Before I start, I just want to say that I am only asking this question out of fun and I am not too "serious" about this (Although it would be fun to know).
I am a freeze baby... Always cold. Always have been... Always will be. Even if it's 90 degrees outside... If there is the slightest bit of wind, it's sweatshirt weather for me (My body was not built to live in Minnesota!). If I lived alone (Or at least without another adult) I would happily leave my thermostat in between 75-80 degrees all the time. During summer months it would be towards the 75 mark, during the winter marks it would be toward the 80 degree mark. I would always always always rather be too hot than too cold.
My husband, of course, is the complete opposite. He'll go out all day ice fishing in just a light coat. He won't even wear a pair of gloves! Let's just say that when he succeeds in dragging me out there with him, I look like a little marshmallow wobbling around in all of my puffy warm clothes (And i'm still cold). If he had control of the thermostat, he would have it at a steady 60 degrees, and maybe even turn it off because "the heat from the apartment below us rises up through the vents into our apartment" (Which may be true, but I can't feel it).
We agreed that the thermostat would stay at 65 degrees, which is still colder than I would prefer but at least I'm not shivering. Yet, I find the thermostat turned down to 60 at least twice a week. It doesn't seem like much of a difference but trust me... 65 degrees is one blanket over my lap while sitting down... 60 is one blanket around my shoulders with two over my lap. Urg!
His reasoning is that I can always add a blanket if I'm too cold but he can't too anything if he's too hot... Which might be true... But come one... I shouldn't have to be the one adding blanket's all the time! ANYWAYS, this question is all in fun. I'm not seriously mad at him (Yet). I would just like to know... Who "wins" the cold/hot fight in your house? The freeze baby or the hot potato?
He is at work M-F 6am to 5pm (This includes drive time)... Plus it's hunting season now so some nights he doesn't even get home until 9pm. I work every Tuesday and Thursday 6:30am to 5:30pm (This includes drive time), plus I have a 2nd job every Monday and alternating Wednesdays/Fridays from 2pm until whenever the children's father gets home which is usually 5pm but has been as late as 9pm and I'm on call some weekends with that job as well.
He usually turns the heat down at night when I'm not looking, but the apartment doesn't even cool off until the next morning when he is at work and I'm home freezing my butt off.
The ONLY reason I can stand 65 is because the heat really does rise from the apartment below us, so even though our thing is set at 65 it could really be almost 70.
Unfortunately, our son is with hubby on this one. He may only be two but he gets very crabby when he thinks it's too hot in the apartment and behaves the best when it is colder. I have two thick blankets on my side of the bed plus I am wearing thick pjs... Hubby and kiddo (Yes, Oliver still sleeps in bed with us...) are on their side of the bed naked (Diaper on Oliver) and if I try to put a blanket on Oliver (Even a thin one) he kicks it off and gets mad at me. Lol
we compromise. it's that easy.
We look at what we can afford and then compromise. We don't make it a fight and we don't keep score.
The freeze baby (me). I'm a FL girl, so NY winters still make me feel as though I am completely frozen for 8 months out of the year! Fortunately, we have two young children, so it's not really a discussion.
I like the house at 68/70 in the winter.
We keep it at about 74 in the summer.
I cannot stand to be hot/sweaty when I'm working around the house in the summer & he says I freeze him out!
My air conditioning goes on in may & stays on through September. Can't stand a hot house in the summer! Why have AC if we're not going to be comfortable. That said, I use a down comforter all year long!
I am thinking at least twice a week he would find the thermostat at 70.
Well, we always go with what is the easier accommodation. That is the cold one covers up. Troy is the cold one, he never complains.
If given a choice he would want the thermostat at 70 in the winter, I like 68. 60!! I would be pretty damn sure I was going to freeze to death!!! I would be running around bitching well what is the point of having a furnace if we aren't going to use it, I would turn into a petulant child!
Here is the thing, you have to have clothes on, kid and all that so it is not like him running around naked is a working option. Might I suggest you get one of those heated throws. Makes a huge difference when you are just sitting there. Maybe a snuggie?
We would be at REAL war in my house if my husband dared to turn the thermostat down to 60. If I were you, I would buy a box with a key and have it installed on the thermostat like they do at offices.
Wow, 60 is far too cold. He's getting a "deal" at 65 if you ask me...how can you stand it!!
Dawn
I just keep lots of throw blankets and sweatshirts around.
