Leave the heat off

[Timmmy]

This will vary by location but... 

How far in to the cold weather can you go without turning your heat on? 

I always try to make it to at least November.  In Michigan that's getting to avg highs in the mid 50's. 

[Spork]

I live in the south.  The answer typically is: all winter.    But I also have a wood stove.

[CU Tiger]

We will turn it on sometime this month. I have an elderly little dog, and even with a dog sweater (YES, she says defensively, my dog has a sweater) she can't take it if the temps are much below 60. She has so little body fat...

[Caoineag]

Not yet on and we have seen 62 in the house. When it finally gets uncomfortable, we will turn the furnace back on for the winter. I was a little surprised 62 didn't trigger it but we knew outside temps would go back up so we managed to get by. Suspect it will be back on before the end of this month however.

[tracylayton]

I live in Texas, so I am guessing mid-November.

[lizzzi]

I have turned on some heat mostly for the three grandchildren who are here in the afternoons. (Great Lakes area, so probably the same temps. outside as Michigan). Their school and daycare keep the buildings so warm that they are still wearing short-sleeved tee shirts. When they come here I'm afraid I'll give them double pneumonia with my preferred temp of 65, so I do crank it up to 68. They have hoodies in their school bags, but don't want to put them on. 

[Spartana]

Coastal southern Calif so can go most of the year without heat (or a/c - which I don't have anyways). It does get cool here at night because of the fog but usually never below 50. I have a natural gas heating and it's also very inexpensive. Probably average around $15 to  $25/month year round and that's mostly for hot H2O (which I turn off when not in use - which is most of the time) and very minimal cooking.

[MayDay]

Our indoor temp hit 62 a few days ago, so we turned it on.  Our program is 60 most of the time, 65 a few hours a day.  Daytime highs have been in the 60's, nighttime in the 40's.  It has only been kicking on once a day.  I would tough it out a few more weeks, but H puts his (cold, whiny) foot down.

[ScienceSexSavings]

I live in Texas, so I am guessing mid-November.

Interestingly enough, I live in Montréal and I'm also guessing mid-November.

[fireferrets]

I live in the south.  The answer typically is: all winter.    But I also have a wood stove.

Ditto, except for the stove part.

We live in Florida - so we don't need the heat on - ever.
I don't even know why they build heaters into homes down here. : P

[DecD]

Considering I still have the A/C on, I think we are good for awhile without heat!  Its not much of a challenge here.  Though a front is coming through Monday and I'm super excited about opening the windows up!  Here's hoping the muggy heat will be done for the year.

[NinetyFour]

I am in southwestern US.  We have had outside temps dip below freezing recently.  The indoor temp has been as low as 54F.

Last year, I made it until November 1 before I turned the heat on.  The indoor temp had gotten down to 48F a few times.  Chilly!

[Investing4Freedom]

Live in Maine.  We haven't dipped below freezing yet, but have been in the low 40's at night.  I would like to have a 'No Heat November", but, "No Heat ('til) November" will have to do.

[olivia]

I'm sure I can make it until November at least.  I'm in VA and it doesn't get super cold here typically.  Plus the house we rent has baseboard heaters that make it super hot upstairs, but not so warm downstairs, so I end up turning it down a ton at night anyway.

[Jon_Snow]

My wife and I live in Canada and we rarely turn the heat on at all. I know, sounds wrong.

This is due to the type of housing (condo) and where we live in Canada (Vancouver, wet winter, but not very cold).

The heat our refrigerator generates is enough to heat our place adequately - it is only during the rare cold snap that we turn on our electric baseboard heaters. It's been a few years since we have had to.

[NinetyFour]

It was 51 degrees (F) in my house this morning. Not too bad.

The outside temps have been in the low 30s at night, but we are in for a slight warming trend in the next few days.

Still hoping to make it until November without heat--but I might turn the pilot light on (for just a smidgen of warmth) if it dips much below 50F in my house.

[dcheesi]

So I'll be the party-pooper that mentions things like indoor humidity, freezing pipes, etc. Once the indoor temp gets below 60 or so, there are reasons to turn on the heat that have nothing to do with personal comfort, or how 'badass' you are.

[VirginiaBob]

The answer is it has varied depending on my life situation:

When I was single: As long as possible,  house tstat set to 55 deg around the clock to prevent pipe freezing, wall cracks, etc.  Didn't even bother with a programmable tstat since I set the tstat at the minimum anyways.

After marriage:  66 house programable tstat/60 at night + space heaters for the space my wife is in.

After kids: house tstat programmed to 68 around the clock, space heaters used sparingly, tstat regularly bumped up to 70 by wife throughout the day on a 2 hour timer, which resets back to 68.

How times have changed.

[rocksinmyhead]

So I'll be the party-pooper that mentions things like indoor humidity, freezing pipes, etc. Once the indoor temp gets below 60 or so, there are reasons to turn on the heat that have nothing to do with personal comfort, or how 'badass' you are.

how cold is too cold? we shoot for ~60F in the winter, but we have a crappy thermostat so the actual range is more like 58-62F. is there a reason 58 would be problematic? (keep in mind this is in Oklahoma so it's also not getting insanely cold outside)

re. the original post... we'll go as long as possible but I base it off indoor temperature, not date (unless like someone else mentioned, you know you're just having one cold day and then it should warm up again). we're having a really warm fall here, so it could be a while! yesterday I reveled in the fact that it was the absolute most perfect temperature (for me) in our house... probably low 70s... without having either heat or AC on. I love this time of year :)

[MandalayVA]

I live in a brick building, we like it cool and most winters in Richmond are like really long falls for my northeastern-bred self, so Mr. Mandalay and I are going to see if we can go all winter without turning the heat on.  We found out during the Snowpocalypse last year that our pipes can freeze regardless of the temperature inside the condo, but as long as we keep water dripping we're okay. 

[ohyonghao]

So far inner house temperature hasn't dropped below 60F in the morning, and my wife has been doing good with using our large South facing windows to heat up the house during the day.  Still seeing mid 60's and even up to 70F here in the PNW.  Unless my Grandmother comes to visit we should be able to slide through October.