Interesting stuff... As a kid, back in the 1940's, we heated with coal (when we could afford it, coke when times were tough) and steam heat.. My dad "banked" the furnace before he went to work the late shift at 10PM, and by morning, if I had a glass of water near the bed, it would be frozen. That said, with warm wool blankets, and pajamas with feet ("Bunnies")... not too bad, as dad would get home around 6:30 AM, and build up the steam, in time for breakfast. I'd guess our house was kept at about 65, during the day.
Back to the temperature setting... In summer we keep it at about 76, and NOW... in our dotage, keep the winter temperature at 74 most of the time... The cost to heat our 1500sf house in Central Illinois, comes to about $150 -$175/mo. using gas heat. Was told by inspector when we moved in, that the walls and cathedral ceilings were so well insulated that our bills would likely be fairly low. We also use our gas fireplace.
Don't know whether that's high or low, but it works for us. The other part... air conditioning... is reasonable since our KW hour electric rate is $.0675... (about 1/2 of what we pay for Commonwealth Edison rates at our camp... 27 miles away.) A/C during the summer is an average of $100 mo.
Ten years ago we would have been aghast at those temperature settings, but as we grow older, priorities change... comfort over cost.
Back to the temperature setting... In summer we keep it at about 76, and NOW... in our dotage, keep the winter temperature at 74 most of the time... The cost to heat our 1500sf house in Central Illinois, comes to about $150 -$175/mo. using gas heat. Was told by inspector when we moved in, that the walls and cathedral ceilings were so well insulated that our bills would likely be fairly low. We also use our gas fireplace.
Don't know whether that's high or low, but it works for us. The other part... air conditioning... is reasonable since our KW hour electric rate is $.0675... (about 1/2 of what we pay for Commonwealth Edison rates at our camp... 27 miles away.) A/C during the summer is an average of $100 mo.
Ten years ago we would have been aghast at those temperature settings, but as we grow older, priorities change... comfort over cost.