Luckily we're on the same page around here--we keep the house at 68' in the winter, 70 in the summer.
When my in-laws come to visit is when we have climate battles. MIL is like you, but if we let her have her way my kids sweat in their beds. I've asked her to open a window during the summer time to let warm air into the guest room, but she won't do it. She instead sneaks upstairs and changes the thermostat during the middle of the night--and then we all wake up sweating while she slumbers peacefully.
Hot potato wins in this house by the same reasoning. I can always add more clothes, but he can't exactly strip naked in front of our girls! :). When he's home, I frequently spend winter months/days in sweats and socks and long sleeves.
My husband wins out because we live in a very old house that is expensive to heat in New England! BUT, since I had my daughter, I found that my internal temperature has changed and I generally run warmer now. So I don't mind that we keep the thermostat down. For the record, we keep our house about the same. It was much colder before my sweet girl came a long, but daddy doesn't want his princess to get too cold!
he wins its at 65 i would do 68 and not have my teeth chatteriong 70 would be perfect.
don't get me started on the wood fire in the fireplace war, he gets to be toasty sitting in front of it and the ENTIRE rest of the house includingthe 2nd floor is smokey and COLD grrr.
I win cause I'm often cold. Due to my medical issues my nerves can be super sensitive to temperatures so while yes I can add blankets and sweaters and mittens ........ my husband would much rather have be happy and able to do things around our home than to be curled up unable to function. We don't keep our thermostat set all the time and right now while it is on I still feel a breeze - not our fault stupid cheap apartment single pane windows. I freeze in Western WA state and I've been here 10 years. I could never imagine living anywhere colder.
we are pretty sympatico when it comes down to it - but we have lived together for 11 years and kind of have worked it out by now.
where i'm hot blooded, he's never really willing to be too hot during the summer, either. so it works out.
come to think of it, it's 39 degrees outside. we don't have our heat on - i don't know how cold it is in here but PRETTY DARN! lol. i am sitting here in a tank top and sweatpants. yep, i'm chilly - even have the cuffs of my pants pulled down over my toes. but i'm fine lol. actually now that i think about it my fingers are a bit painful/numb for typing sooo i'll get off here and go start getting ready for work. lol! but i won't be turning the heat on - until hubby wakes up and asks me to turn it on for a minute just to take the chill off. by that time i'll be rolling my eyes, because after working out and a nice shower i won't be cold at all....
I generally win - just because I'm here more and whine louder ;-). I used to be hot all the time and kept the house at a steady 68 (65 is nuts, and 60 is completely insane - my mother couldn't even deal with that and she's going through menopause with hot flashes). But I've lost a lot of weight and am always cold now. I also have a very small comfortable temperature window. In the summer I kept the downstairs at 75 and would turn the upstairs to 70 at night. I just caved and put on the heat. It's set at 70 downstairs and 68 upstairs, but I'm having a hard time at 70. I think it's going to end up being bumped to 72.
I allow the cold to win in our house. A) because I'm too cheap to heat B) Its easier to bundle up than strip down. Especially if you are carrying a few extra pounds!
DH has come to appreciate the texture of flannel:)
I think you just need to sit him down and say "look! we had an agreement! Do you not really agree to the house being at 65? If so, the way you handle it is you come to me and say "can we talk? I want to renegotiate" You don't just go sneak off and turn down the thermostat. Let's find a way to compromise, but I need to you to promise that if you have misgivings as this conversation reaches a conclusion that you don't say you agree when you really don't, instead you say - let's continue this conversation tomorrow, same time, I need to think about it, or let's try this out for a week and I will let you know if it's not working for me.
I think 60 degrees is hardly compromising on his part. Some suggestions for compromise - when either is going to be away for at least a couple hours, the other person should feel free to adjust by up to 8 degrees, 60 at night, starting a 9p ending at 6a, but 65 during the day. You will get used to wearing a sweater around the house, he will get used to wearing a short sleeve shirt.
Since my thyroid medication has my hypothyroidism balanced out, I no longer freeze all day every day even if it's 90 degrees outside.
We keep the house at about 70 degrees year round.
Opposite here. I am hot-blooded. Always have been. *Even worse now that I'm hitting menopause, but that's beside the point. ;)
I keep the thermostat to MY liking because it's much easier for him to put on a sweater (even in the summer) than it is for me to lose clothes, be decent and comfortable. Now that it's getting colder outside, I'm usually in a short summer nighty, with just a sheet, maybe a light cotton blanket. He's got the sheet, cotton blanket, down comforter AND comforter. Works for us!
