It's been a month ago that I first posted here about WSW. We've done just so-so with Warm Sweater Wednesday the past few weeks. It was so cold and windy that we just couldn't turn down the heat. However, I didn't turn it up, either.
Last week was New Year's Eve, and no one was home all day, so the thermostat stayed set at 63 degrees. This is the normal setting for during the day, in case I don't come home right after I get off work at 8 a.m. When I get home, I usually turn it up to 68.
Today I did not. It's pretty chilly outside, in the 30's, and snowing off and on, but I left the thermostat at 63. When I first got home, I cleaned up the kitchen, then went to bed - remnants of a migraine only gave me 3 1/2 hours of sleep last night so a nap was badly needed. The bed was warm and cozy and I didn't even notice the cooler temp in the house.
I've been up for a few hours now, and am baking cookies and wearing layers, so I'm really quite comfortable. I think I'll just leave the setting at 63 until the thermostat changes itself to 68 at 4:00 or so.
You may have surmised that we have a programmable thermostat. This has been the biggest money-saver in the winter! It is programmed for 63 during the day, unless I change it, then 68 for the evening. At 11:00 it goes down to 60 for the night. (We have a dual-control heated mattress pad, so we stay toasty warm, don't worry.) At 3:30 it goes back up to 68 - I get up at 4, so the house is at least beginning to warm up then. Greg leaves for work a little before 7, so that's when it goes back down to 63.
Now I've had people mention to me that letting the house and furniture get cold overnight takes so much more heat to warm it up in the morning, that it cancels out any savings we might have by turning the furnace down at night. I beg to differ. A few years ago the gas man was here to hook up the new gas cook stove and he mentioned that we had the lowest gas bill in our entire town. Granted, that's just over 100 houses, but that's fairly significant. I can't say it's true today, but it proved to me that what we were doing was working.
I don't know that it will be an Open Window Wednesday, but there will be no problem keeping the heat turned down today. The sun is shining, birds are singing, and the wind is not blowing. Seems like a perfect Springtime morning.
Yes, it was a Warm Sweater Day, with a biting, chilly wind this morning. Oh Spring - wherefore art thou? Why hast thou forsaken us?
I know I keep going on about the nice weather we're having, so I'll simply say that we had a beautiful "Open Window" Wednesday here today. Yippee!
You know how we've been having these random days of Springtime, then Winter comes back in and takes over again? Don't you think Winter should be tired of the U.S. and getting ready to go to Australia? (Hi Kim!)
It was a good day to have WSW here on the Great Plains. Temps were mid-40's and the sun shone, so I left the furnace set at 63 and it hasn't come on all day. That's a good thing, especially after the last gas bill... 
It was WSW today - did you turn back your thermostat a few degrees? We finally had a high temp today above 32 degrees, and it was the first in the last six days that we had no snow. Yea!
Who needs a sweater today? Not me! The sun is shining and it's going to hit 50 this afternoon, so the furnace won't run much, even set at 63 - which is where it is now. Temps will be the same tomorrow. Yea!
It's been a month ago that I first posted here about WSW. We've done just so-so with Warm Sweater Wednesday the past few weeks. It was so cold and windy that we just couldn't turn down the heat. However, I didn't turn it up, either.
There's this awesome Yahoo group that I've been a member of for almost 10 years, and a couple of weeks ago we started "Warm Sweater Wednesday". This is when we each turn down our heat a couple of degrees for the day, saving money and reducing energy usage for a greener earth.
Today was Warm Sweater Wednesday, but no sweater was needed. Windows and doors were open and the fresh air was lovely.