She gets so angry at me and yells for days that there is something wrong with the unit. We have tried every way to explain why it is so high but she will not hear it. Any ideas about a better way to handle this? I am an only child so I have to deal with all the caregiving and I have read & studied this diease enough to know how fast things can change but until we get to summer I don't see this situation changing. Any suggestions?
My SIL’s husband does heating & air conditioning for living & recently gave us a NEST thermostat he acquired. He told us room temp should never go above 74 (we do live in CA though so....maybe above 74 is safe in colder parts of the country). We can program the thermostat to heat up the house to a certain temperature at the same time every day. Maybe you could program moms thermostat to come on at a certain time at a reasonable temperature so that she won’t feel the need to turn it on? Our NEST was programmed by the original owners to start heating the house to 68 degrees at 6:00am. That’s way too hot, I had to do a reset on all the settings in order to turn that off.
Have you looked into annualized billing? I do that with my electric bill. Here electric bills are traditionally sent once every two months, so those with electric heat get a whopper of a bill once heating season has started. I have mine annualized and pay the same amount each month. It makes budgeting much easier.
I have oil heat, but the basement TV room tends to be colder, so I use an oil filled electric heater in there during the winter.
Programmable thermostats are great too.
Also warm wool under vests can help keep a senior warm. Merino ones are not itchy.
Also, I have no idea how charging works in the US and God knows I've found it such a brain scramble myself that I've given up and subscribed to a switching service, but it might be worth seeing if she is paying what she ought to be paying for her heat.
I would do a couple of things.
1st - get more healthy fats in her diet, this will increase her metabolism and help her feel warmer.
2nd - get a good quality space heater, infrared technology is safe, you want something that has a low fire risk, I use radiant heaters that shut off if they get overheated and squawk if they are tipped, however, they get hot and I wouldn't use anything that gets hot to the touch around seniors or children. Do some research online, you'll find a good unit that is cost effective to run.
Maybe get one for the bathroom and one for her bedroom, that way you can heat the areas she is in while she is in them and turn the house thermostat down, as well as turn the units off when not needed.
It takes a while for us to get chilled if we are nice and cozy, so unless she spends her day throughout the entire house, this could be a good solution.
You will spend anywhere from 100 to 250 for a good, energy efficient unit, but they pay for themselves quickly in comfort and savings.
I dress warmly (long sleeves or thin jacket) inside my house during the cold days and use an area heater for the livingroom. I agree, a light scarf can do wonders to keep the body warm all over. I got my mother a warm fluffy bed jacket (you know, the old-fashioned kind) to wear at the nursing home. I liked it so much that I got one for myself.
There have been so many good suggestions given already. The question is, will your mother be open to implementing any of them?
My Mom always had their thermostat up to 78-82, and Mom would still be dressed like she was going up to the North Pole.... yet my Dad, one would find him wearing a t-shirt, shorts, and no shoes because he was way too warm.
Feeling cold happens when one has a thyroid condition. My Mom had that. So does my sig other who feels chilled. When he wants to raise the heat, I grumble maybe he should put on a sweater or put shoes on over his socks.
One huge hint to keep warmer, tuck in that shirt into one's pants. It will make a HUGE difference. And to put on shoes over knee socks. Thermo under garments are also a great help. My Mom wore thermos all year round.
One time my Dad changed all the old fashioned light bulbs with the new twisty energy lights. Dad was so proud thinking of the money he would save every years. Oops. Mom started to feel even colder sitting in her reading chair next to her lamp. Well, the old fashioned light bulbs would put out heat. the new ones didn't. So guess what, Dad had to crank up the thermostat even higher.
Oh, hated those programmable thermostats. Had to replaced my parent's with a regular old fashioned thermostat as when Dad had gotten older, he could no longer figure out how to use the programs, and everything got mixed up. I also tossed out my programmable thermostat and got a regular one. Whew, one less complication in my life.
A humidifier (either whole house or a couple of stand alone units) will make the house feel warmer at a lower temperature since heat dries the air.
Keeping the skin well moisturized with lotions and cremes reduces the body's heat loss.
Layered clothing helps too - either wearing a silk legging lying close to the skin under pants and a sweater or two shirts (usually one short sleeve and one long sleeve) or a throw blanket over the legs when sitting. The layers don't need to be heavy, just one layer close to the skin and a second looser layer over it.
A small ceramic heater placed in the room(s) your mother occupies most can raise the temperature in those rooms.
Close off the vents and shut the curtains and doors on extra bedrooms when no one is using them. Close curtains or blinds over all the windows during cold nights.
A programmable thermostat that reduces the house temperature 6-10 degrees overnight when everyone is beneath the bed covers can have a significant impact on the bill. If your mother gets up at night but stays in her bedroom, use the ceramic heater to keep her room and bath warm.
Is there an exterior door that feels cold to the touch or has a draft? Use a push-rod (they make them now with a piece that will fit into the space between the door and frame) to place a curtain and cover the door to the floor, all winter if you don't use it much or only at night if you do.
As my mother aged she began to dislike any air flow directly on her (even heated air) so you may want to consider covers that direct the vent air away from your mother.
If funds and energy are available, consider installing energy saving blinds or curtains (particularly over large windows), replacing drafty windows or add some new winter stripping to exterior door. Some older steel doors do not have much insulation and a $200 insulated new door in colder climates can pay for itself in one winter.
We bought a digital one that has 3 sensors and shows the minimum and maximum temperatures.
Is the house brutally hot? Just because the unit is fairly new doesn't mean it couldn't be having a problem. They should be serviced annually for a reason.
You may have to just implement changes to help with the bill without any conversation on her part.
Good luck.
(as a plus I can comfortably tolerate having my A/C set to 78° in the summer)
He would wear a windbreaker all the time and complain he was cold. I tried to explain that he was sweating and when he took off the windbreaker the air made him feel cold because it was trying to dry off his skin...blah blah blah...
In the winter and as he declined I did turn the heat up just a bit, about 65 and I always had a blanket or a throw for hip to put over his legs and torso.
The choice of clothing is important. I found that Polar Fleece type clothing helped a lot. They kept him warm, were easy to wash and dry, and were easy to change quickly. And they are pretty soft on the skin.
When it comes to temperature and how to keep himself warm I just gave up explaining because to try to explain something to a person with dementia is most of the time a futile act.
Give your Mom one of the individual heated throws that she can adjust for her own comfort. You can get a heated blanket for the bed or even a heated mattress pad. (Do not do the heated mattress pad if she is incontinent)
Do not do the heated products if she is not mobile. And only do the heated blankets and throws if you can monitor the heat and her skin.
She cannot be dissuaded from fixations or unreasonable beliefs. We've learned through experience that sometimes just keeping m-i-l out of the loop is the best way to minimize the stress for all concerned!
i had a terrible time getting control of my dad’s finances, but the second I did, he lost interest in it altogether. He won’t even open junk mail now. He just sits everything in a pile for me.