What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up)?

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What is your highest winter thermostat setting (while you are up and home)? Fahrenheit please.

<62
12
3%
62
12
3%
63
3
1%
64
19
5%
65
27
6%
66
22
5%
67
43
10%
68
95
23%
69
35
8%
70
55
13%
71
18
4%
72
44
11%
73
8
2%
74
13
3%
75
6
1%
76
3
1%
>76
4
1%
 
Total votes: 419

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GerryL
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by GerryL »

I joined the 68 club this year. I used to keep it generally at 65, but I'm feeling flush with cash. And my utilities keep sending me glowing 'report cards' comparing my usage with my neighbors'. My grade is :happy :happy (two smilies. really)
Buckeye
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by Buckeye »

68 or 69 during the day and usually 67 at night.
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nisiprius
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by nisiprius »

whaleknives wrote:63 F right now, but varies from 60 to 65, depending on how either of us feels. When we replaced our old single glazing and storm windows with triple glazing, the gas utility came out to inspect our meter. :P
Had the same experience in 1978 when we insulated our house. It was quite creepy, two guys with clipboard who projected a certain cop-like persona and were courteous but not friendly. I had the impression they came actually expecting to find cheating. There was a place in the basement where a streamer of foam had extruded itself through a chink in the footing and we snapped off a piece for them to keep as a souvenir. (Yes, UFFI foam. No, don't get me started on that. Had an environmental company come in and test the air a decade later, it's OK if it was a good installation and we had a good installation).
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by Valuethinker »

nisiprius wrote:
whaleknives wrote:63 F right now, but varies from 60 to 65, depending on how either of us feels. When we replaced our old single glazing and storm windows with triple glazing, the gas utility came out to inspect our meter. :P
Had the same experience in 1978 when we insulated our house. It was quite creepy, two guys with clipboard who projected a certain cop-like persona and were courteous but not friendly. I had the impression they came actually expecting to find cheating. There was a place in the basement where a streamer of foam had extruded itself through a chink in the footing and we snapped off a piece for them to keep as a souvenir. (Yes, UFFI foam. No, don't get me started on that. Had an environmental company come in and test the air a decade later, it's OK if it was a good installation and we had a good installation).
Dad worked in utilities.

They were-- expecting to find meter fraud that is. They track accounts for big swings in consumption they cannot explain.

If you are running a 'grow op' then there will be a surge in electricity consumption. (In my mind's eye, I can see 'Breaking Bad 2. Nisiprius goes hemp. The story of a mild-mannered autodidact who, fed up with his corporate career and facing huge dental bills, decides to go into meeting the recreational needs of American consumers. On the way he is confronted by French Canadian gangsters, and becomes a crime lord' ;-)). Which is why grow-ops often bypass electricity meters, or install solar panels (the latest fashion in BC, apparently).

The 1970s-early 1980s was a period when the US economy got noticeably better at energy efficiency. One reason was quite simple but big things-- stopping generating electricity from oil for example (except for peak boosting power). But there was a lot done at the individual level as well-- as you did. It was about this time that California, to forestall construction of new nuclear power plants, went on an energy efficiency kick known as 'The Art Rosenfeld effect'. Fridges then burned 2,000 kwhr pa, they now burn c. 550-600 kwhr pa. 1976 was also a record cold winter, as I recall--the mid 70s saw a run of cold winters.

Prices rose from $3.00/bl in the early 70s to $40/bl at the peak of the 1980 Iran Crisis. That's about $150/bl in today's money (on a much smaller economy).

Natural gas and electricity prices followed suit, particularly the former (it all has to do with decontrol of interstate natural gas prices, about which my memory is vague).
aquifer
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by aquifer »

67. I have a programmable thermostat which I set to be 62 when I'm not home and 62 at night. I have a small heater for the bedroom that keeps it about 65-66 in there while the rest of the house is 62.
James2
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by James2 »

62, when it's below zero outside we turn on the gas fireplace. Electric blankets at night.
menlo
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by menlo »

This poll has inspired me to raise the thermostat from 64 to 67. Why not splurge a little in life?
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Sheepdog
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by Sheepdog »

68 day and 65 night in winter heating
78 day and night in summer air conditioning
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jfn111
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by jfn111 »

68* during the day
62 at night
* we have two gas fireplaces, my son will have the basement one going and quickly heats up to about 80
My wife will have the family room FP on and it will stay about 75.
The furnace doesn't run often. :oops:
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snodog
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by snodog »

