AC is set at 72. A week or so I just left the windows open so it was in the 60s when I woke up, but it has been humid and feels more like August than October where I live. (central NC) I long for fall weather. A few weeks ago it was 70s/50s for one week then went back to summer humidity.

It's low to mid 50's and our furnace generally is turned on around Cdn Thanks giving which was just this weekend. We've had it on a couple of times to take the chill off.

It's not all that cold at night so we still have our summer weight comforter on the bed with a lightweight blanket at the foot in case it's needed during the night.

No furnace this fall and for the last two weeks central AC. I absolutely despise this hot humid weather when we're way into fall now. I lived in PA all my life in this general area, and I do not remember any time like this. I want cool/cold!

Way too hot to think about a furnace yet. But I am dreaming of the first real fire SO will light this year in the fireplace , I'm sure months in the future. I really dislike hot weather and it's always really annoying to still have it in mid October. It's just not right.

I was hoping for frost and snow flurries for Halloween, but it looks like rain and A/C. It'll probably be Thanksgiving before we fire up the furnace.

I would suggest turning it on to make sure it works! No sense in waiting until you really need it to discover that it doesn't work...

nycefarm good point! But our temps are going back in to the upper 70's and mid 80's and there is no way, I will turn it on already. This is the second best part of the year for saving money, by not using either AC or heat. First best part is spring... and it really THE BEST, cause there is no ragweed pollen in the spring.

A couple cool days in the house are easy to take, since I have enough warm clothes. I will however turn it on prior to really needing it, since forced air heating usually stinks the first time you turn the heat on after a long down time. I want to be able to air the stink out, without making it damn cold in here.

What's a furnace? While I am mostly kidding, my homes have always had central heat. I turn it on when it gets to the lower 60s. My favorite is turning on the heat for the first time in autumn and it gets that distinctive smell of the coils warming up and burning off whatever is on them.

When I get cold. Today is probably the worst day of the year. It's so very humid. Just turned the A.C. down about 5 degrees.

No need for the furnace yet as our temps have been in the mid 70's to mid 80's, but when it gets below 75, I am cold, so we turn on the little electric heater to take the chill off. The last few days the air came on.

I'm in Calgary and my furnace has been on and off since early September.

It's been in the 40's at night for a week or more here and we are unlikely to see daytime temps much in the 60's again this year. I have a gas fireplace with a blower that I turn on every morning when I have my coffee and work on my laptop and that warms up everything quite nicely, It is also very pleasant to see the flames - makes you feel cozy!!

My landlady controls the heat in the residence (upper, main floor unit) and she is elderly and feels the cold so when she is in residence, the heat could go on at any time. But she is gone 3 weeks out of the month and the furnace is less likely to pop on inappropriately.

I like to sleep cool, so the window in my bedroom is always open, year round. But my all-season down comforter and and two furry pet bodies snuggled up against me keep me warm :-)

No A/C here......never needed!!

I have lived in my house a year last year I turned the heat on once to make sure it worked because the house was new and it had never been turned on lol. My AC is still going and probably will go all winter. We don't have winter really here in Fl. It might get cold enough to open the windows in the mornings and the evenings but thats about it. I keep my AC at 68 year round. I miss living in Ma where I could leave my window cracked on really cold nights to let that cool crisp air in to sleep.

It is 57 degrees outside and all my windows are still open. Last year my furnace was on at this time for a few days. It is going to warm up again this week so I will wait. I have Raynaud's so I use my hands as indicators so when they start to turn dark blue that is when I will put it the furnace on. I am looking forward to seeing how this new furnace works.

I do not have a furnace, so no do not have it on, nor any heat going yet. Not using air conditioning either.

Sue

You leave your AC at 68, Aprile?! Wow that's chilly. We keep ours between 73 and 75 and we are still getting $400+ monthly electric bills.

I'm surprised to hear about those in colder winter locations living in homes without central heat.

chi, electricity rates are much cheaper in the South- Tex to Fla, and northward too - than we in CA are accustomed to. We in contrast have among the highest rates (for those of us in investor-owned utility areas like PG&E or SCE)

It's 68 here right now but has been warmer during the day. The house is slightly stuffy. My air conditioning is still set to come on for the dogs, but it's set at 78 so hasn't kicked in the past couple of days.

