68 degrees "nice and warm"? Was: "Nice and" expression question.

[Carol]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Geoff Bannister"
<gbannister10 at ...> wrote:
>
> --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Carol" <justcarol67@> wrote:
> >
> > Kemper earlier: 
> > > > A correctly adjusted temperature control is more objective.  The
> > thermostat is nice and set at 68*.
> > > 
> > > 
> > > Potioncat:
> > > That wording sounds a bit ackward to me, but "The temperture is nice
> >  and warm at 68*" sounds very reasonable.
> > >
> > Carol responds:
> > Except that a 68-degree house isn't nice and warm! Or is it, if you
> > live  in a cold climate? (BTW, I agree that Kemper's wording sounds
> > awkward. "Nice and set" combines combines an adjective and a past
> > participle. I would say, "The thermostat is set at a cool 68 degrees"
> > or "a nice, warm 72 degrees" if I had any say in the matter! Or "a
> > nice, cool 72 degrees" in summer.)
> 
> Geoff:
> I think there might be a Fahrenheit/Centigrade confusion here...
> 
> The temperature on our central heating/hotwater boiler is usually 
> set at 58 or thereabouts wlthough we have pushed it up to about 
> 63-64 in the current spell of severe cold in the UK. We used to 
> have it a tad higher but now keep it lower for fuel economy 
> reasons.
> 
> I think Kemper has a nice thermostat (shiny and well-polished?) 
> which keeps the house warm.
> :-)
>
Carol responds:

I was thinking of the temperature of the house itself. I have electric
heating, and the furnace (or air conditioning, depending on whether
the thermostat is set to Heat or Cool) kicks on when the house reaches
that temperature. I'd *like* to keep it at 72 degrees F, which
corresponds to 22.22 degrees Celsius, but I usually settle for 68
(that's 20 degress C.) in winter and maybe 76 in summer (24.44 C.) to
save money. Right now, I have the thermostat turned off and it's about
66 degrees in the apartment (18.9 C.). I'm still in my robe and
slippers, with jeans under the nightie and warm socks under the
slippers (oh, the advantages of working at home!), so I'm not cold
enough to turn the heat on--yet. 

If I set the thermostat at 68 C. (154.4 F.), I would die! Actually, it
only goes up to 96 F. (35.55 C.), and no one in their right mind would
set it that high. (My water heater, OTOH, is probably set to about 125
F or 51.7 C.--I don't know because there's a metal plate covering the
thermostat and I'm not about to take it off--but it's not used to heat
the house!)

Carol, who still thinks that a 68-degree (F.) house is something less
than cozy ("nice and warm")