We keep it at 74 as anything less we are chilly and there is no reason to be cold in my own house. Putting on a sweater never works for me because its my hands that get cold and I'm not going to wear gloves. Besides gas is cheap with our yearly bill being about $300 and setting it back to 66 would only save $120 per year. I'm pretty frugal with everything else and to me there is nowhere else I'd sooner spend $120 so that is money well spent IMO. We have a 1740 square foot condo in PA with lots of southern glass and when the sun is out the furnace stays off and the temps sometimes creep up to 78 even when in the 30's ouside (still the cat stays in her heated pet bed half the day). The other day when it was in the low 50's the furnace was off from 9am to 9pm. Southern glass is great because it doesn't hurt you with cooling in the summer either when we keep it at 79 by the way.
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by Professor Emeritus »

SamB wrote:My setting varies, both in the winter and summer. What I am concerned about is the difference in temperature which drives the heat transfer. If the temperature drops way below average outside then I will drop the temperature inside some to the lowest point in my tolerance range.

Of course this is much easier to do during the summer. If the temperature outside is 100 degrees then I will tolerate 82-84 inside. This is a small differential compared to what you can see during the winter. When it is 5 degrees outside you are not going to set the temperature inside at 25 degrees. It will be more like 68-72, and you cannot really effect the differential that much percentage wise, which drives the heat transfer and your utility bill. You might as well keep the inside temperature at 72 if that is where your comfort level is.
However heating is far more efficient than Air conditioning. It can cost you far more to cool a house 20 degrees than to heat it 40 degrees.
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by Professor Emeritus »

GerryL wrote:I joined the 68 club this year. I used to keep it generally at 65, but I'm feeling flush with cash. And my utilities keep sending me glowing 'report cards' comparing my usage with my neighbors'. My grade is :happy :happy (two smilies. really)
If I kept it at 68 DW would sit in frozen immobility in thick layers of Fleece.
She has been cold in El Alamein (Egypt) in August.
My luxury is I have a lawn service. Her luxury is the house at 74.
DoubleDraw
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by DoubleDraw »

67 in the winter when we are home and awake - 62 when asleep

I prefer it a bit colder to save on heat but I think those temperatures are reasonable. We have a reasonably efficient home as well, which helps.
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by davidlhanson »

We are retired and DW is at home most of the day. She also feels cold easily so we don't let it go below about 75 deg during the day. We turn it off at night so the inside the house temp might get down to the upper 60's.

Living in central Florida means that heating a house is not all the expensive. Where we save money, since DW likes it warm, is in the summer when we keep the daytime temperature at 79 (and again off at night).
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sans souliers
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by sans souliers »

66 degrees -- this is by preference. I tend to run hot, for some reason. Perhaps my Canadian heritage.

Temperature isn't an issue for me until June. An air conditioner is more important in summer than a furnace in winter, aside from the threat of freezing pipes.

Anyone coming over knows to call in advance, so I can turn up the 'stat to 70.

By the way, I don't wear cotton in winter -- cotton is a 3-season fabric, in my book, and winter isn't one of them.
Sometimes pessimism leaves me pretty well prepared for when things don't go my way, and pleasantly surprised when they do.
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by Valuethinker »

Professor Emeritus wrote:
SamB wrote:My setting varies, both in the winter and summer. What I am concerned about is the difference in temperature which drives the heat transfer. If the temperature drops way below average outside then I will drop the temperature inside some to the lowest point in my tolerance range.

Of course this is much easier to do during the summer. If the temperature outside is 100 degrees then I will tolerate 82-84 inside. This is a small differential compared to what you can see during the winter. When it is 5 degrees outside you are not going to set the temperature inside at 25 degrees. It will be more like 68-72, and you cannot really effect the differential that much percentage wise, which drives the heat transfer and your utility bill. You might as well keep the inside temperature at 72 if that is where your comfort level is.
However heating is far more efficient than Air conditioning. It can cost you far more to cool a house 20 degrees than to heat it 40 degrees.
That depends. The Coefficient of Performance of a good heat pump is 3.0 say (you can get over 4.0 with a Geothermal/ Ground Source one).

So 1kwhr of electricity to move 3 kwhr of 'coolth' (ie dump 3kwhr heat outside your house).

An electric bar heater has a COP of 1.0 by contrast. COPs of air source heat pumps fall towards 1.0 as the temperature gets below 32F (0 degrees C) outside.

If you heat with gas, your furnace efficiency is in the range of 70-90%. Depending on your electricity rate, that might not beat a heat pump at a COP of 3.0.

What *is* true is that gas in much of the USA is less than 1/3rd as expensive as electricity, per kwhr (US confuses things by doing heating and cooling in BTU- 3466 BTU in a kwhr).
Jeff7
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by Jeff7 »

Warm: Mid to high 70s.

