My wife and I had a little trick to make sure that the kids didn’t touch the thermostat all through late November and December.
We noticed quite a while ago that our kids have a tendency to change the thermostat to whatever temperature they please every now and then.
My wife and I set a very reasonable temperature on the thermostat in the winter time. We choose to keep it at 69°. That is perfectly warm! And yet the kids feel the need to mess with the thermostat late at night when they think we won’t pay them any heed. However, my wife and I can tell when the thermostat has been messed with. It’s a little warmer than it should be, and sure enough, when I walk into the hallway, I see that the temperature has changed by a few degrees. So, after Thanksgiving, my wife put a little note on the thermostat to make sure it was clear that the kids were not allowed to touch it under any circumstances. The note simply said if you turn the dial up, there would be less presents on Christmas, and if you kept the dial down, then there would be more presents on Christmas. Our kids needed to understand that it costs money to heat our house. In fact, it costs much more money to heat a house than it does to cool it with an air conditioner. It’s not like they were going to freeze to death anytime soon with the thermostat set to 68°. I thought my wife’s idea was a great one!