Global Warming
Every year this time of the season, we play a fun little game to see how long we can go without turning on our thermostat. In actuality, it is my little tightwad preoccupation with seeing what the date is when we need to rely on the utility company to keep warm. No one else in the household has any joy in this experiment. My goal is to try leave the furnace off until October 15th, and most of the time it is close to that. I never want to turn on the heat before October 1st, but one year when we lived in Cheektowaga, I had to turn on the thermostat on Sept 20th.... bleak times. This year though, thanks to greenhouse gases, Buffalo is a lovely place to be. There were two days last week that were a little chilly (highs in the low to mid 50's). This would normally be grounds for firing up the furnace (prematurely, I might add). For the first time though, I have an ally in my quest. Since my 
childhood home, I have not had a functioning fireplace. The home we are currently renting has a fireplace that works and helps take the edge off. However, this is the smallest fireplace I have ever seen. We need pygmy pieces of wood to make it work. We learned the first time we fired it up that if the wood/flame is too close to the front doors it fills our home with smoke. As a result, our home smelled like a backyard barbecue. Hopefully, the char-broil smell has subsided somewhat. I still think it's a small price to pay to keep the furnace-free streak alive. I'll keep you posted on when we turn on the thermostat.... my new goal is November 1st. The weather report looks promising and I think we can get by with a little help from our friend. On a completely unrelated note, Tommy noticed me taking pictures of inanimate objects in our home and wanted in on the fun. This is his version of a "natural" smile.
Every year this time of the season, we play a fun little game to see how long we can go without turning on our thermostat. In actuality, it is my little tightwad preoccupation with seeing what the date is when we need to rely on the utility company to keep warm. No one else in the household has any joy in this experiment. My goal is to try leave the furnace off until October 15th, and most of the time it is close to that. I never want to turn on the heat before October 1st, but one year when we lived in Cheektowaga, I had to turn on the thermostat on Sept 20th.... bleak times. This year though, thanks to greenhouse gases, Buffalo is a lovely place to be. There were two days last week that were a little chilly (highs in the low to mid 50's). This would normally be grounds for firing up the furnace (prematurely, I might add). For the first time though, I have an ally in my quest. Since my 
childhood home, I have not had a functioning fireplace. The home we are currently renting has a fireplace that works and helps take the edge off. However, this is the smallest fireplace I have ever seen. We need pygmy pieces of wood to make it work. We learned the first time we fired it up that if the wood/flame is too close to the front doors it fills our home with smoke. As a result, our home smelled like a backyard barbecue. Hopefully, the char-broil smell has subsided somewhat. I still think it's a small price to pay to keep the furnace-free streak alive. I'll keep you posted on when we turn on the thermostat.... my new goal is November 1st. The weather report looks promising and I think we can get by with a little help from our friend. On a completely unrelated note, Tommy noticed me taking pictures of inanimate objects in our home and wanted in on the fun. This is his version of a "natural" smile.
2 comments:
if I remember correctly, this was our preoccupation in our apartment as well...paying for heat. It's almost as bad as paying for AC in March!
i know... old habits die hard. remember when we turned off the heat when we went home for christmas and froze the pipes? i'm surprised our landlord did not evict us after that one!
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