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If you start shivering when your indoor temperature hits 65 degrees, brace yourself; this news will be a shock to your system. According to the New York Times,
some Americans are living without any heat at all -- and they're doing it by choice.
One of these people, Maine resident Daniel F., lives in a house with no thermostat, no heating system, no radiator, and no furnace. The house's average indoor temperature lingers around 52 degrees.
Daniel explains, "It all started in October '08 as just a few pals goading each other to see who could wait the longest to turn on their furnace." After the friends made it past Thanksgiving without heat, Daniel grew accustomed to the colder temperatures and decided to launch
Cold House Journal, a blog in which he chronicles his controversial lifestyle. He notes, "It [the blog] was a way to focus my thoughts and maybe inspire a few others. Also, as long as I was posting things, my parents knew that I wasn't in a hypothermic coma."
Of course, you're probably wondering why anyone would choose to live in such conditions. Although Daniel would like to think that conserving energy, minimizing CO2 emissions, and saving money are enough to make his heat-free life worth considering, he personally sees his lifestyle choice as an experiment in answering the more basic questions of human happiness and adaptability.
For other cold-weather-bloggers, living heat-free is an eco-minded effort to reduce fuel usage. Washington resident and blogger
Crunchy Chicken (who also founded
the "Freeze Yer Buns" initiative) lives with minimal heat, and often gives tips on how to keep the thermostat low, such as utilizing heating pads, fingerless gloves, and even pets.
Her average indoor temperature? "I'm wimping out this year and pledging for 65 [degrees during the] day and 58 [at] night," she writes on her blog.
Of course, to each their own. As a homeowner, I suppose one has the right to keep the temperature as low as they please. But what about guests?, I wondered. "We don't really have rules, but if we did, we'd bend them for guests," says Daniel, who lives with his girlfriend, Jordan. "We let them sit on the heating pad, and if they're here overnight, we even let them have a space heater in the guest room."
So, is this a permanent decision? "We do frequently get asked when this is going to end." Daniel admits. "I'm not at all sure. It's getting easier, not harder. If anything, [the lack of heat] has made me happier. So [Jordan and I] are waiting for a reason to stop, which we haven't encountered yet."
As for concerned family members and friends, Daniel's heard it all. He says, "Everyone seems to have an opinion. Some people think we're heroic, before our time, etc. Other people (probably more) think we're imbeciles. A lot of people do seem to get that we're advocating a way out of some of our dependence on burning fossil fuels in a cheap, low-tech, old-fashioned way. But a lot of people get very upset when you suggest they could change their behaviors."
Think you'd be brave enough to follow in these homeowners' chilly footsteps? For those who are, Daniel shares these tips:
1. Try to disconnect the phrase
room temperature from any specific number that may currently be stuck in your mind.
2. Recognize that if you share your house with another person, you'll always disagree about the temperature -- accept it as normal and try to smile at each other.
3. Lastly, find out where all the pipes are in your house, figure out which ones are most at
risk to freeze, and keep a close eye on them.
And, of course, look out for metal objects. As Daniel says, "Putting my hands on the aluminum laptop first thing in the morning is still kind of shocking..."
Other heat-free bloggers::
-
Experiments in Efficiency
-
Peak Oil Blues
RECOMMENDED READING:
Heat-Saving Suggestions
Find the Perfect Space Heater to Save Energy (and Money)
A Zero-Energy Building Grows in Brooklyn
And The Winner Is?
Make A Rustic Sawhorse Table For Under $40
Reader comments (Page 2 of 2)
My wife and I are on a very low fixed income, and having to pay for health insurance leaves us less than 500 dollars to live on each month. I am retired and my wife can't work due to her heart conditions. Time we pay our house payment now we live from one month to the next.on very little. two years ago it cost us 750.00 dollars to fill our heating tank and we still owe on it but now the tank is empty and we still still owe 350.00 dollars yet and tank is empty so this year we are living with no heat. every morning our temp inside is around 40 to 45 degrees and warms up some during day. we get some heat when we cook and our hot water is from a heated tank. we have two small space electric heaters one in bathroom and one living room. Our electric bill was 315.00 dollars last month and now we may loose our electric since we cant pay it so yes you can live with no heat cost keeps going up except our retirement check A good snowmobile suite and lotas of blankets thank god for them
ReplyCome to Texas and live without A/C for a whole summer! That would be a real challenge. It can get up to 110. Heat index/what it feels like even higher!
Replywho cares............... let em freeze...........
Reply34 years ago, I was a young divorced mother living on $388.00 per month take home pay. The way I cut expenses was cutting my utilities. 58 degrees max in the winter and a fan in the summer. ( My house payment was $194.00 a month, so things were really tight!) I did spend a couple of hours a night at places like the mall or a children eat free restaurant or hanging out at church... I managed, and we actually adjusted very well. People do what they need to do and it is an amazing thing to realize how much we can do without!
