I try to hold out for the heat for as long as possible. It was 64 degrees this morning and chilly, but not enough to turn on the heat. I think at 60 degrees I may give in, but only for the mornings.
Plus I love sitting on the couch, under covers, watching movies with my dog.

when our landlord turns it on for the whole complex. we have an old boiler system for our radiators, so they wait until the last possible minute to do it.

last year it was mid-november before it was turned out. but's it's kind of nice to get some good use out of my grandmother's quilts and our fuzzy socks.

I turn it a wee bit at night and only in the bedroom. I HATE a cold bedroom. During the day, I still keep all the windows open (Fall air is the best) and wear a sweater!

I wait as long as possible to turn the heat on. Last year, I turned it on October 22-- and only because everyone at my house getting ready for my wedding was complaining ;)

It's been really chilly the past couple nights here near Boston, but I love cozying up in sweats and snuggling on the couch! Getting out of a nice warm bed in the morning is really tough though.

We're in a new place without a programmable thermostat (making a case to get one installed soon)... anyone have tips for managing an older thermostat for comfort and heat savings?

I used to only turn the heat on slightly in the bedroom and leave it off throughout the rest of the house, which seemed to work pretty well for me, except now, our new apartment only has three heaters (one in each bedroom and one in the living room ) and they can't be controlled individually. My fiancé and I have decided to try and hold out for the whole winter if we can to try and save some money, although I have a feeling I'll come home one day to the thermostat cranked..

January.

We're in New England but luckily we have a big south-facing picture window that collects sunlight all day. It gets up to 70F in the room with no heat on whatsoever. We don't turn up the heat until January or later. Of course 40F sounds warm to me since I live in a place that can be below zero for days on end.

I bought fingerless gloves last year so that I could continue typing in the cold of my home office. With heating oil prices the way they are, I will keep the heat OFF until my toes start getting frostbite. This is why God created layers!

I have a programmable thermostat so I might turn it on when the high temps starts to get into the 40's outside, but it doesn't necessarily start heating until the inside temperature drops below my settings. I have big windows so if it's sunny it regularly gets above 70F even if it's below freezing outside.

I set it pretty cold 68F when I'm there, 60F when I'm not and overnight.

Boston - I try to hold out until Thanksgiving. But I may soon start to use the radiant in my toddler's bathroom for an hour or so a day so his bath time is toasty.

And when we do turn it on, it is set at 65F when we are home and awake and 58 when we are not home/asleep. It has been well above that inside the past few days even though outside temps have fallen into the 40s.

We like sweaters and blankets. And it is supposed to get up to the 80s again this weekend.

My husband and I always stick it out until November 1st (we used to live in dorms that didn't turn the heat on until that date, no matter how cold it got), but I'm inspired by those of you who hold out for January! We've still got the windows open in Indiana, although it's been a bit chilly for a few days here and there.

I try my darndest not to turn on the heat at all. And if I do turn it on, it's not really on. It's just set so low that it rarely kicks on. :) Of course, my houseguests tend to complain, but that's why sweaters and blankets were invented. :)

I don't turn on the heat until November 1, regardless of what the temp is. That's my rule and i'm sticking with it.

Still rocking the AC here in south Louisiana! Last year it was probably November or early December before I started turning on the heater regularly.

I'm getting new windows next Friday (to replace the 75-year-old wood frame ones that do nothing for insulation) and planning to install a programmable thermostat to help use my heater less this winter. I anticipate turning on the heat during Thanksgiving when I have family in town and hopefully I won't have to do it again until Christmas, when the family returns.

This is Apartment Therapy, right? (Just kidding. It's bigger than that, I know.) When you live in an apartment, very often you don't get that choice. My apartment has been chilly at night for a few weeks now. Every year, the building goes through the mysterious "filter change" ritual, which involves a handyman coming in and doing some voodoo to the bedroom and living room units. But in a ten-story building with four arms (and some basement units), it takes a long time to work this magic on the whole place. I haven't heard a peep about the filter change, so we're still a long way from getting our heat turned on.

We're with Muesli- since we pay for our oil heat (we're in New England), we hold out as long as possible, and we spend a lot of time on the couch with covers and a snuggly pup!

