Heating your home

[IslandMama]

Southeast Queensland, Australia.  We have no heating here... not even a stand alone heater and we don't bother with hot water bottles either.  A couple of nights in winter it's dipped below 10 degrees (c, not f) and we just put an extra blanket on the beds and the kids wore socks.  In summer we get up to 36 degrees with 98% humidity and we have no air con... just a couple of ceiling fans and a good cross breeze... and a lot of iceblocks (icy poles, ice lollies, whatever you want to call them!) in the freezer. 

[Winterlight]

My Alaskan family uses a furnace supplemented with a wood stove to heat the house. In my rental it's a furnace with forced air heating.

[mechtilde]

Gas fired central heating in winter, but no air conditioning- fortunately it tends not to get too hot here, but ur house is very well insulated and has 18" thick walls which are good at keeping either warmth or cold in.

[kethria]

Maryland, USA here...

Natural Gas furnace, fireplace which we haven't fired up yet. I keep the thermostat set to 60 during the day while we are out, 70 for a few hours before bed, and 65 after bed.

When I lived in Bogota there was no heat or air. And some days it got COLD! I can remember it being 4 C on a few occasions and I would wake up seeing my breath in the room. Brrrrr.

[Information_queen]

Memphis, here.

We have all electric heating and cooling.

I keep it cold in the winter - 60F. Most of the time, the heat never kicks on. I don't know how; it's gotten way colder than that this winter and our apartment has horrible insulation. Today was the first time this whole winter that I *really* felt cold. Even my sweatshirt wasn't warm enough for a while, and the dog (tiny, and short-haired) spent part of the day buried in my blankets - literally - I actually thought I lost him in the apartment somehow . He's spent the rest of the day wearing his outside coat after I forgot to take it off when we came in.

Tonight, I'll have my sheet, comforter, and my snuggie on top of that, and we'll be plenty warm. Mudkips will curl up next to me, and be very glad for the shared warmth

This is probably the coldest I'll feel all winter, which is why I don't bother keeping it any warmer. We don't really need it most of the time.

Now the summer on the other hand - there are days I wish I had litter box trained the dog just to not have to spend 90 seconds outside.

[WillyNilly]

NYC. I live in a mid-sized apartment building (6 floors, 16 apts per floor). We have oil heat which comes into my apt via old fashioned cast iron radiators that occassionally bang and always hiss if they are on. Its ridiculous heat - it definately fluctuates a lot. I have no real control over it except for some ineffectual knobs on each radiator and the windows and window unit AC - I sped half the winter in sweats and using throw blankets because my apt is in the 60's and half the time opening windows or turning on the fan because its in the 80's. The bathroom is heated with a pipe that whistles but I can't turn it off - something about it needing to vent since I'm on the top floor.

[jalutaja]

Average winter temps where I am are -4C - 15C (approx 24F - 59F). I like feeling cold, but I'm becoming less tolerant as I get older.  I actually had to find a jumper (sweater) to wear quite a few times last winter!

Oh, for a moment (until I Googled for what 59F would be) I thought you meant from - 4C to - 15C and was so impressed, as for me -15C in NOT just to find a jumper weather!

[Lady Snowdon]

Minnesota, USA here.

DH and I tend to run cold, and we like being warm, so our house is a bit warmer than some!  We have forced air heating and air conditioning, gas furnace and electrical a/c. 

In the summer, our a/c is set for 82F when we're gone, and 78F when we're home.  I wouldn't even turn it on most days, except for the humidity here makes it feel so much warmer than it really is.  Summer temps are typically around 80-85F but there are days when it gets up into the 90F range.

In the winter, our furnace is set for 65F when we're gone, and 70F when we're home.  It might go down to 68F after like 10 pm or so, when we're in bed.  Average winter temps are like 10-25F, but it routinely gets as cold as -20F in January and February.  I would be afraid of our pipes freezing if we set our temps any lower!

[jaxsue]

I live in Central NJ. My home is from the mid-50s and has steam heat. I've never had this kind of heat before but I really like it. First of all, it's quiet. Secondly, it's a moist heat, which cuts down on static electricity. And because it's a newer water heater there's no need to "bleed" it.

[apple]

Southwestern U.S., and we have a gas furnace for heat. In our area, homes are either all-electric (heat & air), or electric air conditioner and gas heater. Gas is cheaper than electricity, so having a gas furnace (and hot water heater) tends to save a bit of money.

We spend a lot more on air-conditioning (from May to Sept., or longer) than we do on heat!

Right now, the thermostat is set at 72. (The older I get, the less tolerance I seem to have for being cold.)

[Gwywnnydd]

I'm in Seattle (well, Shoreline, which is immediately north of Seattle).
We just got the first snow of the season. About an inch, and it started melting before it finished falling. So much for SNOpocalypse 2012 =). Our winters are typically cool (almost always above freezing, though not always much above) and damp.

The house I'm in now has natural gas heat. In previous places, the apartments all had electric heat (typically baseboard heaters), and the houses were a mix of natural gas or fuel oil.

[kckgirl]

America here. We live in a home that was built in the 30's, but we installed a new HVAC system this year - our old one died three years ago. We keep ours at 70 degrees because Mom likes it toasty.

And here's a difference in interpretation right here. I would find 70 acceptable, but far from "toasty."

I agree. If I had my 'druthers, I'd have the house at 75 year round.

I live in Maryland in a neighborhood with no gas service. We have electric baseboard heaters with separate thermostats in each bedroom, the living room, and one that controls the kitchen/dining room/hall, which is the only one we use. It heats the house enough to be relatively comfortable. We have an oil-filled space heater in the living room because the furniture doesn't allow for efficient use of the heaters. All bedroom heaters are always off. I can't sleep if it's warm, and I'd rather be snuggled under the covers if I get cold.

[Optimoose Prime]

Alaska here.  We have gas forced air furnace and a gas fireplace.  We usually have the electronic thermostat set at 65F during the day and 61F at night.

[KimberlyM]

Oregon here, we have electric ceiling heat, which may well be the dumbest invention ever.  In the winter I pay about $300 a month for heat and my thermostats are set at about 64f.  I don't use the heat in the kitchen, bathrooms and my bedroom (electric blankets rock!).  Basically my house is cold and I pay a fortune to keep it that way!  The first winter in this house I set the temp to 72f and our first winter bill was nearly $500.  We have a wood burning fireplace that we use when it's really cold out or when we just get tired of layering clothes, but it really only heats the living room.

In the summer we have an electric window ac unit that we use for a couple months, but our summers are not terribly hot.   

[WhiteTigerCub]

Southwestern U.S., and we have a gas furnace for heat. In our area, homes are either all-electric (heat & air), or electric air conditioner and gas heater. Gas is cheaper than electricity, so having a gas furnace (and hot water heater) tends to save a bit of money.

We spend a lot more on air-conditioning (from May to Sept., or longer) than we do on heat!

Right now, the thermostat is set at 72. (The older I get, the less tolerance I seem to have for being cold.)

This is mine exactly too.  Programable thermostat keeps things nicely at 65-68 (farenheit) during the winter ( I lurve snuggly blankets) or  AC  78-80 during hot weather.