The heat is … off?

Posted on January 17, 2012 10 Comments

We’ve had a ridiculously mild winter here in Chicago. It doesn’t even seem real; January sunny days in the 40′s are simply unheard of in this region. We’re all just walking around in big jackets, sweating, waiting for the Arctic Blasts to move in. And people aren’t the only ones shocked by the weather … birds and even plants are confused and have stuck around far too long for their own good. But winter has finally arrived, or so it would seem by the temperature in my apartment. It’s freezing in here!

I don’t even know what the outside temperature is, I just know that it’s cold inside.

In fact, this is what I usually look like in my place when the temperature drops, even though our heater just keeps running:

Cold Girl

Graphic Representation of Me Being Cold

I actually don’t mind the winter that much; I like snow and I enjoy being outside when no one else is around. I like the sound of snow crunching under my boots. And I’m the first one to run out for a long walk in the midst of a blizzard, just for fun.

But I cannot stand being cold when I’m supposed to be warm indoors. Toasty is the adjective I’d most like to be inside my own home. And toasty I am not.

This leads to thermostat wars between me and man-friend. I go to sleep first, so I set the thermostat to 68 before I tuck in. Then, after I fall asleep, he turns it down to 65 (!) before he goes to bed. Then, I wake up shivering after he falls asleep and turn it back to 68. He wakes up with a dry throat because the heater’s been running, and, well, we’re back to 65. And so it goes.

I know I’m supposed to be frugal. And I know that our apartment doesn’t have good insulation (actually, we have an open parking space below our floor and no insulation at all from it), so if we leave the heat at 68 it just keeps running and running because it never actually gets to 68 in here. (We’ve done temperature tests and found that the floor is usually around 55 if the top of the walls are around 65.)  And if we did leave it at 68 our heating bill would be out of control, probably $400 for a small apartment.

But that certainly d0esn’t mean I have to be happy about it. Now excuse me while I put on my Uggs to go fold some laundry. Oh, and man-friend just left to go to the gym, so I’m gonna go crank the heat while he’s out. Yipee!

Share
Category: Money
   Tags:

Comments

10 Responses to “The heat is … off?”

  1. Shannyn @FrugalBeautiful.com
    January 18th, 2012 @ 9:41 am

    Your graphical representation of cold self made crack up! My dad is such a stickler about the heating when I’m home to visit, luckily my apartment here in Chicago has a radiator so I don’t get as cold…I have Ugg boots on now though! ;)

  2. Laura
    January 18th, 2012 @ 9:52 am

    I’ve been enmeshed in a thermostat war at the office for years now — I’m ALWAYS colder than everyone around me. I was finally gifted a space heater to make me shut up.

    At least at home, I’m the master of my own domain/thermostat. And it’s toasty in my house, high bills be damned!

    (on another note, a snuggly dog in bed will help keep you warm at night… mine’s a veritable space heater herself…)

  3. The Budgeting Babe
    January 18th, 2012 @ 9:54 am

    Laura, I finally got a space heater for my office. Haven’t had to use it much and slightly terrified that I will burn my office down, but so far so good :)

  4. Allison
    January 18th, 2012 @ 2:08 pm

    O my goodness, I have no idea how you handle those Chicago winters. My Texas blood is way to thin for that. We have been turning on the heat in the morning for about half an hour while we get ready for work. Other than that, it stays off.but, it’s all relative considering I think it’s cold when it gets below 50.

  5. Shaun @ Smart Family Finance
    January 18th, 2012 @ 10:26 pm

    My office has climate volatility issues. You get temperature shock about every 50 feet, it’ll go from 60 to 80 with little warning.

  6. Missie
    January 19th, 2012 @ 11:00 am

    Hubby likes things toasty; I prefer things cooler. ;-)

    I highly recommend CuddlDuds for keeping warm — they’re AWESOME!!

    http://www.cuddlduds.com/

  7. The Budgeting Babe
    January 19th, 2012 @ 11:03 am

    I LOVE CUDDLDUDS!!!! I own a ton of them! I agree that they are the bomb. I think I’ve written about them before.

  8. Missie
    January 19th, 2012 @ 10:18 pm

    CuddlDuds RULE!

    If I *shiver* lived in Chicago (or lived again in the LP of Michigan), I’d probably be doubling up on the CuddlDuds ;-)

  9. Mary
    January 23rd, 2012 @ 10:26 am

    Add some fingerless gloves and an ugly cardigan under the blanket, and you’ve got me. Except I live in California and I think 50 is too cold for words.

  10. The Budgeting Babe
    January 23rd, 2012 @ 10:48 am

    Hilarious Mary! It’s 36 degrees right now here and it actually feels good to me. Oh, the joys of winter.

Leave a Reply





  • Sponsors