[jennielynn1970]

we are cold loving, antique folks with free solid fuel dry in the yard


Wait, do you mean you like antiques?? I've seen your picture, and you're not old, so you can't mean you two are antiques!!!

[Randi]

I prefer it to be about 22-24C =75F, but at night about 66F... with a window slightly open. I would freeze to death if it was under 62!

[cali]

uhh 68* with a cracked window in my winters would cause everyone to freeze to death lol. in the winter my house is kept around 78-80* with all windows shut and sealed. heck my house right now is 74* and its not even winter yet :p

[Edwina's Secretary]

I prefer it to be about 22-24C =75F, but at night about 66F... with a window slightly open. I would freeze to death if it was under 62!

You would just need more cats! :D :D ;) :D :D

[Russian Blue]

Since moving into our older home, we have kept the thermostat at 65-68 during the day and we let it drop to 60 at night. I really like it cool at night while I'm snuggled warm under a duvet!

We also have radiant heat (radiators/boiler) and I can't imagine having anything else to heat my home! It's great for allergies since the air isn't being blown around and you don't have to worry about cleaning out any ducting. And it seems to heat the home more efficiently.

We just added a sunroom off the back of the house and we added a gas fireplace and radiant flooring. I absolutely love it and I'm so glad we already had the boiler to accommodate the heat for the sunroom floor.

Now I just need to add the kitties and they'll also give their approval for warm sunroom floor! :D

[DrKym]

58-62 during the winter, I love the cold and keep the bedroom window cracked also!

I grew up in a house that had only 2 coal stoves, one in the kitchen and one in the parlor for heat and usage, so we never really caught on to the thingie on the wall!

We never froze but we did love snuggling in the featherbeds! My hubby keeps trying to turn the heat on each year and I keep turning it off right after him!

[jennielynn1970]

Since moving into our older home, we have kept the thermostat at 65-68 during the day and we let it drop to 60 at night. I really like it cool at night while I'm snuggled warm under a duvet!

We also have radiant heat (radiators/boiler) and I can't imagine having anything else to heat my home! It's great for allergies since the air isn't being blown around and you don't have to worry about cleaning out any ducting. And it seems to heat the home more efficiently.


Ok, here's a question... ducting?? Do home with furnaces and the old grates in the walls have ducts? Do they need to be cleaned? If so, how often?? I had the furnace checked 2 years ago, since UGI had some offer to go along with a yearly maintenance package, but it didn't seem like such a big deal, so I haven't done anything since. Is this something that I should actually invest in getting done? There's an Aprilaire humidity thing that goes along with the furnace, and there's supposed to be an air cleaner, but I think when the guy who was cleaning/checking the furnace that time looked at it, he said it wasn't working (the air cleaner). Like anything would work with all these cats, lol! I'd probably have to change some filter every other month.

Is there anything that I really need to be doing, or getting checked, in my home??

[carole]

I have never taken the temp of my house in the winter, but i like to be warm, with all my aches and pains, it is a necessity really, i like feeling cosy and not having to wear heaps of layers of clothing as i find that uncomfortable, i think if it were me i would make the place a bit warmer when your parents visit and wear less clothing myself, i hate my guests to feel uncomfortable and as you get older you do seem to feel the cold more,it would be more pleasant for them, it puts me off visiting people when i feel cold,but if i know there house if going to be cooler than mine , then i will wear warmer clothing,your parents could do that too and probably do, but when you are elderly it is hard to retain the body heat.

[sumbirdy]

We don't even have a thermostat! When we're hot we use fans and when we're cold we use portable heaters. I love being cold. I can go out in 50 degree weather without a jacket and be fine. It's the heat I can't stand so I rarely use a heater. But in the summer you can find me sitting in front of a fan or stuck off in the living room with the air conditioner all the way up. :p

[mina'smomma]

We keep it about 70 during the day when hubby is home and I usually turn it down to 67 when I get home because I'm too hot. I'm a firm beliver if you're too hot put on a warmer shirt or cover up in a blanket. ;)

[Logan]

I'm with you, Jenn. I like to be warm enough, but not too warm. :p I will tell you that although my mother has always been cold natured, once she had open heart surgery and started taking a blood thinner, it has been much worse. She is thin to start with, but add that thin blood, and poor thing about freezes in our house, summer or winter. That may have something to do with your dad's issues, too.

Right now, we are without any heat in the lower level of our home. I went to turn it on last Monday to knock the chill off, as it had gone down to 33º overnight and heard the worst noise ever. Turns out that something related to a combustion fan (I think that's what they said) failed and fell apart. We have gas pack heating/air conditioning for our downstairs and that means forced air natural gas heat in the winter and electric air conditioning in the summer. Anyway, it was going to cost $400 to replace the part and our unit is almost 20 years old, and we still wouldn't know if there was something else wrong until that part was installed and we fired it up, so we are getting a new unit tomorrow. The upstairs unit is holding its own. It is a heat pump, totally powered by electricity.

The downstairs is cold during the days and evenings, but we used our indoor wood burning stove two nights, just to warm the living area, if we were going to be in that room, and the electric blanket has come in handy, too. For several days in a row, the highest inside temp was 59º, while it was over 70 outside. Most of our leaves are still on the trees, so it is quite shady around our house. Our wood stove isn't all that great, but at least we have it, and it has helped during power outages and with the heat going out this time around. I have used an electric space heater, in spurts, for the sake of the birds and the fish. I worry about them the most. Butter (kitty) and the dogs have been just fine. And we did add an electric fireplace last spring in our kitchen/den area. Tacky, but it will warm up that room better than the heating unit does, when it is working.

