House temp in winter??

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!

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

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.

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Originally Posted by jenn_librarian

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.

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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!:)

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).

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Originally Posted by jenn_librarian

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).

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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

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.

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Originally Posted by jenn_librarian

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.

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He he he he!!! You are so funny!!!:D

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.

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.

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.

: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.

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

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 )

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Originally Posted by sirrahbed

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

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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!!!