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[Bobby K]

Hello Sweet Retired...

Wow...I was going to invite you to come and visit California....we are already running our A/C its been so warm here. We haven't turned on our heat once this whole season except for one week in November. Other than that this CA winter has been 20 degrees higher than normal during the day. This has been crazy weather and us Californians desperately need rain. We are in a severe drought. The temps are like spring....the high today was 72. I'm not ready for spring...we never even had winter yet. You're welcome to visit me anytime...but, you would never make it in this house...we keep it at 68 degrees also. Sending hugs to you and Pops.

[Georgiagrama]

On 1/18/2014 Bobby K said:

Hello Sweet Retired...

Wow...I was going to invite you to come and visit California....we are already running our A/C its been so warm here. We haven't turned on our heat once this whole season except for one week in November. Other than that this CA winter has been 20 degrees higher than normal during the day. This has been crazy weather and us Californians desperately need rain. We are in a severe drought. The temps are like spring....the high today was 72. I'm not ready for spring...we never even had winter yet. You're welcome to visit me anytime...but, you would never make it in this house...we keep it at 68 degrees also. Sending hugs to you and Pops.

Awww Thanks Dear Bobby K,

It would be a real treat for me to get to see California. I wrote you on another thread....concerned for the draught conditions in your area. Are you safe??

I'm hibernating now, but soon enough (I think we have been given another week, which totals for us 3 weeks of cold) it will be hot and muggy here. It's a sad testament to my stamina I'm afraid. I can't take the cold and absolutely cannot deal with the terrible heat that we will soon be subjected to. I guess weather extremes seem to affect me more as I have gotten older. There was a time when I would go water skiing in February Of course, you didn't dare fall because even though the weather was chilly, the water was really cold!

I do hope that you are loving your little bunny. You were gifted twice - a thoughtful husband and a thoughtful gift! Hope you are doing well. I managed to eat two small pieces of hog jowl just for us...one for you, one for me! Oh, and lots and lots of collards. We should soon be healthy and rich!!

Have a great week end dear and enjoy the beautiful weather! Stay safe.

[Georgiagrama]

On 1/18/2014 SUHSE39 said:

I'M sure a lot of it depends on what we get used to.

Winter's in the Inland Northwest tend to be long, but, usually, not brutal, compared to a lot of the country.

I can do seasonal cold, much better than I could severe heat, humidity, or threats of and actual, hurricanes, tornadoes, major flooding, not to mention, Big, Ugly,
BUGS!

We have none of those, weather wise, our area is very safe.

So, I can do Winter. I do not like it to be overly warm inside and I rarely wear long sleeves, they tend to really bug me.

Biggest downside, if it's gets icy and is a real fall risk. Hey, I'm a klutz in the Summer!

You are so right. Our summers are horrific. I advise people never to come to our area after April.

I actually think that I could get used to some cold weather (like North Georgia), but not the extended, terrible cold that has been happening across the country.

[Bobby K]

On 1/18/2014 Retired08 said:

On 1/18/2014 Bobby K said:

Hello Sweet Retired...

Wow...I was going to invite you to come and visit California....we are already running our A/C its been so warm here. We haven't turned on our heat once this whole season except for one week in November. Other than that this CA winter has been 20 degrees higher than normal during the day. This has been crazy weather and us Californians desperately need rain. We are in a severe drought. The temps are like spring....the high today was 72. I'm not ready for spring...we never even had winter yet. You're welcome to visit me anytime...but, you would never make it in this house...we keep it at 68 degrees also. Sending hugs to you and Pops.

Awww Thanks Dear Bobby K,

It would be a real treat for me to get to see California. I wrote you on another thread....concerned for the draught conditions in your area. Are you safe??

I'm hibernating now, but soon enough (I think we have been given another week, which totals for us 3 weeks of cold) it will be hot and muggy here. It's a sad testament to my stamina I'm afraid. I can't take the cold and absolutely cannot deal with the terrible heat that we will soon be subjected to. I guess weather extremes seem to affect me more as I have gotten older. There was a time when I would go water skiing in February Of course, you didn't dare fall because even though the weather was chilly, the water was really cold!

I do hope that you are loving your little bunny. You were gifted twice - a thoughtful husband and a thoughtful gift! Hope you are doing well. I managed to eat two small pieces of hog jowl just for us...one for you, one for me! Oh, and lots and lots of collards. We should soon be healthy and rich!!

Have a great week end dear and enjoy the beautiful weather! Stay safe.

Dear Sweet Retired...

