In our local news there are stories about how much more fuel is being used this year. Reps from oil companies are saying how hard it is to keep up with deliveries and that one old oil company owner said in 50 years he can't remember when he had to have drivers out every day esp on Christmas and New Years. plus late hours to keep up with demand. TV stories about same from other suppliers, propane etc.

We have had a few windy days but I'm pretty sure not an unusual amount. Sunny days about the same.

Our two local papers list the daily and the so-far seasonal heating degree days that are said to be used by weather people and fuel companies to tell when fuel needs to be delivered.

According to that, we are about the average to be expected at this time of year.

How much of it is the habits of the population?

About fifteen years ago, I visited my grandparents in Maryland for Christmas. My grandpa was tail-end-of-WWII/Korea. I want to say they had their thermostat set at 60* at night. I was sooooooo coooooold, but I didn't want to complain or ask for anything, because I was afraid that that was all they could afford to heat their house. Because elderly people get cold easily, right?

After about three or four days of this, my mom, who was also visiting, said, "You look terrible. Are you not sleeping well?" And so I told her how cold I was. And she said, "You should have asked for more blankets!" and "Of course they can afford to raise the thermostat!" and "You're not a guest; you're family!"

But the way they were raised-- in the 30's and the 40's-- you piled on the blankets, not cranked up the thermostat. Me, living in Texas, and taking my central heat & air for granted, generally try to keep my house around 68* in the winter and around 72* in the summer. But I know tenants who keep things at 75* in the winter and 65* in the summer...

I thought central heat and air was declared a mandatory right for all citizens recently.... ;-)

Ok, I'm joking, but remember once upon a time when food, housing, medical care, etc. was an individual's responsibility? I'm kinda surprised we HAVEN'T declared it a basic right and subsidized it.

Know how my grandparents kept warm? Cast iron wood burning stove in the middle of the "living room" / common room. Nothing in the back bedrooms. The phrase "3 dog night" wasn't just a cool band name to them. If they wanted heat, they chopped wood. A lot of wood. I got a taste of it several times when my folks and I went out to their farm during the early Fall and split wood. Nothing quite like the satisfying "chunk" of a splitting maul shredding a piece of wood into 2 nicely burnable pieces. Good exercise too, which in turn warms the body.

Those tenants who keep temp at 75 in winter, 65 in summer ... I suspect they don't use a humidifier in winter and don't use dehumidifier in summer.

In dry winter air, the same temp but lower humidity feels colder , so you keep wanting to crank up the temp. Run a humidifier ...

In moist summer air, the same temp but higher humidity feels hotter, so you have to run the A/C lower, both to get lower temp and to use the A/C to dehumidify more. Run a dehumidifier ...

It's for the drama factor. Never let a good crisis, no matter how minor, go to waste.

Yesterday we had a high of 5 with a wind chill of -20. This was pretty standard weather growing up for my age group. And we never had school called because of the cold. Snow & ice yes, but never the cold. They called school Monday night for the majority of the districts in the state because of the anticipated cold yesterday. Now I could see starting 2 hours late to get buses warmed up or thawed out even if they gelled but closed the entire day?? And parents are either pissy because they called school & had to find "daycare" or they're pissy because they didn't call school & their precious kids had to get out in the cold.

Looking forward to the 50s tomorrow......might have to break out the flip flops.....

I am old. We turn the heat down to 55 at night and put extra blankets on the bed. We have winter clothes, and summer clothes, which includes pajamas. We only run the heat during the winter; we sleep with open windows fall, summer and spring. We do not need or want air conditioning. That is why God made deciduous trees.

You are only cold or hot until your body adjusts to the change in temperature with the seasons. It was 35 degrees the last time I put gas in the car. I was chit chatting with the attendant about how nice the weather was. Neither of us were wearing coats.

OK, well I understand but no one really is answering the question.

which is OK,..I don't expect many know the answer,...BTW.just checked with the weather people, sunlight has been very normal,

These days the solar panel people also keep accurate data on this.

BTW also,I see the charts about how much more it costs to have a house at 68 compared to 70 to 72,..if you have a well insulated house with it properly air sealed, its not enough money to worry about.

Up until our recent cold snap we have been having milder than normal temperatures which means most people did not use as much fuel to keep their homes comfortable. Once the cold snap hit air temperatures in my area were 30-40 degrees colder than normal for this time of year. So even though the total heating degree days might average out to be close to normal, in reality we used more energy to keep our homes warm.

Most heating systems are designed with a maximum temperature delta of 50-60 degrees. When you factor in the the winds especially for older homes most heating systems had to struggle to try to bring the inside temperature up to 65-70.

Mark, the temperature here is a constant 73*,But to maintain that the furnace never shuts off. You have two newspapers in your town.We have one,and it seems to be on the way out.Rathdrum Gal,you're bragging again...

There are multiple reasons why the heating degree days in a given month can be the same while energy consumption is higher. The most basic reason is energy infrastructure and production and an aging housing inventory.

Extreme weather events both hot and cold are defined as any event of two consecutive days where the temperatures exceed (high and low)the norm for a given area.

Energy production is based on predictable usage and when events require greater production to keep up with increased consumption it taxes the system mainly due to a decrease in energy production efficiency. The change in water and air temperature has a dramatic effect on production. In a heat wave and drought the warmer air and water can reduce the energy production by 10-15%. The cold has a different set of issues but the net effect is the same.

They call off school more than they hold school here it seems.