Awesome people of the Midwest......when do ya turn your heat on??

[a kennedy]

thermometer outside says 61 degrees…..inside says 70.9. Why do I feel so chilly??? Ok, ok, I’m old, 74 and am always cold. So when do I turn the heat on??? It’s September 23rd. May-be just to take the chill off turn it on for a few minutes???

[brush]

1. It's too early. Wear sweaters and socks. When I lived in NY my wife and I didn't turn on the furnace untill...

about Oct. 20 to save money from heating the whole house. Space heater radiators helped, but you have to be careful with them as they can be fire hazards.

Westchester NY, north of Manhattan can't be that much different in temp. this time of the year than Michigan.

[Emile]

2. I get use to cooler temps and save a ton of propane

during the winter.

[waterwatcher123]

3. We are just south of the Arctic Circle here in Duluth, MN. So, we turn on the heat when folks start to look purple.

Seriously, there is no one to report your thermostat to the Trump police (although that is probably in Project 2025 somewhere). So, it seems like you can do it now to get the ice off the kitchen sink and coffee pot. If you want to enjoy the cold, get a Siberian Husky to keep you company. They like the brisk feel of minus 20 or below.

[DetroitLegalBeagle]

6. Whenever my wife decides to turn it on

If it were entirely up to me, it would stay off till it was consistently under 62-63 in the house. But my wife would probably freeze to death lol. So usually once it drops under 68 regularly she will turn it on. She likes to keep the house at 70-72 year round. If it wasn't for the fact that she likes fresh air and breezes, I'm pretty certain she would set the system to 71 and let the system run on auto.

Edit- oops didn't mean to reply directly to you, meant to reply to the thread itself.

[North Shore Chicago]

4. When the temp

is below 63. Inside. We have new boiler heat, and love it!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

5. Do you own a sweater?

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

7. I lived in many places.

Philly growing up.
Worked in Michigan for a few years.
Several years in El Segundo.
Couple years in Atlanta.
Most of a year near Chicago.
DC area a few times.
A year near Boston.
I live near Philly in NJ now the daily low temps are in the mid 50s and the A/C hasn't been off since May.

The wife is another story. In her 20s still and expecting our second child within a month we lived about 25 miles Northwest of NYC. It was New Year's Eve, maybe 30 outside. She had the box fan in the window.

[Nittersing]

8. As soon as it's cold enough to turn it on!

If there are any issues, I want to know about them before it's 20 degrees outside.

[yonder]

9. We made it to Thanksgiving once,

but as we get older, it gets earlier - usually somewhere around Samhain-ish, when its a steady 60-65 inside.

Always though, we make a toast and recite the following before hitting the switch:

Aged Lenny, rise up to your Call,
To warm Winter days and dark Solstic thrall,
A Spark to alight, we Cheer at the Feat,
And begin our long Journey, to Spring's Vernal squall

So far, the old Lennox hasn't failed us. 🔥🙂