Update: My husband works from home and I'm usually on the side of the house with the kitchen & laundry room & poor ventilation! ;)
My husband was always turning up the heat because when he is home he is sitting around relaxing, and he gets cold. I am usually up and moving around working and cooking in the house, so I tend to get too warm. I made sure he had warm slippers, a warm robe and a space heater he can use when he is sitting around, and I can still get things done around the house. The funny thing is, he is always the first one to put the air conditioner on in the summer.
I'm home all day so I win! I'm warmer than he is and like the house at 65 - 67, colder at night. We usually do 68 during the day and 65 at night. I sleep in a tank top and shorts, usually.
I prefer to be comfortable. Hubby is always cold and I'm normally warm...it's rare when we are the same. But he lets me win. He puts on more so I'm comfortable.
Updated
I prefer to be comfortable. Hubby is always cold and I'm normally warm...it's rare when we are the same. But he lets me win. He puts on more so I'm comfortable.
I like to keep it set at 68 or 69 during the cold months, my husband likes to set it to 73 or 74. So he turns it up and then I turn it down and then he turns it up...
We finally have it programmed so that it is set to 64 at night then up to 68 during the day. Then 71 once husband gets home.
During the warmer months we have it set at 76 or so.
Freeze baby here, too!
We both 'won'.
I kept it warm during the day when I was home, then shut off the heat at night.
He was almost never home during daylight hours (including weekends), so it worked. When he WAS home, he'd complain how fat I looked (winner, my ex) wearing 3 pairs of pants, 5 layers on top to stay warm... But we kept the heat off while he was here.
NO EXAGGERATION: One winter I woke up (under my 4 down blankets "cold". That never happens (note 4 down blankets).
Fan was on
Air conditioning was on
Window was open
Foot of snow was piled in a little rectangle on our bedroom floor
Being Seattle, that's a cause for celebration.
But it gives you am idea about how serious this man was about not being too "hot" (we got in a screaming argument at one point that we needed the heat on to keep the pipes from freezing. He could "feel" the heat, threw a fit -and some furniture- so I bounced him. And turned the thermostat from 40 to 80 and kiddo and I had a toasty week while Jerkface went and cooled off. Sorry, can't help the pun).
As far as winning goes, I guess I win. My wife and the kids are always cold. I can't stand to be hot, can't sleep hot either. I keep the ceiling fans on always. It's easier for them to grab a blanket, put on a robe or a light jacket.
Both of our vehicles have 3 blankets in them for just that reason.
I lose but only because our daughter is hot blooded like him and I would rater be cold then her be hot.
Whatever makes the little ones the most comfortable wins. 65 degrees is too cold! Get your husband a speedo to wear and set the thermostat to 72. :)
I'm the oven, my hubby is the ice cube. He works from home during the day and has chronic illnesses so I normally let him choose the temp and throw on a blanket or take off a layer. Occasionally I will change it, but I figure he's there the most, so he can control it.
I am always cold and Bf is always hot. We adjust by who pays the bill that month. Usually I take the water bill so he gets to choose the temp.
I like our method because if I want the heat up more I can't crab when the bill is higher and I have to pay it.
If my ex-husband had ever dropped the temp in our house to 60* I would have divorced him sooner. He was always hot and I was always freezing. As it was I was cold and suffered because of it.
We keep the house at 68 in the winter. If someone is cold they grab a blanket, sweatshirt or robe. In the summer we keep the house about 72 and my husband is usually too warm so he hangs out in shorts, no shirt.
At night he most definitely wins b/c we sleep with the window open (until it starts getting below 40 at night) and I wear warm jammies and keep extra blankets on my side of the bed.
We both loose. We live in an older NYC apartmetn building, where you can't control your own heat. From October through April, we are constantly blasted with heat. We have the windows open to throw off the extra heat.
Hubs is more hot blooded than I am, I am typically cold. But our apt runs so hot that both of us look forward to when guests leave so we can strip down to the barest essentials and get comfortable.
thanks for the fun question,
F. B.
We don't have to worry too much about any freeze babies in our house. It rarely dips below about 68 degrees inside.... whether the heat is running or not. There are fair few nights during our short "winter" that it even drops below freezing outside. Daytime temps are normal in the mid-50's on the COLD days of winter.
