Home temperature

[mpeirce]

I will use a space heater in the bathroom first thing in the morning to help warm the room faster.

One luxury we added when we remodeled the master bath was a heated floor (it's on a schedule). It feels really nice on those cold winter mornings!

 

[RunningBum]

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.

Not at all miserable, in fact, pretty comfortable. I turn my heat as low as I can while staying comfortable. Comfort, then cost and being environmentally conscious.

10% is about what I was thinking. I found an article that says 1% per degree per 8 hours set back. If I can save 10% with no loss of comfort, I'm good.

They say not to set it back so much with a heat pump, but I figure when I'm in heat pump mode (over 35), it won't drop as much overnight anyway. When it's below 35, I'm on propane, and that recovers big temperature drops more quickly.

My issue is that I have a big house with a lot of windows, so it's expensive to heat. So I heat where I'm at. I'd certainly build my next house a lot smaller, but if I had a view like I have now I wouldn't skimp on the glass at all.

 

[Golden Mean]

I grew up outside of Chicago and hated every minute of winter. Now, in Vegas and single again:

Summer:
Day: 80
Night: 78

Winter:
Day: 76 (with a space heater in the office to keep my legs warm)
Night: 74

I find I need to keep the house warmer than 76 when the weather turns cool but not cold. Also run the AC at 76 when the nights drop into the 80's. Weird.
I suspect humidity changes come into play here somehow.

 

[beowulf]

Northern VA three story colonial with oil furnace -

Winters 69 day/68 night
Summers 73 day/71 night

Programmable thermostat adjusted as necessary for comfort. When we were both working, we adjusted temps accordingly for the time periods we were both out of the house.

 

[DrRoy]

67 day, 63 night.

 

[Winemaker]

71-72 year round. Furnace turned on 10/15, AC turned on 4/15, every year, no variation. We have lived here in Grapetown, SW PA since '91, lived in Northern WV '83-91.

We do have to shut the doors on the bedroom doors in summer on the second floor so the cool air doesn't all sink to basement and first floor. Thermostat on first floor, and we do adjust the dual source cold air returns per season.

 

[GravitySucks]

67-70 in the winter.
74-78 summer.
DW used to drive me nuts with this. She liked 68 summer, 72 winter.

 

[harllee]

I wonder what makes some of us very comfortable at 60 degrees at night in the winter while other people say they would be freezing? Is it just what we are use to or is there something in our physical make up that makes some people sleep in the cold better? Personally I sleep great at 60 degrees, if it is much above that I wake up sweating.

Fortunately DH and I both like it cold at night. What do you do if husband and wife do not agree on the temperature?

 

[Walt34]

I wonder what makes some of us very comfortable at 60 degrees at night in the winter while other people say they would be freezing?

I don't know, but I've always preferred temperatures warmer than most other people. A good friend is a total opposite on that - he loves winter and suffers terribly in the summer. If I could, I'd go into hibernation January 1st and stay there until mid-April and skip the whole winter experience. I don't even come out of long sleeves until the temperatures are low 80's.

 

[Koogie]

Summer
22°C (72F) during the day
19°C (66F) during the nite


Winter
20°C (68F) during the day
17°C (63F) during the nite


We live in an area that is humid in the summer and the A/C in summer is about coping with humidity as it wreaks havoc with DW medical condition.

I would personally have it hotter in summer and colder in winter but marriage is about [-]capitulation[/-] compromise.

 

[Rustic23]

Heat: 72 day 65 night
A/C: 78 day 74 night

 

[RobbieB]

We go 68 daytime and down to 60 for sleep.

 

[Which Roger]

Heat is 67 day, 60 night. AC is 73 day, 71 night.

 

[bloom2708]

Heat: 72 day 65 night
A/C: 78 day 74 night

These numbers are interesting.

That means that part of the year you are comfortable sleeping at 65 and part at 74. Or maybe the temps never get to those levels?

9 degrees based on the outside temp. It must be a warmer location.

Lots of variations. Thanks for sharing.

 

[NW-Bound]

At my 2nd home at 7,000-ft elevation, I leave the thermostat at the same temperature year round, even when I am not there. Yeah baby, blow that dough.

45F year round on the thermostat, even though the outdoor low can be in the negative.

Well, actually, when we are up there, I have a space heater just for the bedroom, and keep it at 65F at night. During the day, the interior of the living space can get up to 70F or higher due to the facade of large glass windows facing south, while the outdoor high may be around 45F.

 

[6miths]

Tend to keep it a bit cool in the winter and lower at night. We have fireplaces in family room and MBR so can do local heat to feel cozy. In summer cool it off at night and AC off in daytime due to differential electricity rates.

 

[WhoDaresWins]

In cold weather during the day I keep the thermostat set at 68; 60 at night. If it is chilly when I come downstairs in the morning I turn on my gas log fireplace and am cozy in no time at all.

I set my air conditioner at 74 in summer. I have ceiling fans in all the bedrooms which helps tremendously with air circulation.

 

[SheitlQueen]

Maximum of 68 during the day, but usually lower. I shut the heat off entirely at night since I have a nice toasty electric mattress pad. Turn it back on when I get up in the morning.

 

[Ally]

68 all the time. I would go to 65 at night, but my husband says he gets too cold, even with an electric mattress pad and loads of blankets.

 

[Splash]

Day 70
Night 66

 

[EastWest Gal]

72-75. We tolerate higher temperatures in the summer, and a bit lower in the winter. Spring and fall offer days of turning the system to "off". Our thermostat allows programming with four settings (morning, afternoon, evening, night), and I adjust it so in the winter it goes down to the high 60s at night, but turns up 60 minutes before the first person gets up in the morning. "morning" starts at 5AM, night starts at "midnight" for my night owl husband. If we're going to be away for hours, we can override it enough that the system doesn't even come on until 30 minutes before we get home.

If I ever get too cold, all I need to do is go into the kitchen and cook something. Or layer up.

When I was growing up in the SF Bay Area, we were told to turn our heater to 55 degrees at night. What a laugh. It never got that low in the house, ever. Even in winter.

 

[Gadabout]

Maine home

We keep our thermostat at about 55°F at night and 65-68°F daytime

If a power outage threatens, we jazz it higher or for sensitive guests or if someone is sick. We like it cool generally.

 

[meleana]

62-65 downstairs in the main living area depending on outside temps and 60 -62 upstairs where the bedrooms are.

Downstairs we will run the wood stove during the coldest winter months in the den which faces north.

 

[mystang52]

70 daytime. Only down to 68 at night - I gave up that fight with DW eons ago.

 

[eytonxav]

70 and when it drops into the teens outside, bump it to 72. Summer it stays at 76.