Help!! What can I do about my energy hog roommates??

[intheflow]

So, the weather has turned and my new roommates (a married couple, both from the deep South, now in Denver) are insisting on keeping the house at a sweltering 72 degrees!! I can barely breath it's so freaking hot in here, and my utility bill has already increased even though now I only pay a third of the bill. I'm thinking by the time December rolls around, I'm going to be have to opt for homelessness because I won't be able to afford to live here. Attempts to talk with them are futile: They won't go in on firewood because they're afraid of the house catching on fire, but they huffily insist they won't be cold this winter. They say sweaters don't keep them warm. :grr:

HELP!! Anyone have any suggestions as to how I can deal with this? They'll be gone in March, but until then, I am totally fucked.

[appamado amata padam]

1. Tell them

they have to pitch in on firewood, or pay a higher percentage of heating bill.

Their fear of the fireplace (or stove?) is a little paranoid. Explain to them that after lighting it, they need to watch it, not just sitting in the other room watching their Dukes of Hazzard or Garth Brooks or whatever DVDs.

[LeftyMom]

2. Generously gift them with a small space heater.

Get one with safety features (shuts off if knocked over, exterior stays cool, etc.) That way they can bake in their own room if they want. Hopefully they'll get the idea.

Meanwhile, get a copy of last year's utility bills from the utility (I assume you lived in the same place last winter?) If the price difference is worth arguing about let them know that you expect them to make up the difference.

[HopeHoops]

10. Get them a Delonghi oil-filled heater - they are as safe as you can get.

http://www.amazon.com/Delonghi-TRD0715T-Safe-Oil-Filled-Radiator/dp/B000A33B1C/ref=sr_1_5/178-5813904-2340719?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1253947371&sr=1-5

You can buy them at K-Mart, Target, Lowe's, etc. They heat sealed oil and radiate it through fins. There's no glowing heater element so you don't have to worry about carelessly tossed dirty socks catching on fire.

[intheflow]

17. They will probably be scared of it.

They'll think the oil will catch on fire. :eyes:

[HopeHoops]

19. I take it they aren't all that bright.

Hang in there - March will be here sooner than you think.

[RoyGBiv]

3. Move to Houston ...

Get a couple of roommates, then try to explain to them why leaving the thermostat at 80 in the summer to cut down on energy use just isn't going to work.

I wish an alternative to A/C existed. One can only get so naked, and it still doesn't help.

[EndersDame]

4. Lots an lots of Box Fans or Move to Austin and take a dip in Barton Springs

[RoyGBiv]

6. My apartment is a tornado ...

True story. I had a friend come over who smokes, and when she tried to light her cigarette in my living room, the wind kept blowing out the lighter.

I just told them I'd installed a new anti-smoking device. :)

Seriously, though, it's hard to live some place where you're not acclimated to the climate. I just moved from Oklahoma, where it also gets raging hot in the summer, but I was not prepared for this. I actually saved up during the "winter" last year so I could run the A/C this year and not starve. I have trouble breathing when it gets that hot. Without A/C I could not, almost literally, live here.

I think I need to move to the mountains or something.

[RoyGBiv]

5. delete

wrong place

[crispini]

7. Snarf. I leave my AC at 80 in the summer.

It's hot, but I tolerate heat much better than cold. Longtime resident of the warmer climes here! :D

[Lars39]

8. Have a new thermostat installed...there's some that can lock

in the temp so other people can't adjust it all the time.

[Mojambo]

9. Is it just me or is 72 not all that outrageous?

I lived in a house once where they refused to put it above 62.

I froze my ASS off.

[armyowalgreens]

12. 72 is ridiculous. We keep our house at 79-80.

You start wasting massive amounts of electricity when you get below 78.

[intheflow]

15. Really? You waste electricity below 78 degrees?

Do you have any scientific proof to back up that claim? Because I've always heard the opposite.

[Rabrrrrrr]

16. You do realize it takes more furnace power to get to 79 than to get to 72, right?

[Ptah]

20. In Arizona, it takes more energy to maintain 72 than 79.

Think 102 deg today.

[Rabrrrrrr]

22. That's because you are cooling. The OP is heating.

[Monk06]

11. Buy them Snugglies and tell them it's the latest thing for cacooning couples in Denver

They're from the south. They just might be dumb
enough to fall for it.

[michreject]

13. 72 is sweltering?

That's the low end.

[intheflow]

14. The central heating duct for the house is in my bedroom closet.

My room is always about 5 degrees warmer than the rest of the house. In addition, to me, excessive heat in the winter is just as bad as excessive a/c in the summer. The human body wasn't designed for such drastic temperature swings. At least, this human body isn't. I tend to get sick going from extreme warmth or cold to the opposite.

[Rabrrrrrr]

18. I find 72 to be hot - I keep my place at about 68/69 in the winter.

[michreject]

23. I have hardwood floors throughout

No carpeting anywhere. The floor gets cold.

[Rabrrrrrr]

24. I can only imagine! The tile floor in my bathroom gets pretty chilly, too.

So I wear socks.

[Beer on a stick]

21. Shotgun would cut them right in half.

Of course, it's illegal and immoral.