ReplyThere's a reason it's illegal for landlords to demand/set a thermostat below 68 at night and 66 during the day. A person can go hypothermic in 60 degree weather in the sleep state if they aren't careful/optimally healthy.
ReplyDiabetics, elderly, and people with various other medical conditions should not do this... because "just wear more layers" is bad news for their circulation.
"people have done it for thousands of years without electricity". Guess what? Their goal wasn't "cold adobe living".. they used fires..they used whale blubber, used lots of wool... they used a daily-time-consuming plethora of other methods for survival which was pretty much their occupation. They weren't trying to be 'eXtreme'. I'm assuming these people are bathing and showering. Wet + even 58 degrees can take down even a healthy man's core temp. Needless stress on the body.
dillholius: Exactly what is the point you are trying to make with your wild, gyrating tirade?
You apparently can't comprehend the use of quotation marks as the only alternative to an actual quote feature to bring the context of my comments in direct response to the parts in quotes.
Wild, gyrating tirade? Do you know how many patients we have looked at, shrugging their shoulders not having any idea how they could've possibly gone hypothermic because they thought "bundling up" would cut it?
My "tirade" was quoting these numb-skulls who referenced how "they used to do it thousands of years ago", as if it has any relation to the article.
The point is, there is a general attitude of the people who subscribe to this way of living that anyone can/should consider doing it.
ReplyAshley: People have lived in Texas and other southern/southwestern states for more than a century without AC.
ReplyFans have been considered a luxury.
Your inconvenience and whining about sweaty, fat thighs is not a paramount issue.
Get over it!
Wow! What an incomprehensible response.
ReplyYou wrote:
"You apparently can't comprehend the use of quotation marks as the only alternative to an actual quote feature to bring the context of my comments in direct response to the parts in quotes."
What does that mean?
AND
To what "patients" are you referring? You made no previous reference to any medical facility. Are you a patient in a mental rehabilitation clinic?
Your use of quotation marks and a capitol "X" hardly got across whatever point you were trying to make.
You can't figure out that (below) I was quoting your comment?
Reply"Your use of quotation marks and a capitol "X" hardly got across whatever point you were trying to make."
When I used quotes previously, I was quoting a comment from a previous page of comments.
I have no idea what you're arguing about. I didn't think I -needed- to reference working at a medical facility by stating some not-so-common blurbs about hypothermia. Next time I'll bring a bibliography before posting a web comment on some buzz headline.
And yes, I chose to use hyphens (in the place of italics) around the word needed, since this will surely give you yet another excuse to pretend to be confused.
I do the same thing in my house here in Colorado I feel its ok I prefer to sleep with a heating pad I have a bad back so I use one anyway ! I do turn the heat on when there is a danger of freezing pipes but normally i just bundle up or occasionally start a fire
ReplyI don't know how many of you are from Maine like Daniel (and I) am. But up there, especially in the northern section of the state, it gets extremely cold. But since most people in Maine have lived there for their entire lives, we've adjusted well. Especially with the cost of heating our homes. People are more likely to use woodstoves and pellet stoves. My parents house has a pellet stove in the living room, and a woodstove in the kitchen. The heat rises to the bedrooms on the second floor. Sure, it is alittle cold first thing in the morning. But throw on a bathrobe and slippers and you're fine. Alot of you think the man is crazy, but there are some people in Maine that pretty much live as hermits, miles and miles from anyone, they snowshoe into town to get what they need, hunt rabbits and birds. My husband (from Arizona) thinks everyone from my state is insane. Maybe we are?
ReplyP.S. I live in NYC.
ReplyI've been living without heat for three winters now. Saves me $700 per month. I live in an apt in an old house. I thought there was an error when I got my first bill. I don't like the apt hot, but I can't afford to pay that for heat, so I made up my mind to rely in hot water bottle and duvet only. I'm used to it now, but no-one visits me in the winter of course.
ReplySpence....apply for heat assistance if you have a low income.
ReplyHaving space heaters, wood stoves etc. is having heat. I dated a guy who used kerosene heaters, and even then couldn't afford the fuel to run them sometimes. He ran no heat at night at all. It's a wonderful way to live....if you like misery. Hands, feet and nose always cold. Getting up to do things was an ordeal once you got your tiny little body space warmed up. And if you get sick being cold is torture.
ReplyIf you're worried about your pipes, you should check out Daniel's blog for his comments about his own.
ReplyGist is that it never gets below freezing inside his Maine home, and in his basement, the temp never gets below the low 40s. The ground is actually warmer than the air and stays above freezing year round. (Remember that the ground is full of water pipes that never freeze.)
Even his pipes that run near the walls never freeze.
But if you're worried there are those heat tapes to wrap around the pipes.