WSJ -- New Englanders try to see how long they can wait to turn their heat on ....................
A-HED
Nov. 28, 2022
Feeling Superior Because the Heat is Still Off? You Might be a New Englander‘
To those who called me crazy -- you’re right.’ Northerners try to see how long they can wait to turn their heat on.
 
Every year, Brian Chevalier refrains for as long as he can from turning on his heat.
By John Clarke
Brian Chevalier was in bed at his Rhode Island home, worried his pipes might freeze and burst. He had on two pairs of socks, two hats, underwear, pajamas, jeans, two shirts, two vests, two hoodies and fingerless gloves so he could use his iPhone.
It was Dec. 19 of last year. The outside temperature was expected to drop to 19 degrees. Finally, at 9 p.m., he caved: He turned on the heat.
The date marked a new personal record for a chilling annual challenge -- one he hopes to beat this year.
Every year, Mr. Chevalier, 36, who works in digital marketing in the automotive industry, refrains for as long as he can from turning on his heat. Being thrifty, of course, factors in. Fuel is expensive this year and many people are cutting back. But beyond that, there is a flinty group that always tries to stare down thermostats come winter.
Denying oneself decadent warmth for the noble suffering of being too cold is a proud tradition among austere New Englanders. “Are you a true New Englander? If your heat is already on, the answer is no,” the Boston Globe asked in a recent headline. “No heat before Halloween” could be a regional motto.
On Mr. Chevalier’s Facebook and Twitter pages -- Weather in RI -- he has about 28,000 followers who are now cheering him on and sharing their own attempts to keep the heat off. There are humble brags of shivering through cold nights, shared survival tips and posted photos of thermostats boasting temperatures dipping into the 30s.
This year’s challenge is particularly animated in part because of the soaring cost of energy bills. Heating oil, propane and electric rates have increased over the year, and are expected to continue edging up this winter.
New Englanders are accustomed to chilly temperatures.
Emily Scully, the city clerk for South Portland, Maine, grew up believing it was against the law to turn on the heat before Oct. 15. She was in her 20s when she learned her parents had been misleading her all along. “We were all told that when we were kids,” she says. “I felt pretty foolish.”
Mr. Chevalier’s personal heat challenge started when he was in his 20s, living in a poorly insulated Quonset hut and working at Cracker Barrel as a part-time waiter.
Heating the metal domed structure was useless. “It was just going out the windows,” Mr. Chevalier says. “It made me think: how warm do I really need to survive? Just layer up.”
Two years ago Mr. Chevalier made it to Dec. 3 without heat. Last year, he went further, with help from layers and layers of clothes.
“To those who called me crazy -- you’re right,” he posted online last December after he turned on the heat. “I never expected to make it this far. Rest easy knowing my pipes will live to flow another day.”
This year, “I’m still going strong,” he says.
The rules are simple. “No heat means no heat,” he says. Forget electric blankets, space heaters, wood stoves, or quickly turning on the heat to get the chill out.
He offers tips: open the windows on days in the 50s to get some warmer air inside. He keeps his water pipes “on the drip,” where he turns on the faucet so there is a slight flow to keep the water from freezing inside the pipes. He also opens the cabinet doors where his pipes are located.
The worst part is getting out of the shower on frigid mornings, Mr. Chevalier says. “That and the freezing cold toilet seat.”
When he’s doing things around the house and moving, he feels fine. But sitting down to watch a football game is another story. “That’s when you really feel the cold,” he says.
Brian Chevalier bundles up. He turned on his heat on Dec. 19 last year.
On social media, Mr. Chevalier’s cold quest has caught on as #noheatnovember with someone chiming in, “no heat until the pilgrims eat.” Some posters have joked holdouts may be in for #damagedpipesdecember.
Many of Mr. Chevalier’s followers have already thawed out. “I regret to inform you that at 06:47 on November 12th 2022 the heat has been turned on,” Tyler Otto wrote on Twitter. “Hard fought battle. But we bested our previous November by 3 days!”
Candie Harris, of Bridgetown, R.I., made it to Nov. 14. “My husband turned ours on,” she said. “I was totally bummed.”
Conversations can get frosty in these circles.
“Enjoy paying your utility bills,” said one poster, Matt Tabor, of Hartwick, N.Y. He included a photo of his thermostat which read 53 degrees at 8:31 p.m.
Matt Tabor's thermostat.
It isn’t necessary to have all that much heat, insists Mr. Tabor, 40, who makes YouTube math videos and a podcast from his poorly insulated house built in the 1880s.
“If your pipes don’t freeze and you can sleep and work decently, that’s enough -- the rest is luxury,” he says. “Normal appliances and lights give off a surprising amount of heat.”
Donna Sanders, who made it to Dec. 7 last year without heat, is also still going strong in her third year of doing the challenge.
The 67-year-old retiree from North Kingstown, R.I., lives in a newly built condo with neighbors and good insulation, which she says definitely helps. “There’s no stopping now,” she says. “I’m going to try and break my record. My family thinks I’m insane.”
Ms. Sanders says detractors only make her extra determined. “That motivates me even more,” she says.
Mr. Chevalier isn’t sure he can break last year’s record. “The threshold for everyone is different,” he says. “Mine is obviously very low. But the forecast might not be in my favor.”
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