One month w/ no AC or heat!!!

[Queen Bee]

I am on a mission to not use the heat OR the ac for at least one month!--Hopefully, I can push it even longer if our weather will cooperate..but my dh is already being a grump about it.. It's only been a little over a week and he has complained 2x... It 70* outside and he wants to turn the ac on--it's almost 82 in the house.... I suggested he open the windows.

I wonder how much money we can save by leaving it off??? Please 'root' me on! I am also, turning off every light, tv, radio, computer, appliance that we aren't using...

[Danaus29]

I hope you can do it. I went from running the ac in one week to turning on the heat in the bathroom the next. If our outside temps were in the 70's there is no way I would run the ac. Open a couple windows, turn on a fan or two.

I've also been a stickler about turning off lights lately. Except for my plants there is no need to have a light on when no one is in the room.

[HilltopDaisy]

Gosh, it's so different up here in NY. I'm mourning the fact that it's too cool at night to use my bedroom fan. I love that sound.

It's still pretty warm during the day. I leave here at 2 PM and it's 70 degrees, but when I leave work it's 40.

[GammyAnnie]

It has been nice and cool here at night in Illinois, FINALLY

I still run my fan at night, just point it away from you, in a corner or such and add another blanket! Myself and the dog can't sleep without the white noise, she hears coyotes and of course I hear her!

All my livestock is very secure before dark so I don't worry, and being an old lady with an old lady dog, I need my 6 hours of solid sleep!

Annie

[Jokarva]

We just had AC and a new furnace installed, don't need either right now but DH keeps tinkering with the thermostat to 'see if it works'. I've banned him from touching it - not that he'll listen!

QB, i'll root you on and try to do the same myself.

[JuliaAnn]

We live for the short periods of time in the fall and spring when we don't have to use a.c. or heat!!

[julieq]

Sorry, I'm at that wonderful point in life where I'm suffering greatly from hot flashes. AC is on 69 degrees 24/7. DH wears extra clothing to bed and turns on his heated mattress pad, bless him.

My hat's off to you if you can save money on electricity by turning off AC or heat. But, and I think I can freely speak for all of us menopausal women out there, DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH THAT THERMOSTAT!

[julieq]

Sorry, I ended up with a duplicate post for some reason. That's a first...

[MoonShine]

You can do it, Queen Bee. We've got faith in you
There hadn't been any AC or heat on here for a week or two, until today. I was giving the house a super cleaning, got a little hot, and turned the AC on for about 20 minutes. It's a nice time of the year.

[vicki in NW OH]

We only use AC on the hottest of nights in our bedroom and live with heat and humidity during the daytime. We make a game of how long we can go before firing up the woodstove in the fall. Last spring was so cold and rainy, though, that it was May before not using it.

My thing right now is wanting a good fall frost to kill the ragweed. I'm so allergic to it that I cannot hang my clothes, towels, or bedding outside to dry lest pollen get on them. I've been using the dryer and do not like its effect on the electric bill.

[where I want to]

I know what you mean- it would seem that nature could provide at least a short time of comfort.
I managed not to run the heat for the month of August. One week, it will be in the 50's- the next in the 90's. I guess that means I won't be miserable for too long in either direction.
Good luck on your effort.

[pookshollow]

We don't have AC. Even if we did, I doubt we'd ever use it. Windows open at night, closed during the day if it's unbearably hot, and a ceiling fan in the bedroom - which might get used one or two weeks in the summer. A couple of times this summer, I was in buildings that were air-conditioned and it just made it all the worse when we came outside into the heat!

We won't start using the furnace now until probably early-mid November, unless October turns particularly cold. It's a wood-only furnace, so it doesn't cost anything but our labour to use. We don't get the temperature in the house much above 60 in the winter, or we're too hot. Cold mornings it might be down around 48 when I get up.

[Vickie44]

I like setting up challenges for myself. Last fall I was working on putting in the woodstove ( masonry project taking WAY longer then I expected ) and the oil furnace was being replaced . I had only a kerosene heater and a couple small electrics and I made it til stove installation was complete on Dec 26. Oh I was cold , sometimes I went outside just so I would feel warmer when I came in , and I baked alot.
When it was over I realized how much I had learned about myself , I was even tougher and more resilient then I thought and I didnt short cut my project due to discomfort. I can handle alot more then I thought I could and that gives me peace of mind

[jwal10]

We don't have air conditioning. We turned the heat off in June and will turn it back on in late October. Love the low electric bills. I think everyone should conserve when they can, be it water, electic or gas for the car....James

[okiemom]

i would love to do that I am dying w/ ragweed allergies and an open window will make me misserable in the mornings :-(

[KnowOneSpecial]

I turn the AC and heat off as much as possible!

If it's hot out....open the windows at night. We put a box fan in the window and point it in so it'll bring the cool air in at night. Then we close the windows in the morning and draw the curtains. That'll keep it cool until later afternoon when we can open the windows again. We have ceiling fans in all bedrooms and the living room so that helps, too.

If it's too cold out...BAKE. I get the oven going and by the time the bread/cake/cupcakes/whatever are done the house is a touch warmer.

But I agree with you...I hate paying for air!

[Macybaby]

I'd be able to do it no problem, but I can't hold out against DH and he starts whining when it gets over 85 or below 60 in the house.

This summer he was home (usually works out of town) and we had to run the AC way more than I wanted. I normally open the windows at night, and close them up and pull the shades in the morning and that helps a lot. DH would open up the shades, and then forget to pull them and that sunlight through the windows really heats up the house! (great in the winter though).

I miffed because I have looked and looked, and I can't find my favorite sweater! Haven't seen it since spring . . .

[ldc]

Am rooting for the OP! I do this too, twice a year as the seasons are changing. Love to have the windows open. It isn't common in this region, but often times, the weather is perfect as is, twice per year! ldc

[roachhill]

I haven't had heat or air since the begining of April or so, it's no so hard. You can adjust to nature. I take that back I ran the air for part of the day twice during July.

[Freeholder]

Like jwal10, we don't have AC, and haven't had the heat on but once since June. Normally I shut the heat off in late April, but we had a chilly spring this year. It will probably be late October before I have to close all the windows and turn the heat back on.

I have been using the dryer this summer, though, because the house is for sale. I don't really like the idea of strangers walking into the back yard and seeing our underwear hanging on the clothesline!

We do have a ceiling fan, but haven't used it, nor the box fan, at all this summer. It's been a little cooler than normal here, and always cools off considerably at night (night temps in the fifties are rare), so we just open the house up at night during hot weather, then close it up before the sun comes up.

Our winter electric bill will hopefully be lower than in the past, because we used to have to keep the heat turned up for my grandmother. Now that she's gone, I won't let it get over sixty in here during the winter (all-electric house).

Kathleen