Re: OT- Cat warming onraised hearth

On 2/24/2025 10:17 PM, Carol wrote:

Jill McQuown wrote:
 

The temperatures here got down into the 20's at night for a few
nights but the rain had passed by then.  It was just cold but warmed
up into the 40's during the day.  Today it got up to 62F.  Tomorrow
it is supposed to be in the 70's.

 Ah, Aux heat may have hit you at night but not in the day then.  We are
out of it too now.
 

Uh, no.  I *never* set the thermostat to use what you call Aux heat. That forces the heat pump to run constantly.  It doesn't make them more efficient (or make the house any warmer) but it will certainly run up an electric bill lickety split!
My electric bills are rarely $174/month, not even at the height of summer when the AC is running day & night.

 Meantime, I've spent a lot more this year on birdseed.
 

I didn't, but the birds this far South can usually fend for themselves year round.  I do have a small galvanized covered bucket that holds mixed wild bird seed in the garage.  It only holds 10 lbs. of seed. When Winter approaches I hang the feeder and use up the old seed and refill the container with "fresh" seed.  It definitely came in handy when we got that freak 5 inches of snow and they couldn't find any food on the ground.  I also had to thaw out the frozen bird bath with hot tap water so they'd have fresh water to drink.
Meanwhile, I always keep a mason jar filled with sugar water for the hummingbirds.  I have at least two hummingbirds that do not migrate. The first morning after it snowed, the nectar feeder looked a little slushy but it didn't take long before the hummingbirds were right there sipping. :)  I wonder if they got a "brain freeze", like they sipped a slushy frozen drink too quickly. (kidding)
Jill