I sure am. I've done genealogy and I swear, I don't know how our ancestors did it. I just can't imagine. Just doing w/o heat in winter and A/C in summer is enough to make me glad I'm living in 2008!

I grew up without heat or air in the bedrooms... well, till I was 9. ;)

Then we moved in to a house with central heat. Airconditioning really wasn't needed, as 85° was considered awfully hot.

but, here in Oklahoma I like my air conditioning. Heat I can do without for sleeping... but a semi warm house for waking up is nice. ;)

I prefer to pay utility bills... over not having heat, or air.

Moni

My sister and I were discussing something similar just a few days ago. I have my heat turned down to cut the costs and I was complaining of being cold even though I have many layers on. We got to wondering how we stood it as kids. No central heat, just a pot bellied stove in the living room and another stove in the kitchen. She and I were lucky as there was a floor register above the lr stove to our bedroom up above. We had a gazillion blankets on our bed. We took our clothes to the lr to get dressed.....turning frequently as we froze on one side and felt burnt on the other.

In the summer, we didn't even have fans. I remember when it got really hot that I'd sleep on the linoleum floor to be cooler.

So maybe I'd better be grateful for what I have right now. ;*)

Shirley

I don't know how I did it as a kid either. I grew up in an 100 year old house with no central heat till I was 10. I use to get dressed in the winter under the covers. We would all run down to the kitchen where my Mom had the oven on. It was the warmest room in the house. We almost lived in that room in the winter.

Now I am a hot house flower. We keep our thermostat at 68 and we turn it off at night but I have lots of covers. And I try to keep active during the day. But just sitting around in the dark with no heat is no fun.
Clare

Yes, I am too! I can't stand to be cold. The heat doesn't really bother me here in South Texas, but I'm probably the first to turn on my heat in the winter.

I also grew up in a house with a gas space heater and it was cut off at night. Mom put a hot water bottle in my bed to keep my feet warm and I had lots of blankets.

I was just thinking this morning about when I was in high school. Girls couldn't wear pants. I'm sure my legs really got cold, although I don't remember. LOL

I'm dreading two ice storms predicted to come through Chicagoland tomorrow and again a couple of days later. DH and I are thinking about having a natural gas generator installed if these weird winters continue. Several years ago we lost power for days. You could have hung meat in our LR. Fortunately we were 'between dogs' and just went to a hotel overnight after we couldn't stand the cold any more. Turned off the water and drained the pipes first.

As a child, I remember suffering more in summer (before A/C) than in winter. Hot. Humid. No breeze. Once my mom and I slept in the vestibule of our house with the front and back doors open to funnel in some air. This was in the days when neither we nor our neighbors locked doors.

I dont blame you!!! I would die without heat. I keep my house at 72 pretty much all the time. My mom roasts when she comes over but it's perfect for me!

We were at the house at the lake last winter and the power went out. It was around 58 in the house and I was soo miserable.

had a 9 hr power outtage on monday...left the cats home and drove to do errands...thanks be it came on when it did or we wold have been moteling it...wish i had a fireplace...crazy thing? our house in san diego had one, here in mi not!

Well, I would like to be a creature of comfort, but living here, I'm not. I don't mind not having air conditioning...I am comfortable without it, but I hate being cold. This place is so cold you could "hang meat" in it. I hope this in my last winter to live like this.

At night I put the heating pad in my bed toward end before I go to bed and leave it on while we're reading. I unplug it when we turn the lights out. It's soooooooo nice!

sjerin - your post reminded me that I use to have a heated mattress pad years ago. I think I will get another one. I use to love to turn it on early and have a warm bed to get into. I liked it better then a electric blanket.
Clare

I tried that too Clare, as my Mom has one that she puts on "my" bed when I visit. The problem is there don't seem to be any flat ones that can be put on my side of the bed; my dh is always too warm so I need to lay a small one on my side only. Rather, they are fitted with elastic so they hold tight to the mattress. If you know of any flat ones, will you let me know?

I'd think that life expectancy of a heated mattress pad would be substantially less than for an electric blanket, that doesn't get battered by bodies and squirmed on, but lies lightly above them.

I used to enjoy an electric blanket, some years ago, but haven't used one in years.

ole joyful

We had two extra long twins to make a king in our last house, and Jerry has a heated mattress pad from that. When we went to queen, I just cut the fitted stretchy part off, and I lay the pad on the queen bed, under the sheet of course. Works! :)

Meanwhile, I sleep in a nice warm water bed. I hope, I never loose electric long enough for it to get cold.

Moni... who loves separate beds for sleeping. :)

Well, duh, Erin. Moni, you are a genius! I think I'll look for one in Jan. when bedding is often on sale.

Remember going to the country and house had no heat except for fireplace.

Heated bricks by the fireplace and rolled them in a blanket to keep our feet warm when in bed.

Here we only have heated mattress pads; I had never considered there might be one more like an actual blanket that goes over the top. They last for years.
They also make them with dual controls for double bed size and up, so you only turn on the side/s you want to heat. When we got our first one, DH complained because he thought it was unnecessary. So I told him, Well, don't turn your side on then. Then he started complaining if I didn't put his side on to preheat when I turned my side on :-)