You know its time to turn on the heat when...

1. The house is 62 when you get up and that's about the high for the day.

2. The weather forecast for the rest of the week has the highest high being about 64.

3. There's a freeze warning for tonight and tomorrow night.

4. The cat decides that he wants to settle down in your lap for the duration (he's a very warm-blooded cat and usually gets too hot and leaves a lap quickly).

This also means it is time to bring out the flannel sheets - so nice and soft and warm.

So, tonight, I set the thermostat for its winter temperature range. Winter is when the programmable thermostat is really wonderful. We like it cold when we sleep, but not when we get up, so at 10pm we let the house start drifting down (to a low of 59). Then at 5:15 the heat kicks in again so it will be warmer when D gets up. While we're all moving around its ok for the house to be around 63, but not if you're sitting and reading or working on the computer.

It will probably take a couple of weeks of fiddling to get the temperatures set based on our current comfort and activity level.