Staying toasty - Revisited

As some of you may remember, in January, after receiving a gas bill that was double our normal, we decided to take a serious look at our heating choices (see January post here). The temperatures in Central Texas have varied, but for the most part, we've seen quite a few chilly nights. With the idea of lowering that nasty gas bill, we programmed our heater at 60 degrees. I often noticed, however, that the bedroom would get much colder than the rest of the house and we often woke to temps in the low to mid 50's. Now to someone who thrives on heat, that's pretty low. Keep in mind, that's the temp INSIDE the bedroom. 

Despite the fact that I have serious issues staying warm without external assistance, I managed rather well during the daylight hours by relying on periodic walks (to keep my blood pumping), and a combination of heavy sweaters, wool knee socks, the pile of blankets that line the back of our couch and regular cups of piping hot tea, though I have to admit I was still chilled much of the time.

The nighttime was, of course, my greatest challenge. Our winter bedding, in addition to sheets, includes an electric blanket, a thoroughly worn comforter (about 10 years past it's prime) and a nice thick blanket. With the heater set low, the heat rarely went off so the majority of our heat (at night) came from the electric blanket. Unfortunately, Dave's and my internal thermostats are WAY different, so most of the time, in addition to the electric blanket (set on low so as to not completely cook Dave out of the bed), I slept on top of a heating pad as well. Of course, getting out of bed in the morning (with bedroom temps in the low 50's) was BRUTAL...

Experiment Results: 

So, after a month of low-heat living, how did we do? Well just last week, we received our newest gas bill and (drumroll please) - we're back down to our normal bill (aka, we cut the gas bill in half). Sweet success!

But (and here's the ultimate question) is this something I can live with (this being cold much of the time)? Really, it's not as bad as I thought. Sure. I would be more comfortable with a few more degrees buffering me from Old Man Winter, but those extra blankets (and the heating pad at night) seemed to do the trick quite nicely. 

Regardless, there was room for improvement, so last week, we purchased a heated mattress pad to replace our electric blanket (it has duel sided controls so I can completely bake myself while Dave maintains a lower setting). We tried it out for the first time Tuesday night and it was HEAVEN! And of course, heating the bed is WAY more efficient that heating the entire house at night. 

Verdict? We stayed relatively warm and still got our heating bill down by 50%. I'd say the experiment was a success, although I'm still pining for a good Texas heatwave. Maybe next week...

Have a great weekend everyone. Stay toasty!