We are still running the AC to keep the house around 72 during the day and 68 at night. Temps have been 15-20 degrees above normal for weeks. I don't anticipate needing the furnace until Thanksgiving at this rate. We like it cold in the house anyway (65 day, 60 night in the winter), so as long as it gets into the 60s during the day it usually doesn't kick on given our settings.

That's true, Elmer. The electric bills shock me as I don't consider us high usage and we just replaced the entire AC and duct system last year so it should be efficient.

A lot of homes in our neighborhood are putting solar panels on their roofs.

43 here this morning and yes my furnace is on! I hate cold!!! Might turn it off tomorrow...is to warn back up by weekend.

Rooftop solar, both residential and commercial, makes a lot of sense in areas like ours that get lots of year-round sunshine. Many large retailers, like Costco and Walmart, have (with little fanfare) included solar installations at many of their locations.

We don't have AC here in NW PA. Our heat is just always on and when the house gets cool enough, the boiler will fire. So far, even with having had 2 frosts, our house is around 74 degrees without the heat running.

Our apartment building is cool, the furnace hasn't been turned on yet. The lady who lives below called the landlord to see if they'd turn it on, she's freezing. It's 18C in here now but was much cooler this morning.

20 degrees C equals 68 F.

I usually turn furnace on when it gets about 60 F, but looked after a friend's short-haired dog a couple of years ago and sort of got used to setting the thermostat some higher.

Wood, though a renewable resource, pollutes quite a bit, as well as adding to greenhouse gases and global warming. It took millions of years to make petroleum and we've been using it for less than 150 years, with little consideration for how precious a resource it is, which our grandkids will consider us to have used profligately.

The cost of the wall north of Mexico will be peanuts compared to the prices of the dikes needed for each of N.Y, Miami, New Orleans, San Francisco and L.A. when the glaciers and icecaps north and south melt ...

... and I doubt whether Mexico will pay for any of 'em.

ole joyful

Maybe the "north of Mexico" wall should be along the US-Canada border? I believe there are more Canadians in the US, for the whole or part of any year, and/or wanting to live in the US, as a percentage, than Mexican citizens. And I'm not sure the prevailing driver is economic as it is with Mexican nationals. Why are so many Canadians dissatisfied with their country?

SE Wisconsin reporting:

I've turned on my furnace for a few nights during the past week as night time temperatures have fallen to 45 F on occasion. Most of the time, it has been off. Two night a ago, the furnace was turned on and will stay on until the weather warms. We've jsut finished a 24 hr slow rain period with temp around 49 F. We needed that kind of rain as it had gotten too dry.

The low moisture is affecting our fall colors. We won't have much to brag about. The color show is low this year; Leaves are drying up and dropping off the trees as they turn. The best color were a few hard maples that turned a week ago. However, we have been enjoying Indian Summer like conditions for the past month. We haven't had a frost yet.

I had new high efficiency furnace and air conditioner installed in August. It cost a pretty penny, but the savings should pay back within 5 to 10 years. The old furnace was 41 yrs old and due for a change out and the AC quit in July.

My energy rebate check arrived yesterday ($250).

My qualms: Too much electronics in the new system. The old system was very reliable and if it had a problem, I could either fix it myself, or jury rig a fix to keep going until a repairman arrived. That won't be the case with this new system although I do admit it works very well with the new thermostat.

Our weather since August has been so mild that we've not needed to run any hvac at all. Great for the electric/gas bills!

I'll turn on the heat when the house cools down to the low 60's at night, AND it's not likely to warm up during the day. Looking at the 10-day forecast, that won't be anytime soon.

I caved and turned it on to take the chill off the house. It dropped to 54 degrees in here and I couldn't warm up. Went around and shut all the windows first. I didn't like the smell coming from the new furnace but it is slowly smelling less. haha I miss that burnt dust smell from my old furnace when I first turn it on.

Another voice from central NC here. We're still running AC a bit, but tomorrow is supposed to be the end of this miserable humidity. 70s next week will mean windows open. We'll fire up the wood stove when the house is staying <65 during the day. This is our last season for the wood stove, when the wood is gone we'll turn the furnace back on. Still set to about 64, maybe the shock of the first bill won't be too bad.

cherry, they have a scented candle for that.

Here in SD DH just lit the furnace tonight. It has been pretty chilly here in the morning. One day last week we had to scrape ice off of the windows. I hope it stays warm enough for a while so we don't have to run it so much.

68 winter

78 summer

Our boiler fired up like a champ sometime during the night. It's comfortable in our home. :)

As for rooftop solar, it's incredibly popular in the UK. There are entire villages of houses with rooftop panels.