- There is little or no insulation here, so the walls are always cold, and that makes a difference in how the room feels, particularly when it's below 10°F outside.
- That also means that there's a temperature gradient in just the livingroom, maybe 15-20 feet from the thermostat to the other wall. The temperature on the far side is 2-3° lower than it is at the thermostat.
- The air's dry, which I very much prefer. That also means that more heat is far more acceptable.
- If the temperature's much below 70°, my hands and nose start to get really cold. (It was interesting to see my hands through a thermal camera. They nearly blended into the ambient background, only about 2 degrees above it. By comparison, a coworker's hands lit up brightly, at a warm 95 degrees.)
- Work is somewhere in the mid 60s, so I'm cold there all day, even in a jacket. I want to be warm when I get home. :)


The good news is that I'm not heating a large area.
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by Tamahome »

I had to post on this question, because for once, I rank more bogleheady than other bogleheads. I may not have the best savings rate, and I may not have the most money saved. I do, however, keep the thermostat on 62 at all times. In fairness, I will disclose that my wife has opened discussion about upping it to 64 on the weekends when we are at home all the time, but until now, it has been 62.
I'm not a financial professional. Post is info only & not legal advice. No attorney-client relationship exists with reader. Scrutinize my ideas as if you spoke with a guy at a bar. I may be wrong.
Taff
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by Taff »

No button for 'Don't have one." Have always used a woodstove. When we get cold, just open the damper and toss on another stick. Not the lifestyle for everyone.
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Epsilon Delta
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by Epsilon Delta »

Valuethinker wrote:
Professor Emeritus wrote: However heating is far more efficient than Air conditioning. It can cost you far more to cool a house 20 degrees than to heat it 40 degrees.
That depends. The Coefficient of Performance of a good heat pump is 3.0 say (you can get over 4.0 with a Geothermal/ Ground Source one).

An electric bar heater has a COP of 1.0 by contrast. COPs of air source heat pumps fall towards 1.0 as the temperature gets below 32F (0 degrees C) outside.
In a humid climate, like Florida, over half of the AC load may be due to humidity control rather than temperature control. This contributes to cooling being more expensive compared to heating than simple temperature difference would suggest.
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by cheese_breath »

Normally 71 or 72 until the wife gets cold. Then she cranks it up a couple degrees, and I turn it back down when she's not looking.
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by abuss368 »

About 65 or 66. Then 63 when we hit the sack. Upstairs is warmer.

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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by Van-Guard23 »

I live in Hawaii...so I don't even have a heater in the house :-). I had to respond...couldn't resist it.
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Bungo
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by Bungo »

I set it to 70 in the morning to take the edge off. Once it gets there, I usually turn it off. Temp usually maintains itself at around 70 once the sun hits the house.
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by Valuethinker »

Epsilon Delta wrote:
Valuethinker wrote:
Professor Emeritus wrote: However heating is far more efficient than Air conditioning. It can cost you far more to cool a house 20 degrees than to heat it 40 degrees.
That depends. The Coefficient of Performance of a good heat pump is 3.0 say (you can get over 4.0 with a Geothermal/ Ground Source one).

An electric bar heater has a COP of 1.0 by contrast. COPs of air source heat pumps fall towards 1.0 as the temperature gets below 32F (0 degrees C) outside.
In a humid climate, like Florida, over half of the AC load may be due to humidity control rather than temperature control. This contributes to cooling being more expensive compared to heating than simple temperature difference would suggest.
Thank you. Interesting point. The cognitive framework was set in temperatures, so that's the way I thought about it. Interesting example of cognitive framing ;-).
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by tj »

73 in winter, 75 in summer.
LK2012
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by LK2012 »

Obviously we are on the colder side. We have a high-efficiency furnace/AC system, but still we don't like it hot, and neither does our husky. :)

So we keep it at 62 during the day, and 55 at night. We might pop it up to 63 or 64 when the temp outside gets into the teens or single digits (like last night), and we might leave it at 57 on those nights, too.
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by LK2012 »

Oh, and similarly, we like it in the high 60's (at most) during the summer, putting the A/C down to 65 or lower at night.
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by Candor »

I always knew deep down I was destined to be a one-percenter and to achieve that here at BH's really makes me appreciate the small things in life like a thermostat set to 76 degrees when it's 19 degrees outside. :D
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Reubin
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by Reubin »

Here is a little twist on this thread. What is the lowest thermostat setting that you would use in the winter when going away for a week or more in the dead of winter? I've heard horror stories of water damage due to pipes bursting and wonder what setting is absolutely safe?
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by MichaelM24 »

