We generally keep our house at 19C but from 9:30 PM to 9 AM the thermostat is kept at 16C. It came on for about three minutes, and then it turned off for about two minutes, and then it came back on for about five seconds. :-) I bet if you did like a degree every week or every other week, you could get colder than youd expect. To us, its simple: energy is extra expensive in rural areas, we live in a cold place, ergo the natural gas bill in the winter would be unacceptably high if we heated our house to a more normal temperature. In July 2022, a detective took 11 bottles from a trash can outside Mr. Heuermann's house. Oh, weve fully been those moochers! Understanding Reduces Fear // Lessons from the Sky, Around the Personal Finance blogosphere - March 4th, 2016, http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/01/24/opinion/this-cold-house.html?referer=, The Road Less Traveled Challenge Our Next Life, Fessing Up to Our Most Cheapskate Habits Our Next Life, What If We Retired Today? Apart from comfort I think that is is very important to save energy and the environment. ), what difference does it make? How low can your thermostat go? So, we have it pretty good down here in the southwest. Haha. Heat wave could push temperatures as high as 130 degrees this weekend - CNN If the water cant freeze, it wont cause blockages that lead to pipes bursting. Fortunately its not that cold consistently, mostly owing to all the sunshine during the day! ), Related post: Thinking About Frugality More Broadly // A Call to Action. Oh, and thanks for the mention! Why 50 degrees (F) as a minimum? Got any tips for getting over the hump and calling the maids? And commenting. When you have been sick with ear infections, bronchitis, pleurisy and pneumonia and cant afford to heat your house over 62, it isnt being frugal, its being miserable, and its not a choice. Ha I would definitely make fun of you once if you were my coworker, but then Id leave you alone to your quirky space heater ways. Remember that people feel comfortable in temperatures that are set between 63 to 72 . Sometimes, I think people get really bent of our shape about things like this because it makes them realize how much they could actually cut out if they chose to. Leave faucets at a slight drip when the temperature is 32 degrees Fahrenheit or below. In fact, I dont find it hard to believe that you can do 55 in the house because I do the same, only Im on the East Coast, where the cold is humid, so its much worse. Not the principle but the more extreme approach. He would also be up at 5 am to fire it back up and then do darm chores. The Non-Financial Benefits of Strict, Strategic Frugality - FIRE Wanderer, Ten Simple Changes For A More Sustainable Life - Tread Lightly, Retire Early, 15 simple tips fabulously frugal people NEVER do when organising their finances, How to Retire Early With Minimalism | the minimalist mom, 15 things fabulously frugal people NEVER do organising their finances, Big City Vs. Small Town // Which Is Better for Saving for Early Retirement? We already know we arent perfectly rational beings. So glad you guys got to UT! I wear my wool socks and fleece bathrobe even in my 70 degree house! (Its probably worth noting that I live in Minnesota, which doesnt exactly help). What Is a Safe Room Temperature for Elderly People? - Aire Serv 65 at day. But certain things just arent worth it to us, and apparently heat is among them. When deciding what temperature to set your thermostat to, avoid going below 63 degrees. A New York architect is charged with first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of three women found over a decade ago in what are known as the Gilgo Beach murders on Long Island . Sorry, I cannot imagine 56 on a regular basis a shiver just ran through my body thinking about it. Now if I could just convince Mr. AR to give up the AC, That was pretty much our first experience exactly. :-). Mrs. SSC keeps it around 80 F if she has her say about it and I crank it way down to 78 On the occasion I turn it to 77 or 76 F, then she starts complaining about it being cold. Also, I now know to throw in some extra socks if I ever come visit. Thats a great way to put it embracing our climate. Air conditioners use a cycle that involves changing a refrigerant between a liquid and a gas to decrease the temperature of a room. 4 Tips to Prevent Your Pipes From Bursting, More energy is required to heat moist air than dry air, which results in higher monthly energy bills, Too-high humidity levels cause your heating system to waste time and energy producing heat, Excess humidity (above 60%) increases condensation levels and allows mold growth, which aggravates allergies. Poll: How cold do you keep your house? - azcentral.com Also, I have a candelabra which holds 11 tapers, and they will warm up the dining room. I have found I can leave my thermostat