So what temperatures are you talking about? I keep the house at about 16° at night in the winter and I’m pretty warm under the covers. (And I despise cold and am pretty chilly in the winter.)
Are you using a blanket sleeper? Socks? Cotton long johns? A toddler can have a comforter to pull up, yes?
(My kids are grown, but I buy clothes for my grandson, so I’m pretty familiar with tiny pjs again!)
Well, we can't turn the thermostat below 10C (both physically and rentally contractually). Last night Awdry's bedroom got down to 17.5C and it's only 1st September. So... somewhere in between those two temperatures? That's kind of the point - getting a gauge of how low we can go and what we might need to change about our current setup to get there. It's been interesting hearing what temperatures people are keeping their houses - and that everyone keeps theirs cooler at night. We've always done the reverse! I find it much easier to warm myself up during the day if I get a bit chilly than at night.
We currently have available for baby: cotton vests, cotton sleepsuits, 2.5 tog sleeping bags, regular jumpers, regular socks. Though I need to look in our next-size-up box and see what's in there - because it won't be long!
We currently have available for toddler: flannel button-up pyjamas, 2.5 tog sleeping bag. I have also just bought him a fleecy dressing gown and crocheted him some wool bedsocks. He hasn't had a comforter/duvet so far but my parents have given us a an old lightweight one of theirs which will be perfect for an additional layer, although it's single bed sized so I'll have to figure out how best to arrange it in the cot.
Or a sheepskin underlay, that's really cosy.
I've heard awful things about these and SIDS so I don't want to go there.
how much money are you saving by keeping the house cold? Is it common to keep houses cold (less than 60 F) in the winter months for folks on this forum? What do you do in the hot summer, no AC ever?
we keep the house comfortable year round,
Have you ever been to the UK? A/C not needed, though becoming more desirable with global warming in certain places... but really a luxury I'd say. There are gasps of shock and horror if we get to 30 degrees C...
Heating, eh no, I'd imagine most people turn the heat up to at least ~20 degrees C, 70 F in the winter... While it doesn't get "cold cold", it's pretty damp in the winter - you HAVE to heat your house else you'll get mold everywhere. Honestly I don't know why dehumidifiers aren't used more commonly, they make it hot and dry, just what you need.
Yeah, I have NEVER known ANYONE EVER who has had air conditioning in their ACTUAL PERSONAL HOUSE. Shops tend to have it, but in your HOUSE? That's super-luxury-level practically-private-yacht-and-servants living.
I think 21C is "room temperature" for your average Brit these days. (Not your average forumite Brit, I expect!)
I don't know how much money I'm going to save. "Some." I mean, if my energy usage doubles in "heating on" months and I halve the heating I use over the course of the year, then 1/4 of my energy bill? (I know it's not that simple.) I'll have to see, but I do expect it to have a noticeable impact on my bill.
I do keep hearing people recommending dehumidifiers, and we did notice a slight tendency to mould last winter. However, is it not going to be the case that for the cost of buying and running a dehumidifier I might as well spend the money heating the house instead? Please do correct me if there are some benefits I am not seeing or if the cost is wildly non-equivalent.
Switch the bedrooms around?
We have three bedrooms: Awdry's in the crappy extension, then ours and BabySLTD's across the landing. We couldn't fit a double bed in Awdry's so we can't move in there. There's no point just swapping him and her around, and I don't want them to share while she's so young (for waking-up reasons and safety reasons).