I hope that hog jowl kicks in really quickly. I definitely needs some good health and I hope the greens kick in too as I need some wealth. Thank you so much for taking a bite for me. You know us Californians....here its all avocados and sprouts. Aaaah what a sweet thing to say about my husband. Yes...he really is a gift. I told him what you said and he so appreciated it. He already thinks you are a sweetie anyway. As for your water sking in Feb...wow...you are one brave soul. I've water skied many years ago...but, it was during the summer. There are snow skiers abound here as we are only about an hour and a half from Lake Tahoe. It's really a bad bad situation with the drought. It is so dry ...anything could set off a big fire. I'm not near the Glendora fire....but, I'm really worried about this beautiful home state of mine....I've been here my whole life...55 yrs ...and I've never seen it so dry ever.There has been a red flag warning up the last couple of days. I thought of you when I saw your original post...as I'm always burning up in the house and my husband is freezing. Maybe because I like to keep our house at 68. Yes..I'm really enjoying my sweet bunny, he's so cute. I sure hope you can get warm tonight. Maybe your topic has brought out some others with good ideas on how to keep warm and toasty. The best I can do for you is send you a gigantic warm California hug to you my sweet friend.

[twinny70]

Retired, we have oil heat and the thermostat is set at 68 degrees by day and it is programmed to go down to 64 degrees while we are sleeping. We have lived in WI our entire lives and just love having 4 seasons. June-August are my least favorite though, as I don't like hot weather. I couldn't take living in a hot area of the country. Fall is my favorite time of year though. We wear long sleeves, but our home has lots of windows so when it is sunny outside, we are toasty warm inside. We have good insulation and no drafty windows in our house, so that is a big help.

Kaybee, what is hydronic heat? We did have very cold weather two weeks ago with chill factor about 50 degrees below zero. We got 4" of snow yesterday and it is supposed to be very cold for the next week.

[Desertdi]

You mentioned you are "all electric".........so, do you have a HEAT PUMP? They are not very efficient in the cold weather. That's why they are used in climates with a short, or milder type winter, such as the Southwest. In Northern cities.....most people have regular furnaces for the colder months. Also......it DOES cost more to heat than air-condition with electricity.0

[MikafromTopeka]

On 1/19/2014 twinny2 said:

Retired, we have oil heat and the thermostat is set at 68 degrees by day and it is programmed to go down to 64 degrees while we are sleeping. We have lived in WI our entire lives and just love having 4 seasons. June-August are my least favorite though, as I don't like hot weather. I couldn't take living in a hot area of the country. Fall is my favorite time of year though. We wear long sleeves, but our home has lots of windows so when it is sunny outside, we are toasty warm inside. We have good insulation and no drafty windows in our house, so that is a big help.

Kaybee, what is hydronic heat? We did have very cold weather two weeks ago with chill factor about 50 degrees below zero. We got 4" of snow yesterday and it is supposed to be very cold for the next week.

I gave a short description in post #28.

[AngelPuppy1]

We have gas heat. Because of the extreme cold spell we had and this winter has been very cold, we have been having to turn the thermostat up. Probably around 72-74. Also, DH is not well at all and he gets cold easily. Plus, we have to make sure pipes don't freeze any where. Who needs that? We had that happen once and its no fun!

We are never what you call toasty warm either. We dress warmly. When we are sitting around the house we have our throws and/or snuggly things we use.

My heating bills are pretty high but there is nothing that can be done. Winter is no fun for a lot of reasons!!!

[Group 5 minus 1]

We live in Michigan and it does get cold. We have blown in insulation which is very important.

We heat 3600 square feet with a wood burning FURNACE-not a Franklin stove or fire place-but real wood. We own the wood. Every few years we sell the trees and they leave the tops so we get paid and also use the wood. We have a back up gas furnace and prepay for our propane. Our inside temp is around 78-80.

Our favorite commercial is the one w/the three bears that talks about living in the woods w/no visitors.

[AuntG]

On 1/18/2014 kaybee said:

On 1/18/2014 Retired08 said:

On 1/18/2014 kaybee said:

We have hydronic heat in our house (Wisconsin) we keep it set at 68 and I wear shorts and tanks all winter. Nothing beats hydronic heat. It's like having your home wrapped in a hot water bottle.

I've never heard of hydronic heat, but it sounds like a nice warm heat (although 68 still sounds cool to me, it seems to be the normal temp for colder climate homes).

Hydronic heat is basically just hot water running through pipes and ours is in the baseboards. It's efficient because when it reaches temp and shuts off the water remains warm and pushes the temp up another degree or so before it drops and turns on again. Our thermostat is set at 68 but the thermometers around the house read about 75.

**I grew up in a house in California with little insulation and forced air and was cold all of the time.

So is hydronic heat something that is typically installed when the house is built, or can a forced air furnace be replaced with this? The visual image of my home being wrapped in a hot water bottle sounds very comforting compared to having a furnace blow hot and then having the house go cold before it kicks in again.