November 28th, 2007 - U.S. may phase out incandescent light bulbs in favor of energy-efficient lighting products
An interesting article Eric sent me: U.S. may phase out incandescent light bulbs in favor of energy-efficient lighting products.
We’ve discovered a side effect of energy efficient items. The den used to get pretty toasty during the winter–one person, two dogs, sometimes a cat, a computer (homemade PC circa 2005, needed 3 fans to keep it cool), a fridge (circa 1988), a light, and a TV (circa 1998). Now we have a compact fluorescent bulb in the light and the TV, computer, and fridge are all brand new. (The person, dogs, and cats are still older models. LOL)
Eric gets cold at night and has to turn on the space heater (circa 2003?)!
Relatedly, the whole house seems colder this year, even though it’s set at the same temps we used last year. Upstairs is particularly noticeable. Maybe that’s only because I’m spending time up there after Maggie gets ready for bed (we cuddle in our bedroom and talk about her day for a while). But Eric notices it when he’s trying to sleep. Last winter we didn’t use the space heater at all, but this year even I am almost ready to turn it on!
Relevant info here: Only Maggie’s bedroom has a heating vent. The other two bedrooms are unheated/cooled. My house growing up was unheated at night (turned thermostat down to 55 and it was turned up around the time I got up in the morning) so I am used to col sleeping and actually prefer it. Eric, on the other hand, is not used to that and it was difficult to get used to. But he was fine last year as I said. I think we’ll be doing heat shortly. I wonder if we can get a timer so that it turns on a couple hours before he goes to bed rather than turning it on when I go to bed. Then we’ll both get some time when it’s the way we prefer it. And he doesn’t have to try to remember in the middle of the night to come up and turn it on in preparation.
I’m guessing it’s in the low 50s upstairs overnight.
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