Are you sweating in January?

We are hitting the mid-point of winter as far as the calendar goes, and even though it's unseasonably warm this week, we're bound to see some pretty cold temps over the next few months. Last Saturday, I think the thermometer got its highest at about 7:30am, then proceeded to drop as the day went on. Yet, that evening, I was leading a discussion about 2012 summer staff at camp, when I found myself almost breaking a sweat.

The room was full of people, and we were talking about important stuff, but I didn't feel nervous. I wasn't sitting too close to anyone, and I wasn't overdressed for the weather. Why did it feel like I had just downed a shot of habanero pepper juice? I ended up stripping down to an undershirt, and I felt very relieved when I walked out the door into the winter, freezing temps. What had happened, I discovered, is that the thermostat in the room had been jacked up due to the cold outside.

Think about this for a moment and how silly it is: It's miserable cold outside, so let's make it miserable hot inside. That way, it doesn't feel good anywhere. It's like treating flaky, dry skin by rubbing lard on it until it's completely greasy and full of acne. Nevermind that it costs a lot, a lot of money to heat a building. So, we pay a lot of money to heat something way more than we need it. As we do this we are wasting resources that are in small supply right now to do that, all in the name of over compensation.

There is an idea out there that 72 degrees is the perfect temperature, and we must heat our homes to this at all times. Well, I was sweating last Saturday with it set on 70 degrees. So, did we really need it there? Of course we didn't. We would have probably been fine at 65 degrees, and we really probably could have managed at 60 degrees if we really had to. Even changing your thermostat 1 or 2 degrees can have a significant affect on how much your heating unit has to work. So, keep that in mind. In the dead of winter, we are sometimes asking our heating units to change the temperature by 60 degrees. Let's not push them anymore than we have to. It will save us money and keep us from that ridiculous feeling of sweating like it is July in the middle of January.

There are so many ways to make this work, especially at our homes. Play with the thermostat--drop it down a degree at a time and see what you can comfortably interact in. Turn it down more when you aren't there. When you are at home, dress warmly, so you don't have to heat it so high. You'll be amazed by how much keeping your feet warm will affect the way the rest of your body feels about the temperature. Getting a good pair of house slippers could save you a great deal of money and resources. Find some warm, comfortable, trendy pajama pants and snuggle under the blanket when you're watching TV. At my house, we keep the temperature at 65 when we're at home, and our electric bill is consistently below $100, often much lower. But, it that sounds too crazy for you, at least, challenge that theory that the thermostat always has to be set at 72. Bump it down a few notches and see if you notice. Put on those house slippers that have been cluttering up the closet. I bet you have other things you could spend that money on. I know we have better things we could do with that electricity.