Home temperature

[Cobra9777]

We're in North Texas...

Heat 71
A/C 79

We adjust from there if we get too hot or too cold, or if we have people coming over. We also run ceiling fans all year and try to dress appropriately for the season. When it's below freezing for a couple days, we get the fireplace going.

We have four HVAC units. Two of them are set at 50 in the winter and 85 in the summer, unless we have guests staying in those areas (upstairs/guest house). The other two (downstairs/MBR) stay at 71/79 all the time unless we manually adjust. In the MBR in summer, DW tends to take it down to 78 or 77 at night. It's very moderate here in the Spring and Fall, so the systems get used very little.

 

[pacergal]

Heating season: 68 daytime, 58 at night
Cooling season: 75, 24/7 (rarely needed, maybe 2-3 weeks at the most)

 

[Fireup2020]

68° when home during day, 61° at night...year 'round. (unless it gets colder during the winter months, which I'm ok with - this mid-life hotness is redonkulous!) Fortunately DH is also Eskimo-like!

 

[mpeirce]

...I can turn my heat way down, then let it fire up 1/2 or so before I get up, so it's at least somewhat normal by the time I get up...

A long time go when was in HS, the ski club advisor, who was also the bus driver for ski trips to Northern Michigan, shared a trick:

He controlled the temperature of the bus so during the long drive he would keep it warmer and folks would tend to fall asleep. A bit before we arrived, he'd turn the temperature down and people would wake up and get more active just as we arrived.

I've used this on the family on long drives a few times.

 

[Teacher Terry]

We have baseboard electric heat. During the day it’s all at 68. Any colder and the Maltese are cold even with sweaters. When we go to bed we turn the heat down to 55 in all rooms but our bedroom and close the door. In the summer the air is between 72-74.

 

[Music Lover]

Heating season - 21C (70F) when home, 18C (64F) when sleeping

AC which is not that often is 24C (74F). As the AC rarely runs, I have a dehumidifier set to 45%.

 

[bloom2708]

If it never gets very cold, you have more room for variation.

If I let our house drop to 58 or 55 or 50 in the winter when the temp is -20 outside, it would happen very quickly. Then the furnace would have to work very hard to raise the temp back to desired. This results in great variances in air temps. Hot air pools up and cold air pools down. Not going to fly.

If you set it to 50 or 55 and the outside air temp is 50, MUCH different. So, very climate dependent.

 

[Music Lover]

If it never gets very cold, you have more room for variation.

If I let our house drop to 58 or 55 or 50 in the winter when the temp is -20 outside, it would happen very quickly. Then the furnace would have to work very hard to raise the temp back to desired. This results in great variances in air temps. Hot air pools up and cold air pools down. Not going to fly.

If you set it to 50 or 55 and the outside air temp is 50, MUCH different. So, very climate dependent.

A furnace doesn't work harder...it's either on or off. When it's colder it simply stays on longer. To avoid temperature fluctuations in the house adjust the dampers and keep the furnace fan on.

 

[bloom2708]

A furnace doesn't work harder...it's either on or off. When it's colder it simply stays on longer. To avoid temperature fluctuations in the house adjust the dampers and keep the furnace fan on.

Sure it does. If I don't vary the temps that much I stay in Stage 1 heating all day. Silent, low speed fan.

If I let it drop 6,8,10 degrees, it gets to Stage 2 heating, full fan and will do a long run or cycle runs in Stage 2.

We have a very efficient house. I run the fan only 50 minutes of every hour. Largest heating bills are ~$140/month (natural gas, gas water heater).

 

[target2019]

My 1970's era system had 1 stage. The 2015 heating systems we have are 2-stage.

 

[Walt34]

Wow, I'm shivering at the temperatures I'm seeing. 78 in the winter and (if DW is away) 80 or even 82 in the summer. I hate being cold.

One of the things that attracted us to this house was the availability of natural gas heat which around here is the cheapest form of heat. The stove, water heater and clothes dryer are all natural gas. We also paid extra for additional insulation and a house wrap when the house was built so our heating/cooling bills are not excessive.

 

[MrsHaloFIRE]

Living on sr officer row on a historic military base in hundred plus year old homes the temp was not the discussion, but we would discuss whether you "pay or get back." The housing allotment covers rent, repairs, water, sewer, trash and a set amount of gas and electric based on "similar homes." So for arguments sake say all the homes on the street are alike (they look it but they aren't). I would get a refund ($40-$60) for using less electric/gas than the avg for my home type. Whereas my neighbors typically got a bill for $20-$100.

