Home - is it warm from the heat or are you keeping things cool

I feel bad for people who live with others but cant agree on inside temperature.  Luckily I live alone because few could endure my extremes - I HATE spending money on AC or heat.  A full AC summer bill ran between $200-300 which is insane so I stopped with that years back.   

I have fans at comman spots (desk, kitchen, bathroom) and in my office I also keep a water mister if it gets bad.  Right now Im counting down to a vacation I would not have affforded were I too have dropped $100s over the winter and summer. 

A while back an AC guy explained house insulation is why a house without AC like mine gets hotter than it is outside.  Ive been keeping the upstairs windows open because cathedral ceilings so wanting the heat to rise and leave the house. 

So are you chilling or weathering the heat?

summer is short.  i like to feel the heat while i can.

but--you know--heat is relative.  25c is a pretty hot day here; 30c is devastating and rare.

I'm weathering the heat, but chillin in my house the old fashion way :) !!  I'm with you on the expense of AC.  Don't have it and don't want it.  I live in the northwest so our heat isn't bad yet.  That's relative also....I might feel different if I lived in a more southerly state.   I leave certain windows open with window fans on at night.  I open the house up when I get up earlier in the morning.  I close things down at a certain point and I stay comfortable throughout the heat of the day.  I have energy effecient windows (a great investment for us!! Our electric bill seldom goes over 90$ a month all year) and the insulation in our home helps keep things cool.  I learned this from my aunt and grannie who grew up in Minnesota!!  Enjoy your summer!!

with 90+ in the summer and 0 (or below) not unheard of (avg in the teens) during the winter-- you can bet we both heat and cool our house.  Winter, its kept in the low 60s-- wear an extra sweater.

In the summer- I am a bit spoiled.  I keep it in the low 70s and would keep it even cooler if I could afford it.

Gas bill during the summer: 15 bucks

Gas bill during the winter: avg 115 bucks

Electric bill winter: 60 bucks

Electric bill summer: 100 bucks

 

It pretty much averages out to a pretty steady 150-175 range of heating/cooling bills during the high seasons.  I tend to keep the heat and ac off as long as possible in fall and sprng though , with windows open constantly.

I use a/c constantly in the summer. It's not central air (that doesn't exist here) but even with it running constantly my bill has never been more than 50,000 Korean won/month... so that's like.... $38-40 approx. The humidity here is so disgusting that I can't make it without it. My a/c stays set on 22 but my thermostat says it's about 25 in here (celsius). 

i'm almost looking forward to winter.  after three years up north ("north" being also relative), i'm anticipating paying next to nothing for heat.  especially because i like to sleep in a cool room, and the gas for the fireplace in the living room is paid for through the strata fees, which the landlady pays .

Year round: We keep our temp in the house at 70-74 Degrees. It's 70 in the summer and 74 in the winter. That's comfortable to us, Lol. Central heat/Air so our highest electric bill ever in the summer was 80 dollars last year. We had 10 days of extreame heat last year though. Seriously. It was 98 degrees the first three days of the week. Then followed up with temps in the hundreds the rest of the week...into the following week...After ten days of that... Going back to 95 degrees outside was like a chilly delight. :) It typically stays in the 90's and/or above during our summers.  In WA state nobody even had an a/c unit in their homes,Etc. There is no need because it just doesn't get that hot there.

Original Post by enchantingimage:

It's 70 in the summer and 74 in the winter.

i hope this is backwards.

Original Post by pgeorgian:

Original Post by enchantingimage:

It's 70 in the summer and 74 in the winter.

i hope this is backwards.

No. I meant the temperature we keep inside our home. We like to keep it setting between 70-75 degrees. At closer to 70 degrees in the summer depending upon how heated summer is here.74 in the winter if it's a harsh winter here. Oklahoma is known for it's fluke harsh extremes. Generally: Right smack dab in the middle for usual weather is our setting. :)

The heaters are off and the fans are on. We have a long house and the air flows right over the cooling water and through the living room. We keep the ceiling fan in the living room on, a window fan in the kitchen window (for cooking), and before long we'll put two window fans in the bedroom, one blowing in and one blowing out.

We used our air conditioner for an hour last summer, and that was when we first moved in, were still unpacking, and very active in the house. Now we've got it set up so it stays cool and comfortable. However, Alex knows if I start getting too pregnant and too uncomfortable, I may put the air conditioner in the bedroom. We sleep during the day when it's a little warmer and the window fans may not cut it. We'll have to wait and see.

ei: i understand.  that's kind-of backwards.  if you want to conserve.

(75 in winter?  seriously?  i think that would make me sick.)

Original Post by drea99:

I tend to keep the heat and ac off as long as possible in fall and sprng though , with windows open constantly.

 Me too. I love it when it's nice enough outside to open the windows. It's nice to have the fresh air/breeze. It's easier to stay comfortable like that if you have fans in your home too. In my family people use ceiling fans year round. Lol. It amazed me that people in WA state didn't have ceiling fans at all. Lol. If not to stay cool just to keep the circulation of air is nice to me.

Original Post by pgeorgian:

ei: i understand.  that's kind-of backwards.  if you want to conserve.

(75 in winter?  seriously?  i think that would make me sick.)

