Every year, I have this little game I play with the heat at home. It dates from when I lived in France in the 80’s. In France at the time, most landlords of college housing would not turn the heat on until November 1.
The climate in Central France is no different from the Willamette Valley. It gets cold in October, especially at night. It doesn’t matter. You just wear a lot of layers indoors until November 1. Unlike in the US, there didn’t seem to be any expectation of habitability there. In fact, my landlord once turned off the heat in my building for 3 weeks at Christmas time because he assumed all of the students would be away. He was incorrect, and it was one of the coldest Winters on record in that part of France. We tried to reach him, but he was away on vacation.
There was frost on the inside of my apartment.
Luckily, I don’t have to worry about that at home. If it gets too cold, and it always does, I wimp out and turn the heat on prior to November.
Why is it, do you think, that 66 degrees feels so much colder inside the house at 5pm than it does outside at 5 am?
So I am feeling thankful for cashmere, merino and down as I try to tough it out until November 1st like I used to when I was in my 20’s. I am feeling even more thankful that I have a choice in the matter!