Our home is poorly configured and most of the heat and cool are concentrated in the two rooms that are closest to the unit. We will live with that, though, as I don't see putting in new ductwork and a unit under the house at this point.

Logan

[Catlady711]

Our house is old, needs siding and insulation (although we do have a new roof and new windows) and it's VERY drafty. We put plastic up over the entire 3 sided front porch effectively killing all use of the front door.

WINTER - temp. is 70-72 degrees Farenheit when we are home (at that we feel chilly) and when we are not home the programable thermostat goes down to 62. The cats don't like it that chilly but we do have the heated pet bed, numberous warm fluffy pet beds, and several afgans and quilts out for them to use.

SUMMER - We only have a VERY old and HUGE window A/C that was given to us for free. We only have one outlet in the house that can handle the load and unfortunately we have an open house type floor plan that the A/C just wasn't designed to handle a space that large. We only run it when the temp gets up to 90+ degrees in the house, or on the rare occasion that one of the cats seems to be having difficulty with the heat. In which case we run the thing wide open which on a very hot humid day only gets the temp down to 75 after 2 solid days running 24/7 but it's better than nothing.

[jennielynn1970]

We don't even have a thermostat! When we're hot we use fans and when we're cold we use portable heaters. I love being cold. I can go out in 50 degree weather without a jacket and be fine. It's the heat I can't stand so I rarely use a heater. But in the summer you can find me sitting in front of a fan or stuck off in the living room with the air conditioner all the way up. :p

Wait.. so you have no heat in your house at all??? No electric, no oil, no gas, nothing??

[Pam]

I like it much warmer than my hubby does. In the winter I would prefer the thermostat at 72 but we live with 70 during the day. At night it is on a setback temp of 65, and I don't mind that except if I have to get up in the middle of the night and go to the bathroom. I make that trip quick! :o

[BitsyNaceyDog]

We used to never use the heat in the winter (okay, we live in Florida, but it does get cold here). We would just turn on the heaters in the reptile rooms and if it got cold enough the bird/rodent room too. We usually like it around 70 degrees. We've had a few cold nights (not super cold, low 50s) and Nathan does not like it! He slept with us for a couple nights until we finally found his perfect winter sleeping temperature, 76 degrees! It's a bit too warm for Justin and me, but we turned our fan on and slept in light cloths.


I love my woodstove
I have a huge fear of gas, and would never have it in my house.
I miss the wood stove we had when we lived in NY. We have a fireplace in this house and we use it often in the winter, we absolutely love it.

I too have a huge fear of gas and will never have it in my house.

[Cataholic]

I am sweaty just thinking about what some of you keep your temps at! :p

I keep my heat set at 60, and will use a space heater if we are sitting around watching TV. Even at that temp, I still sleep with a window open, though I do turn off the ceiling fan. :o

A nice duvet, as well as a feather mattress, makes all the difference in the world.

[pitc9]

We burn wood in our wood stove, that's our main source of heat.
We have a gas furnace and the first winter before we put in new windows and the wood stove my gas bills were $300 a month! :eek:
But since the new windows and wood stove our monthly gas bills are around $40.

The temp in the house is always around 70. It's nice to sit and watch TV in shorts and a t-shirt all year around! But the dogs don't like it! :p

[jennielynn1970]

We burn wood in our wood stove, that's our main source of heat.
We have a gas furnace and the first winter before we put in new windows and the wood stove my gas bills were $300 a month! :eek:
But since the new windows and wood stove our monthly gas bills are around $40.

Do you think that drop is mainly from the windows or from the gas stove?? The only time I've ever had $40. gas bills was when I was using it only for the stove and my old hot water heater. Not even heating the house.

[Jenn&Dean]

I two doors at the front of my house. The front door to the outside, then the small entrance way, and the main door to the house. They are both the originals, and had mortise locks in them. They still have the buttons on the side where if you push the one in, it locks the handle and you can't turn it to get in the house even with a key. I found that out 2 winters ago when I locked myself out during a snow storm and the next door neighbor broke the one pane of glass to get me back in, and then closed the inner door and locked me out AGAIN!! Both doors let in a lot of cold air in, the windows too. There are new windows in the kitchen, and new windows on the 3rd floor from when the previous owners remodeled the attic into livable rooms.

I think that my house generally stays cooler downstairs in the summer than my apartments did. Again, I think it's the high ceilings. I hardly used the AC at all this summer, and it stayed fairly cool during the day with the lights off and the ceiling fans running.

I wish I could renovate the fireplace. I hate it. I would love to get something electric or at least not gas. I don't trust the gas logs. Lord knows how long they've been there, lol, and I guess I need to get the chimney looked at as well. I took out the gas water heater and put in an electric one, and am much happier with it.

I know exactly how you feel, my house was built in 1911, and I know about those old doors, that are too wide for "today's" door sizes, so we just put up with the draft, right? Hah.

I have done a considerable amount of updating at my house, I've lowered the ceilings from 10 ft. to 8ft, that has helped a LOT to conserve the heat in my home, although, still drafty! I also put in central heat and air, which I am starting to think was a mistake.

When the CH/AC guys came to put in my unit, they said, we just put this same unit in JcPenny's... I was like WHAT :eek: So... Who knows. My utility bills are through the roof summer and winter, at least I'm still enjoying the 50 - 60 degree weather before I actually turn that Big JcPenny sized heater on. LOL

But to answer your question, I keep my house at 65 to 68 degrees in the winder.

[sumbirdy]

Wait.. so you have no heat in your house at all??? No electric, no oil, no gas, nothing??

We have portable heaters in every room. They actually do a good job since our house is so small.