Tuesday, August 7

Thermostat Wars

Do you and your wife/husband/significant other have thermostat wars? We have them here in kenjuland, although lately it has been a "cold war".....LOL.

Mr. kenju is what some would call warm-natured. He likes the thermostat setting at 70*. I am cold-natured, and I like it at 73-74*. I set it - he changes it. Later, I re-set it and he changes it yet again. No words are spoken during the changes, you see. Thus, the "cold war".

I think he will change his tune when the next power bill arrives. This month, he can't blame the high bills on me, since my flower cooler has not been turned on since early July.

What I would like is one of those clear plastic cages that some stores have over their thermostats with a lock on them. That way, he couldn't change it at will. Know where I could get one of those?

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

We have ceiling fan wars! I keep the a/c running 24/7, but we also run the ceiling fan all night long.
Problem is, hub likes it on high, and I like it on the lowest setting.
I get cold easily and typically sleep with the blankets over me, even in the summer.

70 would be too cold for our house. I don't know if it's overly insulated or not, but 70 or even 73 would be freezing! Mine is usually set around 77'.

Anonymous said...

Judy,

No I don't know where you can get one of those cages but I will tell you what my husband did to solve a similar problem.

He was just a young fellow and starting out in the HVAC business(Heating,Ventilating and Air conditioning). His company got a job at a villa for retired nuns.
The maintenance man was going crazy. The boiler for the heat was conking out all the time from exhaustion. The nuns had a huge "all purpose" room and the thermostat was in there.

One Nun would be very cold and she would turn the thermostat UP. Two minutes later another nun would come into the room, feel warm and walk over and turn it DOWN. Then another UP and another DOWN and by this time the boiler was on the brink of expiring from the changes.

The man explained this to Roy and he had a great idea the maintenance guy had not thought of. He wired up a new thermostat around the corner in another room and left the old thermostat exactly where it had always been, except now it had no wiring and was completely useless.

But the nuns didn't know any of this so they continued to turn the thermostat UP and DOWN all day and whichever way they turned the useless thermostat they either felt warmer or colder and lived happily ever after in complete comfort.

The maintentance man controlled the real one and set it once a day and the boiler lasted another 10 years.

BreadBox said...

LOML and I are the same way --- I need the thermostat set at 75 or below, whereas LOML is happy if it is at 80...
And Nancy, I *love* that story!
N.

Anonymous said...

Well, over the years the war and dwindled down to a skirmish. He likes air moving so he has the air conditioning on sometimes when we don't need it. It gets cool here at night even in the summer. Most of all though, we've had a problem with noise. He needs noise to sleep. I need quiet. We've both adjusted a little, but at first it was tough.

MaR said...

We are two "frost frogs", this is the way people in Germany are called when they easily get cold! That's why we don't have A/C at home :)
I loved Nancy's comment!

kenju said...

Nancy, that is a great story and if I thought I could get away with that, I'd have another one installed here.....LOL

Bobkat said...

I had to laugh at your post and Nancy's story! So much temperature yo-yoing! LOL!

Perhaps you should get a false thermastat too? :)

I'm here from Michele's today :)

Mahala said...

We've got one of those covers on the thermostat at work. The only thing is, it's vented so the air can circulate around it and all you need is a stretched out paperclip to get to the buttons.

Don't ask me how I know this.

Eddie said...

My wife believes we should turn off the thermostat when we go to bed.

I on the other hand believe that if it gets hot enough (or cold enough) it should kick itself back on.

Will this marriage be saved?

We are approaching 40 years of thermostat wars, only more time will tell.

Peter said...

A universal problem Judy!!!

Heather said...

I don't know where you would get one of those. My other half and I are constantly at different temps. I have the low blood pressure and get cold easily. We try to compromise but I don't think there is really an easy solution. BTW, Nancy, that is a great story.

bluemountainmama said...

HAHAHA! i can SO relate! the thing is, i tend to go back and forth btwn being the warm-natured one and cold-natured one.

but my parents are the epitomy of this...at home, in the car, etc.

i love the idea of the cage. if you find one, let me know! :)

Anonymous said...

While I was like an icepack my husband was more like a mobile electric Blanket!
Nancy I wish Roy was over here. I love the idea of the false thermostat control.

Pat said...

It was ever thus. Mind you , a turn up for the books MTL now sometimes feels chilly when I am warm. As I tell him 'I've been working!'

utenzi said...

I usually keep the house around 76 or 77 in the Summer with my ceiling fans on low. My girlfriend Chris likes things considerably cooler tho so when she's visiting the temp drops down to 70. Brrr!

Right now that all is moot since my A/C died a few days ago. The service people are coming by tomorrow morning so I hope to be comfortable once again soon! It's been a mite warm lately. LOL

Jamie Dawn said...

My hubby and I have the same battles. My son sides with his father, and they both turn the temp down, and I turn it up. My daughter tends to side with them also, so it's three against one around my house.
:-(

Shephard said...

I like the house COLD.
68*

I'm part penguin.
~S

Crimson said...

We do this too, only with more extremes. I like 76...he likes 68. I'm in sweats, and he's in shorts, it's ridiculous. It's the worst part of summer for me!

Maria said...

My boyfriend sets the Thermostat at 65 degrees in the fall/winter and we live in the Northeast. I am freezing!!! My nose is red and cold, my hands and my feet. I pile on the sweaters but I just can't get confortable so I tell him at least put it on 68. He tells me put gloves on. I tell him I'm not wearing gloves in the house!!!! I'm not even married to him and we already fight about this. But honestly, 65 degrees? I might as well go outside to warm up.