Turning the heat on...in August?

 

Temperatures dipped into the 40s across Michiana Tuesday morning as our unseasonably cool weather continued.

It has been so chilly over the last few days that South Bend has recorded a few "heating degree days."

Heating degree days, or HDD, is a way to measure energy use. Specifically, HDD measures how much you might use the heat in your home based on how far the average temperature is from a "perfect" 65 degrees. Typically, these are only used during the winter months, with cooling degree days (how much you'll use A/C) used during the summer. 

However, thanks mainly to our low temperatures, South Bend has recorded five HDD during the month of August. While that might not sound like a lot, it's the most HDD in August since 2017! Note: this story is now updated to include the latest and most accurate HDD information, hence the change from six in the news segment to five.

Of course, most of us didn't use the heat over the last few days. Hopefully, you've been able to save some money by keeping your air conditioning off. 

The streak of cool weather will soon come to an end, however. A late August heat wave is possible starting next week, meaning your air conditioning's "summer vacation" will be over.