much lower and save a lot and yet still feel toasty warm and comfy with an electric blanket on the bed and an electric throw for sitting in. :-). Last week, a super special thing happened here: we had our first 100 comment post. Moreover, the general conditions of the day play a vital role in determining whether 63 degrees is really cold or not. I miss Twitter, and its close enough. SD is constantly windy and winters get well below freezing the lowest weve seen in our two years here was -20 with wind chill pushing it to around -30 to -35. Our team will advise you on the correct temperature to keep your house in the winter to prevent burst pipes. And yeah, the crazy thing about adapting more to the cold (not my natural inclination!) In other words, if you want something but you know it isnt good for the world, you forgo it, but if you want it and you know its ok for the world, you purchase it. 58C is somewhat uncomfortable. And we continue to have the same habits in retirement. Is it because we like the challenge of having to adapt to something different? Does that make me a moocher for taking advantage of the radiant heat of surrounding units? I always used to be cold, and whats fantastic about living in a cold house is your internal thermostat is forced to adapt. Keep your home at a safe temperature to help maintain a healthy body temperature. Thankfully it is normally for only two weeks. High five for you guys! Then dad would close the damper on the fire or let it go out during the day. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends indoor temperatures of at least 64F (you can drop that down to 62F at night if you're really looking to save on your heating bill). Remember that people feel comfortable in temperatures that are set between 63 to 72 degrees. Love this post, it just confirms it is all personal and we all need to look at what is important to us. :-) And it sounds like youre doing pretty well on the finance front congrats! But as you noted, there are lots of examples of people coming out of the depression with a great sense of whats truly important, and spending accordingly. the air temperature is the warmest thing in the house. And you make such a great point about the unknown nature of the expense I bet thats a big part of our aversion to turning up the temperature. Whats an even more interesting question to us is: What will this habit lead to? ;-) Now go check your email and confirm your subscription so you don't miss out! But if I just give it the right mind set, its cold, yes, and refreshing! Link in stories. So i would get up, grab them on the way through to the bathroom in the heated area of the down stairs. When you need to go buy more organic grocery items, its a health/environment issue, so you shell out. First, weve learned that even smart people can behave irrationally, which is the only way to describe applying one set of logic to certain things and a completely contradictory set to other things. Fix damaged pipes before winter weather is in full swing by scheduling an appointment with our professionals. So if you come over to our house, you will freeze, and if we come over to your house, we will roast. Weve learned that we can live perfectly well without a lot of heat, so of course I wonder what well eventually give up, realizing that our perceived need of it was an illusion all along. Out near Crookston. :-) Though whats our excuse? I dont think that there are many people who are frugal in all aspects of their life. Our professionals can help you with malfunctioning lights, damaged wiring, defective electrical outlets, broken light switches, and other issues in your home. We still feel a bit uncomfortable with its contemporary definition, though. We still have maids that show up every other week, because its worth it to us to not have another chore looming over us on our evenings when were not working or dealing with kids. Baby it's cold inside! Its pretty pleasant. :-) We cant rely on fire alone (and we also dont like how having full-time fire hurts our indoor air quality or our outdoor air quality! Unfortunately nothing will be done. They wouldnt be unreasonable to question our priorities. Thermostat says 74 degrees, so why is it so cold? Look at it as a cry for help, if you will. I spend my money wisely and set my priorities but aside from cutting unnecessary shopping, I havent really committed to doing anything extreme like what you guys are doing. If the cold is a deal breaker for you, then its worth paying for heat. Yours happens to be on the cold side while mine is very much on the warm side. :-). Speaking of A/C, I dont know if you follow Gone with the Wynns, but they recently did an experiment on running A/C in the desert off of off-grid solar that made me think of you guys and your Airstream plans. If it is 105 degrees outside, the unit must cool to at least 85 