Ecobee3 Lite Wi-Fi Thermostat

I purchased my Ecobee3 lite, this past August and installed it on September first. My bills are fairly normal, September - October, $19. October - November $26. I just got my Nov. - Dec. bill -- $96! That's $30 more than the last 2 years. And, my Old Thermostat, which was over 14 years old, would run for a few hours to heat the house to 70 degrees. And, it would run for at least an hour to keep it at 70.

I retired 11 years ago and have kept my temp the same as I was working, on at 6am, off at 8am. Then On at 3pm and off at 11pm.  With my Ecobee3 lite, I keep the upper number at 69. This things says that I should save $42 per year...I am guessing if I never turn it on it just might.

All in all, I like this thermostat (because of the new tech surrounding it and working with it.). I will have to see what happens for the Dec. - Jan. bill, which, at the beginning of 2017, was only $138 and the next month was $122.

I am guessing that I have to read more on how to program my Ecobee3 lite and maybe get some of those additional sensors to help manage my heating.

A camping I will go...

I love camping, well; I like it a lot, really. I just got home from my latest camping trip to Tawas State Park, for this past weekend.

It’s kind of funny; I always try to remember to bring the important things that I need to have a successful camping trip.  Most times I forget those things. Usually I will do something like, a blanket but forget the pillow. Or, forget a pan or spoons or something. This weekend I forgot my little pan, so I could make pancake for breakfast and I forgot my giant patio umbrella because I read that it was going to thunderstorm on Saturday night.

This weekend I remember to bring a pillow but I didn’t take a blanket, to completely cover me, because I was thinking on bringing a top sheet. I didn’t realize that it would get cool that first night or for that matter the second night. So, for the first night I blew up my sleeping pad and laid my sleeping bag on top of the pad. I was fine for a while, though.

Late into the night I started to get cold, considering that it only got into the 50s, it was too cold for shorts, no socks and a t-shirt. So, the little blanket I had, a throw blanket, 4’x 3’, which was only big enough to cover my feet and legs, but not my upper torso or vice-versa.

I remembered that I had bought a couple of towels. I got the largest towel, which is about six feet long and covered my legs and used the tiny blanked to cover my upper body.  It was a bad night, I just couldn’t keep either towel or blanket on me and the cold was overwhelming. I don’t remember sleeping much the first night.

On the second night, Saturday night, I was thinking that I would have to use the second towel because I took a shower and that big towel was wet. I had, earlier, looked at the weather report and it stated that the temperature was going to be in the 40s! It actually got to 48 degrees!

Then it hit me, like as if someone dropped an anvil on my thick head…I had a sleeping bag. Why didn’t I just use it? I got in my sleeping bag and was toasty the rest of the night; I was too warm, now that I think about it.

 I had realized a tiny bit, and a day late, that when I am sitting around the campfire with the gang, I should not have had two glasses of wine, and three beers. Those liquids seem to help me forget more than old age ever will.

In the heat of the night...wait, what?

It getting to the end of summer and it is getting cooler, most nights. The last two days it has gotten down into the 50s, well, last night it was only 47 degrees. I usually keep my window open and the fan going, also. But, last night I turned the fan on to just the No.1 setting, the lowest. I usually have it on high, but, only because it has been the hottest summer on record.

Of all these summer days and nights, I usually don’t see my cats, Tom and Jerry until the morning and it’s usually just Tom. He tries to wake me up about 6 am, my alarm goes off at 7 am. For whatever reason, I would wake up about that time and Tom would try his best to get me out of the bed by slapping me in my face, until I roll over and face away from his attacks. Jerry, on the other had would sit on the floor and then jump on the bed when I throw the cover off of me.

Yesterday, though, I got into bed about 12:20 am or so and curled up under my blanket to end my day and fall off into dream world. Five minutes or so later, Tom jumped onto my bed and curled up next to my legs. Two minutes or so after that Jerry decided that he was sleeping with, on me too, and he curled up way to close to my face.

For whatever reason he sometimes lays, face first and usually putting his paws on my arm, digging his claws into my flesh every now and then. Tom, on the other hand, likes to lay over the edge of the bed with his butt near my face and tail beating my in the face.

Anyway, around two o’clock it started to get cold. Now, I lay on my back most of the time and this time Tom decided to lay in between my legs. That meant I couldn’t roll over without kicking him off the bed. On top of that he was laying on the extra blanket I had covering my feet. I was just covered with a blanket and a top sheet and I was starting to feel the cold. But, since I didn’t want to wake that darn cat I just fell back to sleep, cold does that to you.

This past night I thought way ahead and pulled the comforter onto the rest of the bed. I wasn’t going to be cold this night. I again turned on the fan and the window was opened, I do this so the cats can watch whatever is going on all night long. Anyway, I noticed Tom sitting on the ledge looking out of the window, not at all interested in me. As I laid there, under my three blankets I started to get hot, even with the fan on and the window open. That was strange.

A few minutes later I heard Tom jump down from the window ledge and then jump onto the bed. He took his usual position, next to my legs and curled up trying to find that heat coming off of my body. Jerry joined in a few minutes later. 

This morning I heard that it got down to 47 degrees! It’s that time of the year where the temperature will drop day after day. Checking the news, weather, it’s going to be in the 80s next week. Right now it’s 73, even though it feels warmer, well warmer in the sun. It’s bright sunny day today, Great Football weather.

It shouldn’t be to cool tonight, I just checked, only 57 degrees, not bad, unless you like laying in bad with your cats snuggles between your legs and the other cat with its butt near your face. But, I will be warm.