Spouse keeps thermostat at 60 to save environment — how important is this?

[Anonymous]

I would move out - no way could I live in that house. I thought we were being great when we went to 73 this summer (from our old stand by of 72).

[Anonymous]

1. Individual attempts at reducing carbon footprint are minuscule compared to what's needed in terms of industry regulations.

2. Which doesn't mean you should just abandon all hope and pollute. Go with the minimal temperature you're comfortable with, and most important of all...

3. VOTE.
VOTE and AGITATE for politicians who understand that voters want climate change action and who are willing to piss off a lot of important people by enforcing radical change in the way we produce food, energy and transport people and things.

Your VOTE is your most powerful tool to mitigate climate change!!!

Watch the entire 15 minutes to see the end message:

[Anonymous]

OP, did you listen to this episode of This American Life: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/748/the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it

I try to live pretty lightly-I didn't have a car until COVID hit, and I'm in my 40s with a tween. 60 is cold during the day! That would not work for me. I might be willing to compromise on finding some other ways to lower energy usage. Do you own your home? Could you invest in more efficient heating?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would move out - no way could I live in that house. I thought we were being great when we went to 73 this summer (from our old stand by of 72).

The worst is our mid sized HVAC cools to 78 or 75 really fast, so humidity is around 65% all summer.

I personally love the house at 60, but I know kids are cold.

[Anonymous]

We keep our temp at 65 in winter, which is the coldest temp our parrot can comfortably sustain, and 75 in summer, which is the hottest temp our double coated northern breed dog can comfortably sustain.

Before pets, we went lower in winter and much, much hotter in summer. I remember one summer at 90F! That was too hot

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s their way to control and abuse you and the kids. I am serious.

This. Protect your kids.

[Anonymous]

OP, my father did what your wife is doing. Our family fought and extreme weather was miserable (especially winter).
May I suggest a SLIGHT change? To 65 in winter and 75 in summer? Or something like that. A programmable thermostat helps too.
BTW, I agree about the A/C, we over do it. My kids won't go out and play if it is nice and cool inside.
Dress appropriately.
Also, show your wife how you support the cause by doing other things to help with the issue. In 10 years, we will all have our houses like yours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it's impacting your health and wellbeing, then he needs to be more flexible. In my middle age, I would never get any sleep with the thermostat at 80 in the summer. My super skinny son wouldn't be able to focus on his homework at 60 in the winter.

You also need to make your best effort. Get silk long underwear for everyone to layer under their clothes, cozy fleece slippers and sweaters, a smart thermostat, maybe space heaters for next to your desk or sofa or wherever you spend time in the evening. Invest in a whole house fan if you have shade trees. In my old house without central air, I could open my windows at 6 a.m. and run the whole house fan for 15-30 minutes, then turn off fan and shut windows. My house would stay comfortable for much of the morning, even on really hot days.

Anyway, you get the idea. You do everything you can do then your husband agrees to adjust the temp so you can be healthy and functional.

Sure we can wear more layers. Which then generates more laundry and drives the purchase of future clothes as they wear out.

Remember mugs vs paper cups, you need 100s- 1000x usage to break even, depending on what you measure.

https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/07/reusable-or-disposable-which-coffee-cup-has-a-smaller-footprint/

I personally think we environmentalists have been scammed; I sacrificed so much to be green, moreover my kids sacrificed, and I realize it was mostly a scam on the civic minded

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/true-north/2017/jul/17/neoliberalism-has-conned-us-into-fighting-climate-change-as-individuals

Not true. When you wear long undies, you don't have to was the outer clothes as much. Also, in summer, this family will wear less clothing.
WRT the mugs...we SHOULD get 1000 uses out of them (lifetime) and we should be drinking less coffee, and we should be consuming less food outside of the home.

[Anonymous]

We keep ours at 64 in winter and 78 in summer. It is pretty extreme for me. Summer is ok, actually. But I freeze most of winter though. We have an old house and live in a state much colder than DC so it isn’t so much about the environment, but more the cost.

[Anonymous]

How about if you meet in the middle and keep it at 70?

[Anonymous]

To save the planet our entire infrastructure needs to change. Find ways to support those objectives.

[Anonymous]

People should not have to wear long underwear in their own homes to keep warm. This is ridiculous and I wouldn’t put up with it. 68 is the minimum temp I can handle for our house, I get cold easily. I can handle it warmer in the summer, but my DH and our kids hate the heat, so it’s set to 72. Your thermostat is the tiniest drop in the bucket for global warming, and your spouse has control issues. One person doesn’t get to make everyone else miserable. Marriage counseling?

[Anonymous]

I'm guessing that OP is a male and the "spouse" is his DW.

OP, all I can say is that this is what you get when you marry a nut-case liberal. Did she knit a pink cap, too?

[Anonymous]

Over conditioning of spaces is a significant contributor to climate change. That being said, I keep my own house at 67 during the winter hours we are home (63 at night and during work hours), and 78 in summer (80 during work hours). I am skinny and get cold, so I just pack on warm layers and thick socks in the winter. Heat doesn't bother me as much, and I just wear lightweight sundresses/ shorts / tanks in the summer.

Over-cooled buildings in summer make me angry. People shouldn't have to pack on sweaters to keep from shivering in their office in August. It's OK to feel the seasons.

[Anonymous]

Be careful using temperature set backs if you’re running on a heat pump. You’ll be much more likely to kick on to electric heat strips which are hideously expensive to run.