degrees. That caused us to be very intentional on what we did spend our money on, especially because we never went into debt expect for the house mortgage. The only part that doesnt fit with this theory is the home theaterhmmmmore data points are needed. If you have pets, be sure to remove any hazardous items stored under your sink. If you want to protect your home from messy, costly water damage, follow these four tips. But yeah, we fully recognize that 56 is borderline crazy. It makes sense to embrace your climate. :-). Well never get sick of that! They are fine at 63 and will keep their little heaters on! Big hugs all around. ;-P So thats where we can trade stories I think your grocery budget is crazy low, and Mr. P thinks our thermostat setting is crazy low. Even though turning it up for a day would only cost a few extra dollars. We bought a second cord, but havent used even half of it and unless we have a cold snap, I suspect well be using it next year, so our heating fuel costs will probably be $400 for the season including a box or two of starter biscuits. Haha, yes, youre right about MMMs fancy cheese! Well share where we live in two years when we quit our jobs. How Cold Is Too Cold for a Home? (for Adults, Baby & More!) Your air conditioner isn't built for this heat. 5 tips can boost - NPR Worth checking out! This discussion reminds me of an Op Ed piece from the writer Ken Ilgunas from last year. :-) (But, like no, for real. If you dont mind bundling up and adapting to that temp, it probably doesnt seem worth paying $200 extra per month. What Keeping Our House Cold Has Taught Us. Fall just barely started and the snow and freezing weather hit. But then again, you are more than making up for that in the summer when you probably arent spending much on utilities. Moving water is less likely to freeze. :-). :-) But geez if thats how youre wired, then go with it. ;-) Redbox is literally the only show in town! ago. Thank goodness spring is on its way! Ive experienced dry cold and dry heat and wet cold and wet heat, and theres no comparison. The design of virtually all air conditioners assumes that the system isn't going to run when the exterior temperature is below 60 degrees Fahrenheit, since it's below the comfort area of most people. While you might be tempted to bring out the humidifier to offset dryness in the air, we dont recommend it. I think this is why smaller living spaces appeal to me- its less expensive to control the indoor climate. Mille2cg. And I take really hot showers or Im cold all day long. People think were a bit strange to keep a $200 grocery budget. Im not going to say that I liked living in a 45-degree house, but eventually I didnt mind it, and it taught me that ones sense of comfort can be redefined with a bit of grit and resourcefulness. This post, and particularly your conclusion, is really in line with a topic that Ive recently heard Tim Ferris discussing on his podcast that he has drawn from stoic philosophy. Especially when the bizarro-logic attached to the thermostat sometimes means sacrificing our comfort and maybe even our safety. hard. We for sure need to insulate better, but have had other projects pop up that were more urgent. I gotta admit that I was floored when I heard how much it costs to keep your place at 56 in the winter time. No need to suffer just because some random blogger said she keeps her house cold. January 1, 2018Ill be looking forward to hearing where I can get a view of that sky! Gilgo Beach Murders: Search crews use excavating equipment to dig up Geesh thats a lot of money on energy for keeping your place at 56F! Im not particularly extreme in my frugality. In the summertime, though, thats where I get to flex my frugality muscles a bit. I also cant fathom this. Just got back from skiing in Utah last week and forgot just how blue that sky is and what skiing on real snow is! Yes, they do cost a little bit but their wattage is so low that it is pennies compared to heating a whole room and you can sit and type without blue fingers. :-). And thats with a space heater in my office as well! But for some reason we dont apply this same logic to the thermostat. BTW if you havent already tried this, electric blankets are wonderful energy savers. This type of personal finance 101 must be taught in high school. Though it was still cold down there as Dad would let the fire in the wood burning furnace die down through the night. Is 53 degrees *that* cold? : r/Frugal - Reddit Sitting in my sleeping bag, I began to wonder: If we all set our thermostats to our own comfortable low, how many West Virginia mountains could we save? I call that intentional living.and think its a virtue :) I once lived in a house in KY that was so poorly insulated that even with most all of the rooms closed off, it cost $400/month to keep the place at 60F. I am definitely a warmer weather kind of