Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Dear Detroit Edison...

We are having a brief heat-wave here in Michigan.  It was 92 degrees Fahrenheit yesterday.  The weather service said it felt like 97 with the humidity factored in.  Well, hot is hot, and I don't know that I could tell 92 from 97.

On Monday I got an email from Detroit Edison warning me that hot weather was coming and gave suggestions for coping with it.  Right.

Their brilliant idea is to set my thermostat at 78 degrees.  Seventy-eight would surely feel cool when walking in from 92 outside, but if I am sitting all day in the house baby-sitting my grandson, who has his own little furnace inside him, 78 is just too hot for me.

When I was working, I would leave the temp at 78 while I was gone and then turn it down to 75 when I got home.  Now I just leave it on 75, though yesterday I did set it at 76.  Supposedly from what I've read, I save 8% on my electric bill for every degree I turn the thermostat up.

So, the decision becomes one of saving money or feeling comfortable.  I relate this choice to the decision not to eat kale which is supposed to be 'good' for me.  To me, it tastes like bad bitter medicine, so why would I eat it?  And why would I have central air if I am going to sit in a house and be uncomfortable?  I might as well go sit under a tree outside.

Between Detroit Edison telling me to dial-up in the summer and Consumers Energy telling me to dial-down (to 65) in the winter, I might just as well get rid of my furnace and use my fireplace.  Although, at 65 degrees in winter I can put on some warm clothes but I can hardly walk around naked in summer trying to stay cool.

We all make choices.  If I really liked hot weather, hot humid weather, I'd consider moving to Florida.  I certainly would not make the inside of my home feel like I was there.  I guess I will just be an energy hog and be comfortable.  And pay the bill that Detroit Edison sends me.

2 comments:

  1. I have heard the big wigs, who never do what they tell us to do, to turn off the A/C when you are not at home. They are on drugs! I would come home to a very hot house where my furry babies are not feeling well due to the heat plus my a/c would be overworked from trying to cool the house down. How about they work in a place with no a/c to save money or actually where one does not need to put on a sweater because these work places are so cold.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am sure the rich folks running the company are not sweating. I wonder what their offices are set at.

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