If I am cold furnace goes on, If I am hot A/C goes on. I do not care what time of year it is LOL A/C set at 74 and Furnace at 70. Here in Michigan, we have run both in a single day LOL

Furnace set at 70.

Just north of Chicago, our whole year has been *weird*. There was NO snow in 2017. (Last accumulation was December 2016.) We had record rainfall winter, spring and summer...until six weeks ago when we had NO rain. We've had maximum daylight most days. We were glad to get two inches of rain this week. This up-down-up-down weather stresses plants -- and RR tracks and bridges.

Our master bath has electric heat under the tile. Two north-facing rooms have hot water radiant under the floors. I've used these sources at night three times. We have a very *tight* house with a lot of windows; warm as long as there is sun. We used the A/C later than ever this autumn. We haven't switched the air returns yet for heating. Hard to schedule winter HVAC maintenance when you're still using the A/C.

morz8 -- Have I asked you the rationale for radiant heat in a *ceiling* -- hot air rising and all? Do you have returns to pull the heated air down to the floor?

Not yet, : two pairs of leggings, two sweaters and double socks and I'm good to go. I'm a bundler.

DH will need the heat on soon as he feels the cold to his bones.

DS has to keep the space heater on as he is not allowed to get cold.

Nephew is still wearing short sleeves and shorts inside. He doesn't get cold till December usually.

Here in northern Michigan, we have frost warnings every night. It was 37° when I got up today. Right now it is 58° and I have windows open and am enjoying the nice cool autumn air ( translated: DH is not home ) Around dinnertime I will put the heat on only to 66° so I do not smother with the heat being soooo high ! Yup, one spouse is always cold the other is too hot.

Summer(and still) the AC is set at 71/72. In the winter furnace is set at 68.

We've had several days of the furnace on in the morning and the a/c on in the afternoon! We have a small house that heats and cools easily and brand new furnace and central air so the bills haven't been bad.

My last house was large and had a boiler. It could take a long time for the water to heat in the boiler before heat would come out. So I would wait till it was cold and supposed to stay cold before turning that monster on. I'd never own a boiler again!

We love our boiler and radiators. :) Forced-air heat is so dry...

What makes indoor air drier in wintertime is the low relative humidity of cold outdoor air that, when warmed, has an even lower relative humidity. The source of the heat shouldn't matter.

Forced air heat can be more, not less, comfortable because many in cold weather places are regularly fitted with humidifiers. What IS true is that radiator or other radiant (like in-floor) heat is more comfortable insofar as it is more gradual and steady than a periodic blast of hot air. Along with radiant heat being gradual is the negative that warm-up from a setback can be very slow, much more so than forced air.

Every approach has benefits and weaknesses.

The whole solar panel thing has pretty low interest to people here in Nebraska - I guess the rationale is why spend good money on something that a hailstorm is going to wreck?

People getting solar also seem to be getting blamed for the rising electrical service costs that homeowners and renters are paying. Much like cord cutters are blamed for the rapidly increasing costs for cable service subscribers.

I'm sure there are established and reliable ways already in use to protect solar cells from hail. If Nebraska is one of the many states where electricity is cheap because of coal burning plants, the enthusiasm for more earth-friendly and economical alternatives will increase as cheap sources like coal plants continue to be shut down.

Pricing problems - sure, they're everywhere. Lots of round pegs and square holes. New approaches don't necessarily fit well into old systems. These will change over time to make more sense.

Heated air is dry, period.

Although I love the under-floor radiant heat in our bathroom and library, it's the forced air system that delivers humidified air to the whole house in winter.

The flow-through humidifier on our furnace keeps us comfortable at lower temperature settings. (Flow-through' means the medium dries between cycles; deterring mold.)

The Aprilaire filter on the forced air system removes dust and allergens all year.

Utilizing two sets of air returns keeps temperature comfortable throughout each room. This combats 'layering' of cooled air near the floor or heated air near the ceiling.

@elmer

if the number of giant trucks is any indication, my neighbors and much of the city don’t care about clean, economical and convenient energy. :p

Just this afternoon on Cape Cod. Feels good. Chilly (50's) and windy. We have radiant heat under our family room tile floor and it's cozy.

DH couldn't get the furnace started. Today we had someone come and look at it. They had to replace a motor. I don't know the cost yet but I guess it would be cheaper than a new furnace.