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[Annabellethecat66]

I live in a total electric home in Northern Va. Our Winters here aren't too bad. Sometimes it gets very cold but for the most part it usually runs around the upper 30's.

Most electric houses have heat pumps. I won't bore you trying to explain how they work but even when people get used to them they still never really feel totally warm.

People who visit who have gas or oil heat say they feel like they have cold air blowing on them. My cat worships my radiant heater that stays plugged going full blast most of the Winter. It's for him, not me. At my age I walk around with my own internal heater!

[jetts_mom]

I'm in MN and we have terribly cold winters. I have a forced air gas furnace, and as Jaspersmom said, it's nice when it's on, but gets cool quickly once it's off. Altho they say gas is economical, the cost is still high. I keep my thermostat at 64 to help keep the cost down, so generally have a shirt and sweater or sweatshirt on. But when it's 0 outside for an average, you dress like that anyway. My room is upstairs, and it's much warmer, between the warm air rising, the TV and computer being there, and body heat from myself and my furkids. Often I can be in short sleeves.

Another thing I do without fail is to put plastic on the windows to cut down the drafts. The difference is HUGE on how it feels inside, and the gas bill. And then draft stoppers at the bottoms of the doors really help, too.

I have a LOT of blankets and comforters to help stay snuggly, too. And warm, cozy slippers.

We recently had that same cold that ND did. -30 below actual temp with wind chills down to -60 below are just plain ugly. You do whatever you have to do to survive. I'm hearing grumblings that another polar vortex is heading our way later in the week. Blech.

[NanciJ]

Minot weather can be downright brutal in winter....even for those of us who have very cold winters, in other parts of the country. Northern areas of ND and MN are in a category all their own! Our temps get very cold in South Dakota, with lots of wind. We have a home that is 11 yrs old, and is very well built with lots of floor to ceiling glass on two floors. We have a gas furnace that we keep set ( generally ) at 73 degree's on the main floor, and 71 degree's on the lower floor. I still dress in long sleeved sweaters most of the time, mainly because I have a tendency to be pretty cold blooded. We also have a gas log fireplace, and a humidifier, attached to our furnace.

[Yardlie]

Retired, we have natural gas heat from a high efficiency furnace. No...people do not usually walk around in their houses in the winter up here in Northern WI with short sleeves on. Short sleeves are for summer. We dress in layers in the winter, even in the house. Usually, the furnace does a good job of keeping the house warm. When we had that cold snap two weeks ago, it got down to -30 below zero with -55 below windchills. In that case, the furnace couldn't keep up after about the third day of that. We have space heaters to use to supplement the heat. Some people have wood stoves in their basement as a supplement, or a fireplace.

Last month, our gas and electricity cost $350. My closest friend and her husband have electric heat and a smaller house than ours. Their gas and electric last month was $600!

Your post made me giggle when you said Northern Georgia was a cold climate. To me, I consider it the South...and a nice climate! Guess it is all what you get used to!

[GCR18]

I have gas heat. I keep the thermostat at 68 and it's been comfortable. During the week it was -30 or worse, I turned it up to 70. Haven't had an issue keeping the house warm.

[Georgiagrama]

I know that we all adjust to the climate in which we live, but I have to say, I give credit where credit is due. For all of you who live in prolonged cold climates I definitely give you credit.

Of course, this summer when it's 110 degrees here and the humidity is 100%, I'll be wishing I was in cold weather.

annabellthecat,

That's what we have. A central heat and air heat pump. It does feel like it blows cold air out of the vents instead of warm. We got the Duraflame fireplace logs for our fireplace so I can at least turn myself and get warm on all sides.

[Buck-i-Nana]

I'll take cold weather any day over hot! There's only so much clothing you can take off, but you can easily layer to keep warm. I'm hot natured anyway, and honestly couldn't afford to cool my house to the temp I find comfy which would be no higher than 68.

I only heat my house to 65 during the day, and 60 over night. I wear socks and sweaters, doesn't seem reasonable to me to dress in warm weather clothing during the winter. I guess I've got some Ebeneezer Scrooge in me, cause clothing is a one time purchase whereas heating fuel is money spent in the moment never to be recouped.

My house is not drafty at all, and the temp holds nicely even after the gas forced air furnace shuts off. I did have electric heat in one house I had many years ago and I'll never have electric again - it was never warm.

[sunshine45]

we keep our heat set at 68 degrees and rarely touch it during the winter months. we have gas heat and it is comfortable and if i get chilly i just throw on a robe or an extra layer. i hate seeing the high gas and electric bills during this time of the year!

we also have a gas fireplace and several of the duraflame heaters in the bedrooms.

[AuntG]

Lived in Wisconsin all my life so winter can get pretty cold, and that means high heating costs. Our house is 67 by day and 64 at night. Both me and my DH have a QVC Fluffie to stay warm. There was a time when I tried to keep it 62 degrees at night but I ended up using an electric blanket so we just decided to turn up the heat a little more overnight.

[Tzu4u]

We are in NW Ohio on an island in Lake Erie. The temp today is about 6. I have on thick socks, slippers, jeans, a thermal long sleeved top, and a sweater. The house is heated by forced air to 68 degrees, and we have two wood burning stoves going all of the time.

Going outside involves coat, hat scarf and gloves, along with boots with ice grippers on the bottom to keep me from falling and killing myself walking the dogs 4X a day.

No short sleeves or bare feet around here!! I can say the cold does not bother me as much as the dry heat. My fingers are sore from being so dry, and my nose and sinuses feel like I have been breathing through a sandstorm. We have humidifiers, but they only help a little bit.

I had to laugh about Northern Georgia being cold too!!