person. We keep it cold at our house unless it is a certain temperature outside. Im doing it tonight, though, because this was the second recommendation. Dehumidifier Temperature Minimum Guidelines. But if it affords us a lot of organic produce and toilet paper (and other thingsha! We just want to let you guys know how thankful we are that youre reading. I wish we could get there on maids it would give us SO MUCH peace of mind, because we certainly dont have time for real cleaning. :-). Running the heat in SoCal?! Id do the same if I were you. If personal finance can exist, so can personal frugality! Hi guys! Were in this with an open mind and, while working longer wouldnt be the end of the world by any means, retiring earlier would always be a welcome problem to have! You know that your fancy coffee is probably better for people and for the planet than super cheap coffee that involves questionable cost-cutting measures, so you shell out. But as you said, why move to a cold place if you dont like the cold?! I am totally confident that youll speed up your timeline as you go along. Haha no cat mutinies! Politics latest: UK cities need more people in them, says minister - as Theres blankets and sweaters you could use to keep warm. Same goes for fleece sheets and a flannel duvet cover, and the occasional use of an electric mattress pad heater. From routine drain cleaning to water heater repair to emergency plumbing services, our highly-trained plumbers have seen it all! FreeSecret6 1 mo. Avoid setting the thermostat in your house above 72 degrees in the winter. ;-) Haha no, thats just what happens when we travel all the time for work and dont have a maid, another thing we cant stomach paying for! So in the end, it probably works out to be fairly respectable when all averaged together. Many people (even with a 6-figure salary) cannot draw a clear line between necessity and luxury and end up with a huge amount of debt. More likely well move to the beach! We could for sure afford to crank our heat up, but (to us) that seems like a dumb use of money. What Temperature is Too Cold For a House? You're officially one of our favorite people. Lastly, I believe that frugality comes with many definitions from each individual or familys point of view. Should I lie? Does that mean that our messy house and undone laundry are intentional living too? We chose the latter! I refuse to call myself frugal because I feel that Im not worthy of that adjective (I will perhaps be considered a disgrace to the community haha!). We know its the parks pipes because once the water starts flowing, theres sand that comes out the faucets and our metered bill is always approximately $35. Jen, were in Minnesota also. Of course her idea of extravagance was buying a fresh peach out of season or paying extra to get a really good mattress so her back didnt hurt. What Temperature Should I Keep My House in the Winter? :-) Were hugely unfrugal in a ton of other ways, which more than offset our one virtuous thing. Keep your Home nice and toasty in the Winter - HomeServe However, if it is cloudy, windy, and damp, the temperature may feel colder than 63 degrees. Is 63 degrees too cold for my kitties? : r/cats - Reddit Even Mr. Money Mustache has written about spending money on fancy cheeses (right?). Or, as I wrote to Penny last week in response to her brilliant post, the Privilege of Pretending, it feels like when we talk frugality, were really just being frugality tourists. So, no Im not frugal with heat. :), Okay, sold. The important thing is realizing that you have a choice. We have an interesting strategy to make the most of the heat we do allow though. I would help add to the heat and humidity with my morning shower. Top of the list after retirement is to attack that problem and load up on better insulation! Remember that there are spots and areas in many homes that are colder than others. Even now living in the city times are tight. We have been meaning to do the window insulation for a while, but it seems a tad pointless when we know we have such a drafty house overall. If were out of coffee, I will say: Lets go buy more coffee (at an unfrugal $16 a pound for our organic, shade-grown, locally-roasted beans). Why does it warrant its own set of logic? But I'll take it! Keep all kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors open where your sinks are so that warm air can reach the pipes underneath. I dig it. Learn more at FinConExpo.com/WomenInMoney, Current Tahoe snow situation (image: Mark, who did all the work to clear all this snow, standing in front of a snow bank much taller than him) #mountainlife, When @moneymag told me they were naming me one of their 50 people changing finance, I did not expect to be named alongside incredible folks like McKenzie Scott, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Lil Nas X, Bad Bunny and many more.