My Ultra Specific Temperature Control System - Bathtime Edition!

I rule the thermostat in our house. 

And I rule very specifically. Let me explain.

The other day, my Best Friend was over for "Mole Day". (This is where he comes over on his lunch break and watches a single episode of the 2001 best reality show of all time "The Mole". There are always snacks.)

It was a chillier day than normal, so I had my "heating up the house efficiently" plan set in motion by the time he'd already arrived. Earlier than normal by a couple hours at least. 

He didn't even notice a change til he went to the bathroom. 

The bathroom is the heart of the plan. 

So, here's the thing. I love baths and didn't take them for many years in this house because the bath never stayed hot. No matter if the water pouring into the bath was scalding enough to make the skin on my legs bubble up from the searing heat...

In 10 minutes my bath was always cold. So it was never fun and I could never read more than a single chapter of a good book. Or listen to even part of "The Leftovers" soundtrack. 

Not conducive to quality bath relaxation time at all. 

Then, one day, Mickey brought home a lil orange heater from his office. 

It reminds me of BB8 a little bit so I was annoyed by it at first. (See, I am a ride or die R2D2 fan and having affection for another droid diminishes that. Plus, I feel like BB8 was purposefully created to sell merch and not be part of a story and, as a movie lover, I do not like that.)

So I gave this thing some side eye for a little bit then one day I had a crap day at work and wanted some winding down time in the bath and I had a bright idea!

I put the heater in the bathroom, closed the door to keep the heat in and took a bath. It kept the air around me warm as my bath slowly drained the heat away from my body. The bathtub still stayed so cold!!!

So then I remembered... this bath tub is original. It came with the house. It's mint green and it has been here as long as the house. That means its cast iron covered in porcelain. 

(Look, it sounds weird and bleh, but this bathroom is the one room in the entire house that I barely wanted to change. The bathtub is green, and the wallpaper is pink and blue and green with gazebos and flowers and GLITTER. It's a time capsule and I adore it.)

A few days later, I wanted a bath again, so I got even smarter and put the heater in there about an hour before the bath. It worked! It wasn't perfect, but I could stay in the bath for about 20 minutes, which is longer than I could previous. 

Now, I set the heater in there about 3 hours before my bath. The tub retains the heat and the water stays even hotter even longer and I can read more books than ever. 

That bathroom heat up is central to my temperature control. I use this trick in the summer and the two weeks it is cold in Florida. I always pre-heat my bathtub. 

Now the central heat, I keep really low, because honestly, we're in a single room at any given time. Why would we bother to heat the entire damn house all the time? 

I try not to turn it on for as long as possible each winter. When I do, it heats up to 64 degrees during the day, 58 (I think) during the sleeping time and 69 when Mickey wakes up for work. I like to take the chill offa the house for him. 

But he also uses BB8 in the mornings to warm up whatever room he's in if it's too cold for him. 

So the only time this single room heating process gives me any real kind of trouble is when I'm in the bath and he's not. Which is every single time I'm in the bath. Because, like I said, I have an old school 60s tub, not a modern day soakin' one. 

Admit one only, please. 

If it's really cold, though, I'll boost up the central heating a bit because I don't want him to be all cold and stuff.

So, when my Best Friend commented on my toasty bathroom, I was initially embarrassed about my elaborate plans to have an enjoyable bath time. But then he said, "Dang that's a good idea" and my embarrassment diminished.

There is a lot more that goes into the very specific way I maintain the temperature in the house, but this really got away from me, so I'll talk about my AC tricks another day. I mean, it's really only one, but I keep being afraid to tell people about it because I'm afraid they're gonna tell me it's ALL WRONG and I'm RUINING MY HOUSE. 

But that's just how my brain works 24/7. 🙃