Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search
29 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Northerners - how cold does it have to get before you break down and close the windows? (Original Post) hedgehog Sep 2012 OP
It's down into the 40s here at night, Blue_In_AK Sep 2012 #1
We have storm windows. Once they go up, the house is sealed until next Spring. hedgehog Sep 2012 #2
not quite a northerner fizzgig Sep 2012 #3
My mother used to have her bedroom window cracked all winter! hedgehog Sep 2012 #4
Mine does that! cyberswede Sep 2012 #9
35 years ago, the ex-MsMFM and I lived in a LEETLE tiny A-frame cabin... MiddleFingerMom Sep 2012 #19
Usually around freezing. geardaddy Sep 2012 #5
I usually consult with the brass monkeys. HopeHoops Sep 2012 #6
Below 40. HappyMe Sep 2012 #7
In NYC? Probably 40 below. KamaAina Sep 2012 #8
Bedrooms should be cold tjwmason Sep 2012 #10
40 to 45 Denninmi Sep 2012 #11
I closed the windows last week. applegrove Sep 2012 #12
when it gets below 50 at night zen_bohemian Sep 2012 #13
My fan is usually on through Dec bigwillq Sep 2012 #14
i have a window over my desk that opens to our covered porch. hedgehog Sep 2012 #15
Probably below 40 degrees. But I still have a fan blowing on me. femmocrat Sep 2012 #16
It got down to 40 last night so I closed the bathroom window. The Velveteen Ocelot Sep 2012 #17
I had an dorm in DC my first winter down here... Chan790 Sep 2012 #18
I think that's true of every dorm I've ever seen - and reportedly also true hedgehog Sep 2012 #22
I just got up to close a couple its 45 here this am. Historic NY Sep 2012 #20
When the inside temp drops below 60°. hobbit709 Sep 2012 #21
Same thing for me Populist_Prole Sep 2012 #23
Same here nadine_mn Sep 2012 #29
55 JustAnotherGen Sep 2012 #24
high 30's Hula Popper Sep 2012 #25
I live in North Georgia and we get some fairly cold weather here. RebelOne Sep 2012 #26
We don't open them TrogL Sep 2012 #27
If I had my way, the windows would be open a crack until it got to the 30s... Flaxbee Sep 2012 #28

hedgehog

(36,286 posts)
2. We have storm windows. Once they go up, the house is sealed until next Spring.
Wed Sep 19, 2012, 02:26 PM
Sep 2012

I feel cut off from the outdoors once the windows close, so I keep mine open if it's above 60 during the day!

fizzgig

(24,146 posts)
3. not quite a northerner
Wed Sep 19, 2012, 02:30 PM
Sep 2012

but i would keep my windows cracked until it dropped below freezing if my husband let me have my way. my husband closes them up when it drops below 55-60 at night.

hedgehog

(36,286 posts)
4. My mother used to have her bedroom window cracked all winter!
Wed Sep 19, 2012, 03:30 PM
Sep 2012

I consider one of the pleasures in life to have the bedroom at 55-60 and twenty two blankets on the bed!

MiddleFingerMom

(25,163 posts)
19. 35 years ago, the ex-MsMFM and I lived in a LEETLE tiny A-frame cabin...
Thu Sep 20, 2012, 03:18 AM
Sep 2012

.
.
.
... set back pretty deep in the woods on 8-ft tall posts wit a little creeklet running
underneath it. It was truly an idyllic location/existence.
.
Our kingsize waterbed was too big for the bedroom, so we had it out in the front
living room. The front wall was all glass, so in the green months, we could see birds
flying around outside and in the winter skeletal-tree months we could see the stars.
.
We had a thick faux-bearskin blanket on the bed. We'd turn the house heat way down
and the mattress heater way up. We would be like two warm pieces of toast, though
we could see our breath in the cold air.
.
I had to get up EARLY for my work commute and it was a definite incentive to keep
moving and keep moving FAST!!!
.
.
And, along with us being young and very much in love, that ambient temperature made
for a LOT of, um... snuggling.
.
.
.
.

geardaddy

(24,926 posts)
5. Usually around freezing.
Wed Sep 19, 2012, 03:32 PM
Sep 2012

Even then I might crack a window to get fresh air. Absolute temp when I close windows for good it below 10°F