Summertime we both would prefer it a bit cooler than we keep it. But for the sake of the electric bill, we agreed to leave it at 77/78 all summer. It wasn't too bad as long as I wasn't actively folding clothes straight from the dryer, or cooking.
:)
Mostly we try to compromise. WCCO news just did a story on this and it relates to the different types and locations of subcutaneous (spelling?) fat that women and men have. So, it's based in science. I am 49 and recently started having hot flashes and night sweats for the first time. My husband said he was glad our body temperatures were getting similar. We have two boys--one gets hot like my husband and one gets cold like me, although since he's a boy maybe he'll be hot too once he hits puberty.
I'm glad you're not seriously mad. Sometimes thermostat wars are for real, and there's a desperate need to be right - "You're a jerk and the temp is gonna stay the way I want it!" Not terrific for a marriage.
Your husband *could* do something if he's too hot. He could pare down his clothing to summer weight if he wanted to.
At our house, my husband would love the heat/air to be off entirely, if possible, just to save money. I can't even handle 65 degrees! I'll put up with 70 or 71 when it's very cold outside, but even with a couple of sweaters on, even with long underwear on, I can't go lower than that. So I program the thermostat to my minimum... and find a few days later that it has magically changed to his minimum. (Side note: we have started replacing our windows. Maybe, when they're all in, I will be able to handle a lower setting.)
At the same time, I must say I have always lived in a four-season climate and would really miss any of those seasons I didn't have. Winter is beautiful, even with two feet of snow - especially when I'm inside looking out at it and the thermostat is at least at 70.
We compromise I like it warm 76-78 he likes its 70-72. So we set it at 74, I put on extra clothes and he wears more t-shirts.
I'm like your husband. I don't even own a heavy coat, only 'jacket' I own is a sweater. I'm ALWAYS hot. I have no use for the heater. It never gets turned on in my car, and the only reason it gets turned on in the house is because I have small kids and I don't want them freezing to death! I am comfortable when the house is around 65, but my husband usually has a hoodie on, lol.
I may be biased, of course, but I'm with your husband on this one. There's only so much I can do about being hot. So I usually win the hot/cold war. lol
Same exact situation in our house.
He wins. He is just louder I guess. So needless to say I own a lot of warm sweatpants, which hubby hates. So there!
During the winter, we set our house between 68-70. We use the fireplace downstairs a lot and when we are in our bedrooms, we all have down comforters on our beds. I also keep blankets (even electric ones) in a basket in the living room so, no one is ever cold. :)
I win....sort of. Our pocket book determines how much I get to win.
If I'm cold, I'm depressed and cranky. Being cold reminds me of times past, when life felt hard and sad. It crawls into my bones and I don't want to move.
So my husband puts up with my heat, even though he's happiest at 60 degrees. Freak. ;-)
Ideally, I'd live in a 90 degree, humid, coastal location. Then I'd be great. Pump it up a notch even. No problem. Swimming weather is my favorite.
Alas. It is rainy and 60 most days, year round. So, I keep the heat off during summer and layer it up. Somehow the long days make up for the loss of heat. In the winter, we heat with wood stove, and it's probably 75 close to the fire and 65 in the bedrooms.
In the summer, there is no need for air conditioning. Not on the hot days. It's our climate. We turn on a few fans sometimes, or just hit the beach.
Sometimes I pump up the heat and my husband suffers not so silently. But come on, warmth get's me down to my birthday suit. And if I'm cold, I'll fight tooth and nail for every scrap of clothing and blanket I can find to cover me. So, win-win? Right?
________
Also, that "put on a layer" is bananas and I'll tell you why. Clothes aren't comfortable. They are bunchy and itchy and tight. I hate having layers in my armpits. And usually when they are comfortable, they're ugly. And that bothers me just as much. I know how I sound, and I'm laughing at me too. But that's just the way I am!
I used to be just like you, until I had 3 kids and kept on that extra 20lbs. Now I am not as cold anymore. Which is nice. I hated freezing all of the time. You can't put a sweater on your nose and toes and fingers stay cold even in gloves. Even now though I could never have the temp below 70. There is no way I would be comfortable at 65.
I win the war here and he pays the bill. I am just here more and I refuse to live like I am in a 3rd world country in my own home.
