Have you turned on the heat? (Florida: condo, house, to buy)

[KellyCrash]

Yes? No?

What type of heating fuel do you use?
What temperature do keep your home?
What do you do to save during the cold weather heating season?

[Ninotchka P]

Yes! Since early October it's been on and off now.

I hate being cold, and it doesn't need to kick in too much to warm up the house right now, so why suffer?

Oil heat. 67-68 while at home and awake, 64 at night, 62 while at work.

Vacation in Florida!
We do have an electric fireplace in the living room, and spend more time there in the evenings so the rest of the house can be kept lower.

[timberline742]

A couple of times. Not on permanently though.

[Cape Cod Todd]

Yes it has been on but with resistance. We use oil.
The temp bounces between 65-68. When the cold really hits we fire up the wood stove and get nice and toasty in the evenings.

[BostonMike7]

I turned mine on a few weeks ago. Hasn't kicked on much lately other than a few overnights. I live in a 1BR condo on an upper floor (but not top floor) so I get the benefit of the heating use of surrounding units and below me.

I have natural gas, and even in the coldest part of last winter, my highest bill was around $50. I set it to 68 allowing it to drop to 62 during the day when nobody is home and at night (i prefer to be a little cold at night).

Typically my bill is $18-20 in the summer and $35-45 in the winter. With the bill that low, I don't mind bumping it to 72-74 degrees here and there on a cold night.

[SpringMom3]

Yes, since early Oct as well. We have oil heat, however put in central AC with heating capability this summer which is supposed to be very efficient, so we have been using that. (plus, it has 2 zones so we can use it in the living areas during the day.)

we keep it at 68-70. Last year we kept it at 64 and 60 to sleep, but now with a newborn we keep it warmer.

[mmyk72]

yes, since Oct.

Gas Heat. Keep it at 63-64F when at home. On the level I don't use, I keep the heat off and just let it naturally cool - usually to 3 deg cooler than the floor being used. At night, temp is 60F in the bedroom and cooler downstairs with no heat.

Bill is around $50 in winter. Last season it was around $70 for the 2 coldest months and it was damn COLD.

What I do to save $$:
1. When I moved in, I added weatherstrip on the front door jam to seal out air leak. Also fixed the front door to make it close tighter. Cold air was blasting in before that.
2. Just added caulking around some windows where the old stuff either cracked or was never there.
3. Added a sheet of foam (cut to the shape of the outlet cover) behind outlet covers to cut the draft. Usually I don't feel cold air coming thru but it was so cold last winter that I felt it.

[MikePRU]

My heat was on and off last month. It seems to be permanently on now though. I have gas fired hot water baseboard and I recently installed a high efficiency boiler and I also added extra insulation so I'm curious to see what my bills will be. We have an 8 month old at home. So, there's no way my wife would let the house get even a little cool. I try to manage the bills as best I can by using programmable thermostats. Luckily we have 3 zones in our house so we have some ability to leave areas not in use a little cooler during those hours.

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by KellyCrash

Yes? No?

What type of heating fuel do you use?
What temperature do keep your home?
What do you do to save during the cold weather heating season?

Are you serious? My heat's been on since mid-September when it started dropping into the 40's at night. It's on an automatic thermostat so the heat turns on when the temperature drops below a certain temperature. The heat's been on at least 75% of the days since mid-September.

1. Oil
2. 66 during the day, 62 at night (this is up from 62/58 last year)
3. I got tired of wearing my jacket in the house last winter and always having cold fingers so I said screwit and set it to what's comfortable for me when I'm wearing sweats. No more jacket! I did get my house weathersealed and added 12" of blown insulation in the attic for 25% of regular cost through the Mass Save program. I'm also going to buy some heavy drapes for my picture windows. They currently have no curtains or blinds and I'm pretty sure a lot of heat escapes.

[timberline742]

I think this is the earliest I've used any heat in years, honestly. Maybe I'm just getting old, but mostly it is to warm to place up before getting under the blankets.