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I have a question. I've been keeping my thermostat set at anywhere between 60 & 67 degrees depending on how cold it is outside (I live in Richmond, VA so it gets a little cold here). Is this bad for my cat? I know she's covered in really long fur, but I worry that she gets cold too. I've provided her with many places to curl up and get warm, am I just worrying too much?

I have two dogs. I keep it 59° when I am away during the day and overnight, and 63° when I am home. They are fine. 60-67 for a cat is not a problem as long as she has something to lie on, like a couch, bed, etc. Cold floor would be a problem.

unseeneclipse,

Cats are equipped to handle temps in the 50s just fine. I keep my house at 55 during the day and overnight, and set it at 68 when I'm home. The girls curl up on the couch or on my bed, depending on their mood. I've had cats for 20 years and none have been worse for wear.

As for the post... drink hot tea or have a hot meal, wear socks or slippers, and wear a sweater. If you're still chilly with the thermostat set at 68, put on a fleece hat. Humans lose tons of heat through the head and feet. Keep those parts warm and you'll feel warmer overall.

One thing is, if you own, replace your thermostat with one on a timer. the advice that applies in summer also applies in winter - set the thermostat to automagically change it to a less-habitable temperature when you're either a) at work or b) asleep. Saved my family a TON when I was a kid.

We have GFA heat, and our gas bills during the winter are astronomical. So, this year, a bought a couple of little space heaters (since I tend to spend 80 percent of my time in one or two places) and turned the thermostat down a few degrees. I think I will end up saving some money, even with the extra electricity use.

I, too, worry about freezing my cats, who are getting a bit old, but I moved a couple little rugs into the kitchen to cover the cold, tile floor and did some strategic cat bed placement. They seem fine and happy.

I make a little blanket tent for my cat to keep her warm during the day! She lounges in there for hours on end... cozy cat!

To stay warm & save money (and the earth!)...

I sip on hot water (I add a squeeze of lemon -- warming and good for you!). This is huge at keeping me warm!

Change into comfy warm clothes when you get home and wear slippers (think cozy loungewear like fleece).
Have a soft blankie within reach draped over sofa.
Cuddle with pet, and that includes your other half! (;

Recent research indicates that the heat lost from your head is about the same as anywhere else on your body (but your head is more likely to be uncovered.)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/dec/17/medicalresearch-humanbehaviour

We keep the heat at around 65, and our bill is still stupidly high. We "seal and peeled" our windows, and there are also storm windows, but they're so old that I can seriously feel drafts coming straight through the glass. Plus we live in a very old victorian with high ceilings, which are great 'till you have to heat the place! We're thinking about picking up some of that ugly plastic wrap stuff now.. ugh.

...59 degrees? Not in this lifetime.

I shut off vent in a room I hardly use and in the kitchen. After the last electricity bill, i keep the thermostat lower, and wear my fuzzy warm bath robe all the time while at home ;-)

We rent and have a baby on the way, and given how badly newborns regulate their own body temperatures, the "put on a sweater"-type suggestions have limited utility. So we recently built frames from 1x2s that fit inside our windows (with foam around the edges to make a pressure seal) and put shrink wrap on both sides of each frame to make a pocket of dead air for insulation. We don't have a thermostat because we have baseboard heat, but our heat bill dropped by 20% from the same month last year even though the frames were only in place for one week of the billing month. Total cost was less than $10/window and the hassle of assembly (we painted the frames to match the windows, so they're pretty unobtrusive). Plus we can reuse them next year. Our neighbors came over last week and were amazed how warm it was compared to their place.

Last year we tried shrink wrapping the windows directly, but it was a lot less effective; the tape peels off the corners of old windows pretty quickly, and getting the rest off at the end of winter was hell on the paint.

For those with baseboard heat: most utilities will charge electricity at a lower rate if you don't have a furnace, but you have to push them for it. Between the rate change, the window insulation, and the door sweeps we added, our total bill dropped by 50%.

We keep our thermostat set at around 58 degrees... 60 if it's 7 degrees outside (like last week). We have a kitty and a puppy, both do well. We all pile up in bed at night to keep warm, but during the day, the kitty sleeps on the cable box (it's warm!) or snuggles in some blankets. The dog has a chair she hangs out in, unless we're at work, in which case she's crated, sleeps on two blankets, and her crate is also half covered in a blanket. We humans just keep a blanket, slippers, and maybe a hat with us at all times. I'd rather be snuggly than financially wiped because energy costs are outrageous! We also keep our blinds open if the sun is out and shut them at night (even that helps with our old, leaky windows). We have "draft dodger" that definitely helps keep drafts from under the door. If you have hardwoods like us, rugs are great because no matter how beautiful hardwood flooring is, it's COLD during the winter. Oh, and space heaters are getting better and better!

Can anyone offer any help on using the Emergency Heat setting on a thermostat? We are new home owners in an old converted school house. The building uses heat pumps and we have noticed that on colder days we get cooler air coming through our vents. My partner says that is when we should switch to the EM heat, but I get conflicting stories when I search on the net. Any help?

Dot, do you have a blog or something showing how you did the windows? We're expecting a baby, too, and live in Minnesota--home to pretty roaring winters. We've done the 3M treatments on most windows, but I still think we could use a little more...something. I'd love to see what you did--I can't envision it myself, and though it's too late to tackle this winter, it sounds great for next winter.

Thanks!