| 030 | Set on Sixty | 09-01-09 |
In order to conserve energy and save money we have set the house’s thermostat to sixty. No, that is not why I got pneumonia, but it has taken some adjusting to get used to.
I was surprised at exactly how cold sixty degrees is. When you are just sitting around in the house sixty is almost frigid. So how do we make it work?
Agreement, we agreed to make it work. There is no turning up the thermostat behind each others back. On a few nights when it grew frightfully cold (single digits) we did turn the thermostat up a few degrees to help keep the pipes from freezing, but reset to 60 as soon as possible. By the way, I work at home. I am at home all day in the cool.
- Hats, the first thing either one of us does when we feel chilled is to don a hat.
- Layers, including puffy down jackets. Normally we don’t have to wear gloves but I am not opposed to the notion.
- Sleeping bags, we carry them with us around the house. Anywhere we sit down, we cover our legs with the bag. It is amazing the difference it makes. I use an old (late 70’s) Cat’s Meow, what a great bag.
- Fire, we build one almost every night. Ah, that radiant heat.
- Extra blankets on the bed, help us through the night and then we fight for the dog.
- Extra Coats, for visitors who stop by but are not dressed for the chill.
Everyone has special things they can do to reduce their waste and carbon footprints, Set on Sixty is just one that works for us. Try it, you might like it too.
PS - our energy bill decreased by 45% Wow!