Question of the Day, Saturday, Sept 30

[Winchester]

Happy Weekend!

I cannot believe that we're at the end of September already. 2023 is zooming by. It's still quite warm out around here, even at night. I did turn the heat on in the Shed, largely because of the plants. We switched over from AC to heat, but have the temp at 66F, which is fine for now. The pool is closed. I still have to bring the chairs in from the Deck and Patio, put the Deck rug away and put the pillows in the basement. And then, we have to cut the flowers and such down, clear out the garden, all that good stuff. I'm putting flannel sheets on the bed today, along with the heavier comforter. Rick is going to take the screens out of the windows and, when we come back from vacation, he'll start putting suet out for the birds.

What do you do for the changing seasons? When do you turn the heat on in your house? What else do you do?

 

[Silver Crazy]

In downunder here I am turning the AC on, removing the flannel sheets and attacking the spring growth in the garden..lol
Total opposites .

 

[Mia6]

i play it by ear. sometimes i turn on the heat but we then get a heat wave and its back to the ac

 

[neely]

I'm stubborn about turning on the heat so usually wait until late Oct. or Nov. It can be chilly in the morning but I just put on an extra layer since it usually warms up later. To get ready for winter I move furniture on the patio and cover what is too large to move with a tarp. I also cut down perennials, toss annuals, trim bushes, disconnect garden hoses, etc.

 

[denice]

I am still keeping windows open a lot. I love having windows open. I avoid turning on the heat as long as I can, same with the AC in the spring/summer. Usually give in and turn the heat on towards the end of October. I do better with cold than heat so I hold out longer for the heat then I do for the AC.

 

[allmykitties]

I don't really go by the calendar as far as a/c or heat. We're still getting highs in the mid to upper 80s, so the a/c is still on. Temperatures are supposed to drop next week by about 10, so I'll not have anything running if that holds true. There's always a span of time in-between when I don't run either a/c or heat. When the house inside temp starts dropping into the mid-60s, that's when the heat goes on. I really can't stand being cold--it'd be fine if all I had to do was sit in my multi-layers wrapped in a quilt, but I have to function, too. The electric blanket gets plugged in when the heat goes on, too. On the other side, when the temps inside the house rises into the mid-70s, the a/c goes on. I don't really do much outside, so there's not anything needs doing out there.

 

[di and bob]

Don't turn our heat on until the end of Oct. Still opening windows in the AM, we are still having highs in the 90's here in NE. right now we are running neither AC or furnace, NICE! I am cutting down perennials, tearing out the garden and annuals, bringing liquids in from the garage, and winterizing. Hard to do in the heat. Can't wait to stop watering, just sprayed weeds again for I hope the last time. My broken wrist has finally healed to the point I can do a lot more (don't tell my surgeon!). Still have the tomatoes to tear out, not looking forward to that!

 

[MoochNNoodles]

Local people are still reporting hummingbirds coming through in the counties around me; so no cutting back anything here yet! People seem to be itching to take feeders down but it just proves it’s smart to wait and help the stragglers.

The closest I’ve come to ”fall” is going about 14 hours with the ac off and getting DH to keep the ceiling fan off one night. It’s supposed to be nice this week so we’ll probably want it again.

We always just go by the temperature in the house for using heat; no rules about dates that don’t make logical sense to me. If its below 68/70 in the morning; we turn it on. I’m my own landlord so I don’t feel like it needs to be October 15th or something to have a comfortable environment. Its probably mid-October before we need the heat usually. We do have robes and what not for chilly mornings; but I love mine all winter anyway.

 

[kashmir64]

Don't turn on the heat until it gets to freezing, then I have no choice if I want to keep the pipes.
Right now I'm trying to get the yard closest to the house mowed and weed-eated (about 2 acres). Nothing worse than stepping on a solid clump of grass covered in snow, then you roll your ankle, fall, slam your leg into a giant rock, break your leg and sprain your Achilles tendon. Next month I will wrap and cover the cooler.

