Best Of

...For San Diego (do you even ever need heat out there, @Sal Santamaura ?!)...

San Diego Gas & Electric is our electricity utility and Southern California Gas Company supplies us natural gas, but I'm not in San Diego. We live in San Clemente, in a valley 2.5 miles from the coast, halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego. To answer your question, yes, we do indeed need heat here. In our typical 2,250 square foot "heap of stucco" as Little Richard used to call tract houses in this area, with its absurd high ceilings and 1993 original builder's furnace, this has been by far the coldest winter season in the 30 years since moving in. Typical summer months, during which an occasional outdoor grilling session is the only thing consuming gas beyond a water heater, stove and clothes dryer, sees us purchasing around seven therms. In winter we set the thermostat to 69 degrees F daytime and 65 setback at night, wearing warm clothes and placing a down comforter on the bed. In 2021/2022 we peaked in January/February at 41 therms. This heating season, which was not only colder but longer than any of the previous 29, extending from November through March (and there's still a cycle now and then in April), we've averaged 73 therms per month. Growing up in the Bronx and Yonkers, with cast iron radiation (standing iron first and Burnham semi-recessed "radiant" second), it always felt warmer than scorched air does here. Some of that might be attributable to the contrast of coming back inside after being out in really low ambient temperatures, while even the lowest we've had here is in the mid to high 30s F. Most of the comfort difference, however, is likely wind chill from the single-speed blower of our Bryant. It has usually not been much of an issue, since your perception of "heat, what heat?" was pretty close to accurate. I've often felt wasteful replacing the filter given how little air passed through it in a season. This year, anthropogenic global warming has upset weather patterns so much that I no longer feel guilty referring to this time of year as "winter."