 Hm. It sorta depends on how cold it actually gets for us. Depending upon whether or not people are coming/going. Closing/Opening doors.That's our range though up and down when needed. It depends on the weather because when it's low teens or below 74 isn't a hot setting. When it's in the triple digits in the summer 70 degrees isn't a cold setting either. It's comfortable though,imo. In all honesty our home stays right between 70-75 mostly year round.

Original Post by enchantingimage:

 In WA state nobody even had an a/c unit in their homes,Etc. There is no need because it just doesn't get that hot there.

Hmmm that would suck for me if no one in Washington had AC..considering my family owns an HVAC company ;]

Actually, a lot of people here have AC.

We've been  having a really hot summer so far, for the past few weeks it's consistantly around 70, with some days getting into the mid to high 80's.. which is hot for here. We wear shorts when it gets to high 50's, haha.

I live in an apartment with no AC, so we just keep the doors and windows open, and have a fan in our living room. In the winter we heat our living room to something bearable, and keep the bedroom pretty cool, we'll turn it up a little before we go to bed if it's too chilly. We have a second bedroom that we never use, so we just leave the thermostat in there turned off.

Original Post by hayleymajayley:

Original Post by enchantingimage:

 In WA state nobody even had an a/c unit in their homes,Etc. There is no need because it just doesn't get that hot there.

Hmmm that would suck for me if no one in Washington had AC..considering my family owns an HVAC company ;]

Actually, a lot of people here have AC.

We've been  having a really hot summer so far, for the past few weeks it's consistantly around 70, with some days getting into the mid to high 80's.. which is hot for here. We wear shorts when it gets to high 50's, haha.

I live in an apartment with no AC, so we just keep the doors and windows open, and have a fan in our living room. In the winter we heat our living room to something bearable, and keep the bedroom pretty cool, we'll turn it up a little before we go to bed if it's too chilly. We have a second bedroom that we never use, so we just leave the thermostat in there turned off.

Lol! It amazed me. . . See. I didn't meet anyone that had ac in their homes/apartment/condos/Etc. Everyone I asked/talked to about it said it just wasn't needed. Either way: It's nice to have in the event you do need it,imo. :) I can't imagine using it myself there though. :) It's such low temps in the summer we never even missed the a/c units. We never went to turn it on or even wished we had it while living there. :)

 We actually missed summer!

We just used fans and opened doors/windows for fresh air.  It's felt like chilly springtime weather in the middle of summer there,imo. It never got that hot when we were there. Wow. People must be all worked up if you're having a heatwave. People were breaking out their bathing suits/flip flops for 60 degree weather!  :) We were like: " Are you serious? " I can't imagine their reaction to the temps being in the 80's/etc, Lol! It's was still too cold there to me to be called summer. Brrrr. I'd break out shorts and run home to go put jeans back on...hahaa. On the bright side you can wear far more of your clothing year round there. Long sleeves/jackets/zip hoodies/jeans, Lol. Basically w/e without breaking a sweat in the heat of the typical summers. =-P  I quickly learned the benefit of wearing tights in the winter. I bought several pair and wore them everyday under pants! Layers!

Shoot... I doubled my socks on uber cold occasion too. You know you have on too many layers when you no longer fit into your shoes/coat. Hahaa.

I wish I saw 75 and 80 degrees as hot.

This week the weather for Nevada is going to be from 100-105 degrees, if I remember my weather report exactly. I really hate living in a desert.

But me and my family use the a/c.  We couldn't handle our house without air conditioning because our house gets almost as hot as it is outside. I have a fan that I use when I sleep, but I should probably try to get the rest of my family to invest in fans.

At least we don't have to use the heater in the winter, even though our winters are like 55 to 60 degrees and thats pretty damn cold for us.

We have central air AND a window unit in our room

We can not stand the heat.

And it is up in the 90s this week.

If you think Wisconsin is cold all year long you are wrong.

It is nasty humid out right now.

I blast the ac all summer

my house never cools down.  I live south florida and the owner of our house that we rent had to cut down the trees in the backyard because of hurricane hazards and now our house never ever cools down.  It gets so bad that the floor becomes sticky from the humidity.  Right now we have about 5 fans running plus central air and a couple of window units.   Summers are really bad down here.  Right now its 9 pm and 88 degrees with 61% humidity and  heat index of 101.   The one good thing is that Im driving to Key Largo tomorrow to go snorkeling.  

I went out to New Mexico once and it was over 100 degrees outside and it was beautiful.  I love dry, desert heat.

I don't like spending money on the air con but I don't like being uncomfortably warm either.  If it's hot outside I turn the air on.  It's central a/c and has a thermostat which works fairly well.

The summer nights are usually cool enough to open the windows -- usually.  In the early morning I shut everything up, the air won't come on till the afternoon.  Fortunately the house is well insulated.

Winters here are mild and I rarely run the heater, in fact, I hate that frickin hot air blowing on me!  Much rather just put on a jumper.

I'm amazed when I hear other residents air con units cranking up when it's already cool outside...  I guess some people don't like to open their windows :)

I keep mine the same year round P: Just cold enough so i can use my space heater and covers lol

With me still looking for a job, we tried to put off turning on our AC for as long as possible this year - and even made it through the first week of June.  Then it just got too uncomfortable to even just sit around and do nothing.  If it were only 85+ degrees F, that I could handle.  While not south Florida bad, STL still has very high humidity, and it just gets too sticky - as in feet peel off the floor, everything feels damp, and all paper appears to have been misted with water.  So we cracked a couple of weeks ago - but have it set at 75 F.