just wondering how the OP is doing with her bills- maybe she's already back from her holiday??
My house is set at 59 at night, and when no one is home, and when people are home, it's at about 63 or so. hubby whines about being cold, but he;s sitting there in a t-shirt- one thing I keep telling hubby is Ya gotta wear clothes!!! When my kids were little I had them wear undershirts, and those footie pajama things. Sweatshirts, sweaters, all will keep you warm in the house. No need to bundle up-fleece is the best.
another point I wanted to make is the temperature of your house should actually be COOLER if you are battling colds and germs- why do you think hospitals are so cold- and operating rooms? germs breed more easily in warm ( and moist) air. A warm heated bedroom with a vaporizer for a stuffy nose is a germ factory. It's like that old wives take if you go outside in the cold with wet hair, you will catch your death> umm- no colds are caught by viruses, not cold air.
ANYWAY, op- you got good advice about heat pumps- see also if your electric company has time advantage- ours does- electricity is less expensive from 9pm to 9 am so you are supposed to run your dishwasher, washing machine, and every other electric hogging machine during that time.
besides the other good insulating advice you got, you can do other things- you probably know these already- letting your dishes air dry ( open the dishwasher door) instead of electric dry. Use the shortest possible cycle on the washer, ( mine is a 6 minute agitation) ect. use more blankets on your bed. You can easily set your temps at 59 for the night and be fine. maybe let the kids sleep together for warmth?
good luck - keep us posted on what you do- I'm very interested!!
