Can you tell me HOW two degrees makes such a big diff?

berryblondeboys

berryblondeboys

Member
Sep 30, 2007
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#1
Our house is forced air heating (no humidifier, though we are getting one) and we have it set for 68 degrees. When it's set for 68, I'm FREEZING. My toes are cold, my nose is cold, my WHOLE BODY is cold. I have on boiled wool slippers WITH socks, jeans and a heavy sweatshirt. To be warmer I COULD put on a shirt under the sweatshirt, but for once I decided to turn the heat up to 70 degrees because I was tired of feeling SOOOOO COLD. Now, it's warmed up and I feel soooo much better with just those 2 degrees. HOW COME? It seems crazy to be COLD to comfortable with such a small change!
 
#2
OMG was thinking the EXACT same thing yesterday! At 68 I was still freezing but actually when I set the heater at 70 I was too HOT! I know it's working perfectly as the house is less than a year old! Just too weird!
 
#3
Hey, when you're of a certain age (I won't mention menopause symptoms), ONE degree makes a difference. I'm always getting up to adjust the thermostat. My poor hubby--I'll just be sitting and mopping my face because I feel warm, but the house isn't warm at all. He's baffled.
 
#4
Hmm, i should be glad my dad "made us tougher." Really, he didn't want to pay so much for heating/cooling, so he'd use the AC once a year on the hottest day meaning we'd have to just deal with 85-88 degrees inside . . . and the heat would be turned do 58 in the winter.

Lol, my sister, mom and i were upset at first, but then it turned into a funny game. And hence, I can withstand a nice range of temperatures. :smile:
 
#6
I read the thread title and thought academic degrees, LOL!! (And then I thought if you had two of them, that would be even better!!!)

But yes it does. Only in my case it's 72 and 74!!!
 
#7
merika said:
I read the thread title and thought academic degrees, LOL!! (And then I thought if you had two of them, that would be even better!!!)

But yes it does. Only in my case it's 72 and 74!!!
Click to expand...

me too!:P

and, yes, downstairs is 68 and freezing, upstairs is 70 and i'm good...:shrugs:
 
#9
That's funny... but count yourself lucky to control your own temp! I'm unlucky enough to have a RADIATOR controlled by my landlord (who is seriously violating some laws by letting my apartment get to freezing tempertures!)... Before I moved to Chicago, I lived in California where EVERYONE has central air and heat. I took it for granted that every place in Chicago would as well and did not even think to ask. I had never even see a radiator before! So now I have no air conditioning but I have a radiator that never gets turned on. My poor cat wraps himself around one in the hopes it will turn on.

If you can afford the bills, spring for that extra two degrees, berryblonde!!
 
#10
IntlSet said:
That's funny... but count yourself lucky to control your own temp! I'm unlucky enough to have a RADIATOR controlled by my landlord (who is seriously violating some laws by letting my apartment get to freezing tempertures!)... Before I moved to Chicago, I lived in California where EVERYONE has central air and heat. I took it for granted that every place in Chicago would as well and did not even think to ask. I had never even see a radiator before! So now I have no air conditioning but I have a radiator that never gets turned on. My poor cat wraps himself around one in the hopes it will turn on.

If you can afford the bills, spring for that extra two degrees, berryblonde!!
Click to expand...


When Dh and I first got married we lived in Hyde Park in Chicago and we lived in a corner apartment with radiator heating. It was one of those REALLY cold winters - like 75 degrees below zero windchill winters and our apt. was SOOOOOOOO cold. Ice was building on the inside of the windows and our bathtub (which had a window over the back) had ice on it from freezing over after our showers.

We kept complaining about our heat, but we were the ONLY ones in the apt. who complained about the cold. They came and checked our radiator to see if there was a bubble in the line preventing the water to come through, no... but they admitted, our apt. was COLD.

Comes to be that our apt. was the LAST one in the line and by the time it got to us, the water had cooled too much to heat our apt. properly. There was NOTHING they could do. Needless to say, we moved after our lease was up! LOL

But radiator heat isn't all bad. You do have control with the nozzle on the side - either open or closed. Are you SURE your landlord hasn't turned on the heat? or maybe there is a problem with your radiator? I would demand something to be done. There are pretty strict laws with renting - even in Chicago. (We rented there in three places around the city- Hyde Park, North near Loyola Univ. and then inland just on the city line very near Northeastern Ill. Univ.)
 
#11
IntlSet said:
That's funny... but count yourself lucky to control your own temp! I'm unlucky enough to have a RADIATOR controlled by my landlord (who is seriously violating some laws by letting my apartment get to freezing tempertures!)...
Click to expand...

Have you contacted your landlord? I have sensors in several of my apts that tell the furnace what the temp is, and if the sensors sense heat when there is none the furnace will not kick on.

The following are code for the city of Chicago:

For Chicago the heating season begins September 15th and ends May 31st. The minimum temperature that must be maintained in each unit is:
  • 65° between 7:30am and 8:30am
  • 68° between 8:30am and 10:30pm
  • 63° between 10:30pm and 7:30am.
I generally try to keep the heat steady at about 69 degrees for all apartments. Several things can affect this:
  • Tenants being too warm and opening the windows. This makes the sensor think it is cold, kicking up the heat for everybody.
  • Apartments closest to the furnace will be warmer.
  • Third floor apartments may or may not be warmer. Heat rises, so if the ceiling is well insulated, the third floor should be pretty toasty, but if it is not insulated well, it acts as a big flue and all of the warm air gets sucked out.
If your landlord is not within code, and you have informed him about the problem, call 311 and get the city involved.
 
#12
It's because forced air sucks! That's what we have too :sad: Whatever temperature you set it at, that's what temperature the air coming out will be... Even at 70, the air coming out doesn't feel that warm. I miss oil heat soooooo much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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