We don't have a programmable thermostat, and there's really no way to turn the heat on or off. We just leave it set at 60 - takes awhile for it to kick in, but I'm pretty sure it did last night.

In Seattle, where most of us have to turn on the heat in the summer (at least this summer anyway), I turn it off in March and don't turn it on again until November. I have ridiculously inefficient baseboard heaters that I feel like when I turn them on, I should just stand on my front porch and fling dollars into the wind.

When I wake up cold in the middle of the night is when the heat turns on. Usually when it gets into the low 40s at night.

Wow, the other commenters have way more stamina than me! When the house gets below 65 and stays there is when I turn on the heat. I turned it on for two days last weekend, but it's been off since thanks to our indian summer.

Right now I'm just thankful that it's in the 70's! Our brick house had collected so much heat that even though it was in the high 60's and low 70's outside for the past few days, the interior (without a/c) was still in the 80's.

I generally don't wait for a specific time to turn on the heater, just whenever i feel like it's been too cold for a few days. After the summer I've been through I welcome the cold!

When the first cold rain happens. Last weekend here. High yesterday was 56. Nice only if the sun comes in the windows.

Also in Seattle, and I am hoping to hold out till December/January. I say, every year, that I am going to do that, but then it gets a little cold and I crumble. I hate wearing tons of layers at home, and dragging around blankets is a hassle. I work from home 90% of the time so I freeze my butt off if it gets even into the low 60's since I am not moving.

This year though I bought some ridiculous head to to fleece PJ's and am hoping to make it this time. It always feels really wasteful turning on the heat, because it doesn't get THAT cold here, I am just very intolerant to colder temperatures.

Last year, my partner and I lived in an apartment building in NYC, and the heat was usually so intense (and we didn't control it) that we kept the windows cracked all winter!

Now we are living in southern CA, with central air. I thought we'd never have reason to turn on the heat, especially so soon, but with a broken window pane in the bedroom it got down to 55 inside!

A side note - I wouldn't recommend painting a radiator (like the one in the picture) unless you really know what you're doing. Someone's "art project" in our old apt resulted in noxious off-gassing when the heat switched on, and us sleeping in the living room for almost a week!

I think . . . I think I lived in that apartment on Montague Street in Brooklyn.

Strange.

I rigged a climbing harness to the radiator because it was on the top floor above two shady restaurants and had no fire escape.

I wait as long as possible. I've lived in Michigan my whole life, and I can take the cold. I usually hold out until the inside temp dips below 55 during the day. In the winter, we keep the heat at 60-62 during the day and 54 at night. We also use a heated mattress pad for those really cold nights and mornings. We're used to slippers and sweaters. I'd rather be too cold and have to put on another layer (or move around more) than be too hot.

I'm in San Diego, and I turned the heat on two nights ago, just for a little while. It's been rainy and cloudy the past two days, so the house didn't get any passive solar effect at all. Now that the rain has stopped, I'll just let the sun warm it up again until the next spate of storminess. It does seem a bit early for turning the heat on, but we'll take all the rain we can get.

i try and hold out till thanksgiving, but if the house temps drop below 50 and the coming days dont look like theyll be warming things up, I turn it on. i live alone in a big old house and its a waste of money to heat the whole thing.

We turned on the heat this week, but it had gotten down into the 30's.

We're in Santa Barbara and have no AC and hardly ever use the heater (only on those rare occasions when the temps really dip down). We are fresh air fanatics and keep windows open all year around (especially in bedroom at night; can't stand a hot room). I feel so fortunate to live in an environment where I can breathe fresh air all year round, rather than have to use AC or heat to make life bearable. Plus, I admit, we're cheap and don't like to pay the gas bills.

I always try for Nov. 15 but it usually comes on before that (I live in New England). If it's below 58 inside it definitely comes on, but I keep my thermostat around 60 anyway, unless I have guests. When I'm sitting around I pile on throws and when I'm up and about I get too hot if the temp is any higher.

I have an 8th floor condo and never turn on my heat in the wintertime. My place is south facing and I am well insulated by my neighbors.