 

[Kat0121]

Summer is still in full swing here. It won't start to cool down until mid November or so. I don't really need to do much of anything. I'm just looking forward to being able to shut the AC off. The girls will be happy when it's cool enough to leave the screen room door cracked so they can out back. It's just too hot most of the year. Every now and then Lilith will stand by the door and holler for out. I tell her it's too hot but she's a bossy little thing. It's the same thing every time. I open the door and she goes out. I stand by the door waiting for the inevitable. Within 15 seconds she turns around to come back in. Then I get yelled at because it's hot out and I should have turned the heat down so she can watch the birds and squirrels for a while.

 

[denice]

I haven't had the AC on since two days after Labor Day. It was 90 degrees until them, the complex even left the pool open for two days after Labor Day because it was still 90. It then cooled down, rained and it has been nice Fall weather since.

 

[Jem]

I'll switch to flannel sheets when the nights get chilly.
Remove the air conditioner from the window...however, we've been experiencing unusually warm weather for this time of year so I'm keeping it in a bit longer...it's usually out by now. It's going to 27*C next week!!! Our norm is around 14*C.
We don't have a furnace, we use electric baseboards and natural gas fireplace for heating, so if the air feels chilled, I'll just turn the heater/fireplace on in a certain room for a bit, but they're not turned on "full time" yet.
I usually like to try and do some raking before the snow falls and it all gets wet, but if I don't make it I just wait till spring. Even though the weather has been great this fall, I probably won't have time as I'm working hard on finishing my basement.

 

[maggiedemi]

The heat is set to come on when it goes below a certain temp. It usually says about 74. It's too cold for me personally! If I won the lottery, I would keep it at 80 year round. NY is so cold! I have 2 fleece blankets on my bed, but they suck! Definitely need something warmer

 

[catloverfromwayback]

I don't have a furnace or central heating anything, they aren't the norm in Australia because we just don't have the severe winters (apart from a few areas like Tasmania or the mountains) of the northern hemisphere. I've only had oil or gas space heaters and now in this tiny unit a little electric convection heater. And to the question - it gets turned on whenever it's cold enough. The weather if very changeable at present, typical spring. It was 30C yesterday and is supposed to be 12C on Friday, so the heater will certainly be on then!

 

[Tobermory]

We bought one of the programmable thermostats that “knows” whether to heat or cool and changes automatically. We haven’t touched it since I programmed it three years ago!

We have a lot of annuals in pots so those will need to be pulled and the pots stored in the garage, but it’s still a bit early. That’s about it.

 

[susanm9006]

So much to do in the fall. The mowing/mulching of leaves, which I do multiple times a week until it’s too cold for the mower or it snows. Also washing windows, putting yard decor away for the season, putting the heated walkway mat out, starting the snowblower, making sure I have sand and salt, putting mouse repellent in the shed, covering air conditioner, setting out Halloween decorations and clearing the flower beds.

Indoors, a new filter for the furnace, and a tune up every other year. I turn heat on when it starts to get to the lower sixties indoor overnight. This could happen as early as mid September. This year it still isn’t needed yet.

 

[lizzie]

I still have the ac going,even when the temps get down to 50-ish at night.They just blow a straight fan,which I'm good with.It's too early to even think about turning the heat on here as of yet,and I kinda play it by ear.Eventually the ac units will be put away,storm windows put back on.....things like that.We're not anywhere near cool enough for flannel,fleece or comforter,but it's coming,sooner or later I'm sure!

 

[sivyaleah]

NJ weather this time of year fluctuates too much to turn one off completely and the other on completely. We had the HVAC tuned up this week and it's been on for a few days, albeit only set at 67 to take the chill off the rainy days that have been sticking around for far too long. Next week I think it's going back up into the high 70's so we'll turn the a/c on for sure. Usually by the end of October we're done with having to cool the house at all.

 

[aliceneko]

The weather has started to cool quickly here so we've already started to wear more seasonal autumnal clothes and have got the winter blanket out (much to Toffee's pleasure!). We normally start to burn candles again at this time of year.

 

[MonaLyssa33]

I avoid turning on the heat for as long as possible because I love the cold and I especially love getting cozy under blankets. Right now, I have my AC on again because we are experiencing a bit of a heat wave for October and I hate it.