 

KamaAina

(78,249 posts)
8. In NYC? Probably 40 below.
Wed Sep 19, 2012, 03:51 PM
Sep 2012

At least in buildings that have steam heat. In such buildings, the heat is always cranked up well into the 80s for some reason known only to the FSM. Windows stay open year-round; fans have even been deployed in the frigid depths of January!

tjwmason

(14,819 posts)
10. Bedrooms should be cold
Wed Sep 19, 2012, 03:53 PM
Sep 2012

My bedroom window will be open when there's snow on the ground and it's below freezing day and night. I find a cold room helps me to sleep. If I have to sleep in a room with the window closed I always wake up with my head feeling like it's been stuffed with cotton wool.

zen_bohemian

(417 posts)
13. when it gets below 50 at night
Wed Sep 19, 2012, 06:34 PM
Sep 2012

Sometimes in the dead of winter I open the windows just for a few minutes if it's below freezing, trying to get some fresh air in the house.

 

bigwillq

(72,790 posts)
14. My fan is usually on through Dec
Wed Sep 19, 2012, 06:40 PM
Sep 2012

I like it cool at night.
I live with other people and we have electric heat. I haven't turn on the heat in my bedroom in 8 or 9 years.

hedgehog

(36,286 posts)
15. i have a window over my desk that opens to our covered porch.
Wed Sep 19, 2012, 06:40 PM
Sep 2012

i leave it open all summer, which allows the cats to come and go as they wish - there's a little cat door on the porch. I'm going to have to close that window tomorrow, so the cats will be confined to the cat door at the back of the house.

femmocrat

(28,394 posts)
16. Probably below 40 degrees. But I still have a fan blowing on me.
Wed Sep 19, 2012, 10:01 PM
Sep 2012

At school, I keep the windows open all winter. The rooms are over-heated and over-crowded. I tell the kids it's so the germs can get out.

 

Chan790

(20,176 posts)
18. I had an dorm in DC my first winter down here...
Thu Sep 20, 2012, 02:03 AM
Sep 2012

where my roommate and I didn't control the thermostat so we had to leave the windows open all winter because the university had set the temperature building-wide and we were on the top-floor in the middle. Everybody else had nice toasty dorms; we had a room where if we closed the window, the temperature shot up over 90'F in minutes.

hedgehog

(36,286 posts)
22. I think that's true of every dorm I've ever seen - and reportedly also true
Thu Sep 20, 2012, 11:59 AM
Sep 2012

of NYC apartment buildings. I wonder how much energy could be saved if all our institutional buildings had zone controls!

Populist_Prole

(5,364 posts)
23. Same thing for me
Thu Sep 20, 2012, 12:37 PM
Sep 2012

If the sun is out, it's got to be much much cooler outside for that to happen though since my house is a heat magnet.

<60 is great sleeping temperature indoors.

nadine_mn

(3,702 posts)
29. Same here
Fri Sep 21, 2012, 06:27 AM
Sep 2012

I love it nice and cool but my husband and pets start to huddle if it gets any colder in the house.

RebelOne

(30,947 posts)
26. I live in North Georgia and we get some fairly cold weather here.
Thu Sep 20, 2012, 06:09 PM
Sep 2012

My windows are usually open until it gets to below 40 degrees.

Flaxbee

(13,661 posts)
28. If I had my way, the windows would be open a crack until it got to the 30s...
Fri Sep 21, 2012, 12:09 AM
Sep 2012

I like cool bedrooms if it is 'naturally' cool, as in, cool outside with the windows open a bit. My husband, however, is a big fan of having the heat on at night, because he tends to throw covers off when he sleeps no matter the temperature.

Yet in the summer, I don't like the artificial cold of having the a/c blowing all night; in the summer, I much prefer just to have the room dehumidified unless it's super-hot outside at night (above 85-90, as it was for a week or two here this summer).

I think my "problem" is that I grew up in SoCal, where it was rarely too hot or too cold, it was always "just right", per Goldilocks' request. For me, just right is somewhere in the 60s-low 80s year round, with a trip to Big Bear or Mammoth if I had a hankering for snow.

Latest Discussions»The DU Lounge»Northerners - how cold do...