Hm, We've had weather in the 50s the past couple weeks (Pennsylvania) and all I've done is close up all the windows when it gets too cool at night! The days have been in the 60s, so it's still beautiful open window weather! That's coming from a former Minnesotan though. I'm used to it. I definitely won't turn it on until we have a freeze.

I wish my teens could hold out longer than they do...my 17 year old gets up to catch a bus at 6:30 and she likes it to be warmer while she gets ready. I think I might get her a little space heater for her room vs get a woodstove going! I'm ok being cool tho...I think I could wait till November...I'm in Canada.

I'm hoping to wait until some time in November :) I'm in Memphis and we generally have pretty mild winters and falls... right now it's 81 and supposed to be 87 later on ... the low is supposed to be 55 tonight and we are going to have similar weather for the next week (I hope).

We turn it on when it gets cold outside. Especially since our son is still in the kicking-off-the-covers-and-not-knowing-how-to-get-back-in stage of life. So it was on a couple nights this week. BUT I don't turn on the heat when I know we're getting up to 70+ degrees during the day. That just seems silly to me.

I guess I'm weak. The first cold snap we get -- which was last weekend -- I turn it on. If it warms up, it goes off. Our house just doesn't hold heat very well, so 40 degrees outside translates to a super uncomfortable house, even with the blankets and sweaters and everything else. I guess my stamina kicks in when I wait to turn on the AC as long as possible.

This Tuesday, I returned from California and I was shocked to find out it was only 16 C inside the house. (The weather just changed from cold back to seasonal/above seasonal values) but the house did not adjust yet.
When brought my dogs back home, I decided to turn on the heat in the evening (greyhounds have very little body fat). I have a programmable thermostat so I left it on in case the temperature drops at night. I believe that so far is has not kicked in yet (the thermostat is set at 18 C - I try to survive on that temperature the entire winter [with multiple sweaters] because due to the dogs, I cannot keep the temperature at, say, 15 C at night). Last night, it was 20 C in the house and 19 C this morning.
Basically, I don't remember a Thanksgiving without the heat turned on. Thansgiving is on Monday so this year will be no exception.

We live in the mountains in a townhouse in between 2 other townhouses that insulate our place very well. Even though we've had snow already this year in early Oct. and the night temps have been in the 30s we haven't had to turn on our heater yet. However, we did turn the heat on for a few minutes just to make sure the furnace is working properly BEFORE we need it. Like others have commented we like putting extra blankets on the bed at night and wear sweaters, hoodies & scarves during the day.

We're weak too. We turned on the heat one night this week. And it was awesome! We bought a house this year and we haven't had central heat since we lived with our parents as teenagers. No more space heaters, no more single heat source for the whole apartment that could only be turned "on" or "off." I really like having a thermostat and it's programmable!

We live near Philadelphia, and probably won't be turning on the heat for a while! Heating oil is crazy expensive right now. We did, however, buy a space heater and have used it at night while we're watching TV a few times (when the thermostat is reading in the low 60's).

I live in a condo and in our city, by law, the heat has to be turned on by mid-September. I'm on the condo board and we generally try to hang on until someone complains. (Usually mid October). Although our building wastes a lot of money on heat, I try not to use an air-conditioner at all, which really does seem excessive in the relatively cold climate of Boston.

Long Beach, CA - I turn it on when I wake up shaking from the cold in the middle of the night after layering on 4 blankets and a light down comforter. That ususally happens around November/December.

I keep my apartment at a 66 degrees. My radiators have thermostats that switches of if the roomtemp rises above that.

There seems to be a bit of a battle to be the "coolest" cat around going on the the comments but if oil is so expensive why not change to a cheaper source of heating? If you have a furnace I know you can get one that burns these little wood pills and that is supposedly cheaper and better for the enviroment. And after a few years the savings on oil will pay for the new hardware.

I had to turn it on when it was 59 or so inside and 35 outside. I usually tough it out, but I was cranky and cold.

Winner! More like this please.

We also have oil heat (central NY) but we're poor and our house is old, so we try not to turn the heat on if can. We've got a programmable thermostat and we just had a new furnace installed and our house (finally) zoned - downstairs and upstairs. Although last year we just turned off the radiators upstairs b/c it was just a storage room and the guest room, but now the storage room is my craft room! So it'll be nice to have heat up there that is easier to control.

