How low can you go?

There is a rite of passage here in the Northeast as the days get shorter, as the peak color of fall starts to fade, as the temperature starts to dip: Just how far into autumn can you go before you turn on the heat in the house?

My wife Jane and I started talking about this recently and, all things considered, we decided we want to try to wait until Nov. 1. With the price of everything rising, especially the cost of heating a home, we made a pact to keep the heat off through the rest of this month.

This is not easy. I've come close to being a cheating husband.

Time was, getting to Nov. 1 without heating the house would be difficult but not impossible. Jane would head off to her work, where someone else was paying the heat. I would head off to my work, where someone else was paying the heat.

Jane still heads off to work. But now, when I head off to work, I go down the hall and to the right.

Having retired from work and having retired to a home office means I'm stuck working in the unheated house, which hasn't been bad to date, though I almost strayed on Wednesday.

Overnight Tuesday got pretty cold in these parts and while it dawned sunny on Wednesday, it was still cold through the morning as I went through my morning routine of writing and posting to Eats@Home and Examiner.com.

Our house has a couple of issues. One of our issues is that the house is surrounded by towering pines. And with the sun not rising in the sky very high and with temps getting down into the high 30s, the house doesn't have a natural way to warm up. In addition we have a three-tiered heating system -- gas in some areas of the house, electric heat in other parts, nothing in other parts. We also have a woodstove, which we need to use more but I have the same concerns about me and fire that I have with me and chainsaws and power tools in general -- something catastrophic is destined to happen.

So by lunch time I was going to do one of two things: turn on the electric heat in my office or get the hell out of the house to someplace where someone else pays the heat.

Wanting desperately to hold to my vow of no-heat fidelity, I bundled myself and my laptop up in the car at about 12:30, cranked up the heat and headed off to the library where I found a comfy seat, an electrical outlet and a wi-fi connection … all the comforts of home without the discomforts of home.

I'm not sure just how low we can go temperature wise before we break. But I'm optimistic. During the week, Jane has work; I have the library. On weekends, we could visit family who don't have a no-heat pacts. And at least the seven-day forecast looks good.

And by the way, is using an electric blanket at night on the bed cheating? If so, at least the wife and I are cheating together.