In another state the electric company would text you they were at peak and if you were willing to turn diwn your consumption immediately they would rebate your bill. I used to really take advatage and kill every light, turn off a/c, and turn off power strips. Printing money!!! Generous rebates. This was in MD where they also let you compete your electruc and gas and the supplier would incentive with money and freq flier miles with little to no commitment of staying for a period of time. I banked some miles that 23 month assignment!

 

[REWahoo]

71-72 in the winter and 75-76 in the summer.

 

[aaronc879]

I will adjust a couple degrees based on how I feel at the moment but I generally have it around 69 when i'm home and awake and 55 when I leave for work or go to sleep. I will use a space heater in the bathroom first thing in the morning to help warm the room faster.

 

[Omega]

I love this topic lol.

AC is set to 76
Heat is set to 65

I might try to lower the heat a bit, depends on my bill.

 

[bloom2708]

How much do people think they save with large offsets during the night? Maybe that is a better gauge. If you can save 10-15% in a month by using a 10 or 15 degree lowering at night, that would equate to $14-$18 dollars a month saved with our $140 gas bill.

I'm picturing slightly miserable people, shivering and bundled up with many layers, to save some quite small amount of money. I guess if my heating bill was $1,000/month, maybe it would be different. Very interesting thread. The temps people will tolerate amaze me.

 

[LuckyDog]

Heat - 66 all day except 68 from 5:00 until 11:00

Cool - night 66. Morning turn AC off, open windows until inside temp gets above 72 and turn AC on to 72.

 

[target2019]

We save about 10% by having two setback periods when we are asleep, or out for the day.

We also sleep better at night in cooler temps.

The great thing about saving energy and money, IMO, is that you become more aware of what it costs, and how much impact you can have.

 

[braumeister]

How much do people think they save with large offsets during the night?.

It has nothing whatever to do with cost. Many of us simply sleep better in a warm bed in a cooler room.

 

[ERD50]

How much do people think they save with large offsets during the night? Maybe that is a better gauge. If you can save 10-15% in a month by using a 10 or 15 degree lowering at night, that would equate to $14-$18 dollars a month saved with our $140 gas bill.

I'm picturing slightly miserable people, shivering and bundled up with many layers, to save some quite small amount of money. I guess if my heating bill was $1,000/month, maybe it would be different. Very interesting thread. The temps people will tolerate amaze me.

I don't really know how much I save in actual $, but your picture is all wrong. Socks, slippers and a couple layers in winter is normal and comfortable. Before the programmable thermostat, if we went to bed and forgot to set the heat down, we'd be miserably hot in the middle of the night. Cool night air feels good under the comforter, which feels good in winter.

It's more of an environmental thing for me. Why should I burn natural gas and use electricity so I can wear shorts and a t-shirt in winter?

Again, if'm uncomfortable, I adjust it.

-ERD50

 

[street]

It has nothing whatever to do with cost. Many of us simply sleep better in a warm bed in a cooler room.

Yep

 

[Music Lover]

How much do people think they save with large offsets during the night? Maybe that is a better gauge. If you can save 10-15% in a month by using a 10 or 15 degree lowering at night, that would equate to $14-$18 dollars a month saved with our $140 gas bill.

I'm picturing slightly miserable people, shivering and bundled up with many layers, to save some quite small amount of money. I guess if my heating bill was $1,000/month, maybe it would be different. Very interesting thread. The temps people will tolerate amaze me.

It costs me $400 to heat my house for the entire winter, so lowering the temp at night is for comfort not savings. A comfortable temp is one of my "blow the dough" wants, so it would have to cost into the thousands to heat the house before I would even consider lowering it for savings.

 

[harllee]

DH and I are very hot natured, we would burn up at most of these temperatures. In the winter our house is 65 in the day, 60 at night and that is perfectly comfortable for us. When we visit my mother she has her house at 77 degrees and I am uncomfortably hot.

In the summer we leave our house in Chapel Hill and set the AC to 80 to keep the humidity down. We are in the North Carolina mountains for the summer and have no A/C there. This summer the hottest it got was 78 in the day, much cooler at night and we just
opened the windows and cut on the fan.

Our electric and natural gas bills are very low. If my electric bill gets over $75 a month I know there is something wrong.

 

[Newventurer]

Daytime - 67, but I do use a small portable heater by my desk if I get a chill

Nighttime - 65, because that’s where my DW says it will be

 

[Nature Lover]

Daytime: 68-74 most of the year....will stretch to 76 in the heat of summer;
Nighttime: 66-68.