Also - Down comforters! I find that if you're hot when you wake up in the morning (but not sweaty) it doesn't make getting up out of bed quite so bad.

We've also been having a fire in the fireplace in the mornings (I'm unemployed and thus stay at home most days) and sometimes in the evenings if it gets really chilly.

We're thinking about getting one of those "Amish" style space heaters (y'know - the ones that look like little soapstone stoves?) for my craft room so I don't have to crank up the heat so much if i want to work up there.

This just reminded me to shut offf the heat I turned on when I came in from work..argh...the cranky 'thing' is when I def turn on my heat...as well.

ploefff, we would, but we rent in a very expensive state to buy, so we're not able to change the heating system. I'd LOVE a pellet stove when we can afford to purchase our own place. Putting on an extra sweater and a pair of slippers isn't exactly suffering, though. :)

I toughed through our first rainy day of the season in L.A. without turning on the heat. Tonight I gave in and am happy to not be shivering in bed.

I caved in and turned my heat on today.. for 40 minutes. Ours is an instant boiler system for our flat and it's either on or off - no temp controls. Thank goodness for timers though! I try to use it as little as possible as gas and electric is going up (another) 25% this winter in the UK :( Bad news for us in poorly insulated, single paned, houses... Can't wait to buy my own place that's energy efficient!

We live in WI; on October 1, we turn the heat so that it will come on, once the house is down to 55F. That will probably happen in a few weeks. Once the heat is needed, we set the programmable thermostat for 60F during the day (one of us or the other works from home daily) and 55F at night. I dislike central heat generally and I love sleeping in a cold room with lots of down comforters. Keeps energy costs down as well.

New England here. We built recently, so we have just what we thought would work best for us: forced hot air natural gas furnaces, central AC, programmable thermostats, and extra insulation. We program the thermostats to be energy efficient when we are at work (so warmer in summer and cooler in winter), but when we are at home and awake we like it in the upper 60's or lower 70's. (I'm happiest at 72 F unless I'm working out or doing something making me heat up internally!)

Tonight it will be in the lower 50's. Tomorrow in the mid 80's. With temp swings like that in one day, not manually adjusting things really helps!

@Abstractionist, AC is useful in this area (I'm in Nashua, 45 minutes north of Boston) more for the dehumidifying aspects than cooling. 80 degrees and dry is way different from 80 degrees and 80% humidity!!! Maybe you can take it, especially with the harbor breezes in the city, but I can't!! ;^)

I live in England (the UK not the new one!) and don't have central gas powered heating, which is unusual here. I have electric panel heaters and electric oil filled radiators. I try to keep them off until at least the last week in Oct. It was 9 C the other morning which isn't good when you first get up and get dressed, but I can't afford the bills if I start putting it on to early.

I have a Slanket (http://www.firebox.com/product/2249/The-Slanket) and a cat to keep me warm on the sofa, and the cat sleeps on me in bed when she feels cold so that benefits both of us!
If it gets really bad in the bathroom I might give in earlier and put that heater on a timer, but only for an hour in the morning whilst I shower and dress.

Coming from south Texas, I'm jealous of everybody who doesn't need to run their AC right now.

Growing up in Detroit, my father had a hard and fast rule about starting up the boiler- Thanksgiving or snow, whichever came first. It was usually snow.

@LeahH: yup. Set it [at 60] and forget it! Works every time, every year, no bells/whistles required.

I live in an older apartment building where the heat is landlord controlled and gets turned on once it drops below a particular temperature at night. We have very old radiators that you can wrestle into one of two positions: on or off. It would be nice to have more control in order to be more environmentally friendly, but I usually end up leaving it off until my apartment starts to get really cold then turn it on again for the entire winter (unless we have freakish 80 degree weather in February). But I hate being cold - so much so that, even living in DC, I only turned on my AC window unit five days over the summer.

I have arthritis (I'm in my 30s, so I can't explain it either), so heat is the luxury I will splurge on; I don't like the house dropping below 67 at night.