What is the lowest thermostat setting that you would use in the winter when going away for a week or more in the dead of winter?
I set the thermostat at 58 during vacations. I turn the water off and drain the lines when I'm away.
sport
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by sport »

Reubin wrote:Here is a little twist on this thread. What is the lowest thermostat setting that you would use in the winter when going away for a week or more in the dead of winter? I've heard horror stories of water damage due to pipes bursting and wonder what setting is absolutely safe?
That would depend a lot on where all the pipes are located. In my old house, some were on an outside wall. In my new house, all the pipes come up through the slab and none are in the outer walls. So, in my old house, I would not want to go below 55 F or so. In my new house, it doesn't matter much, as long as the toilets don't freeze.
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by Tyrobi »

Now that we live in Florida, we have our house heater turned off. We do have a portable heater from Sam's Club in case my wife needs to warm up a single room as needed. All these savings will be used up in the summer months though or when we have guests staying with us.
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magellan
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by magellan »

Reubin wrote:What is the lowest thermostat setting that you would use in the winter when going away for a week or more in the dead of winter? I've heard horror stories of water damage due to pipes bursting and wonder what setting is absolutely safe?
It's best if you know the construction quality and where the most vulnerable plumbing runs are, but I generally play it safe with 45-50 degrees. It doesn't cost much to keep a house at 45 degrees for a week, even in a very cold climate.

Before we got our generator, a multi-day power outage revealed the lowest temp our house can go without freezing. It's 32 degrees, give or take. I was out of town and my wife did her best to keep the temperature up by leaving pots of boiling water in rooms, etc. The outage spanned two nights, with lows below zero. When the power was finally restored on the third day, all the thermostats in the house registered between 32 and 34 degrees. Luckily, the heating system started up fine and warmed up everywhere except a room over the garage. DW used an electric heater to warm this room and even though the plumbing for this one zone had frozen, when it thawed nothing leaked and the heat worked fine.

Jim
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by haban01 »

Well, Here in WI we are heading into a deep freeze as our beloved Packers take the field tomorrow for a Playoff Game. Highs will be -10 to -20 below the next few days with wind chills pushing to -40/-50. We normally set the thermostat in the high 60's max. But as it gets colder the rooms do feel colder.
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by Ketawa »

Reubin wrote:Here is a little twist on this thread. What is the lowest thermostat setting that you would use in the winter when going away for a week or more in the dead of winter? I've heard horror stories of water damage due to pipes bursting and wonder what setting is absolutely safe?
My condo association's rules forbid setting it below 55 in order to prevent bursting pipes.
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by mevertsen »

mhc wrote:I spent 4 years in the Army freezing. When I graduated college, I decided to never be cold again. I keep my house at a cozy 72 degrees during the day during the cold months (October - May). I just looked at my 2013 spreadsheet. I spent $681 on natural gas (furnace and hot water). I don't think dropping the temp would save much. Even if I cut the bill in half, I would only retire a few days earlier while being miserable for years. Not worth it. Come to think about it, maybe I'll turn the temp up a few degrees.

I did not count the 76 degrees I get in the living room (where the thermostat is) when I turn on the gas fireplace since that is not the thermostat setting. I grew up in Texas, so I love the heat.
I like your style. I lived in a 5th wheel for 7 winters here in Northern NV. I froze my butt off. I just married in June, and we had a new house built in October. A wood stove was installed in early December. I vowed never to be cold again. Thermostat is set at 70, and it doesn't come on while we are home and the wood stove is burning. I can cut the one cord of needed wood per month for approximately $100. Propane is over $3.00 a gallon here, and we used about 100 gallons in the first month we were in the house.
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by Frobie »

We mostly set ours at 60, which is the lowest our thermostat allows. It does go up to 62 on weekday mornings when we are getting ready to go to work.

I should mention, though, that we live in Houston. So: 1) it's rarely cold enough that the heat actually kicks on; 2) we enjoy cold weather since it's so hot here much of the time; and 3) we have a nice gas fireplace in our main living area that we (and our feline buddies) enjoy using.

Stay warm, everyone!
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by 4nursebee »

65-69 depending upon who is in control.

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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by jeffyscott »

mevertsen wrote:Propane is over $3.00 a gallon here, and we used about 100 gallons in the first month we were in the house.
I am glad we have natural gas, by my calculations the 100 gallons would be equivalent to 92 therms of natural gas and result in a bill of about $80 here (75 cents per therm plus 31 cents per day).
awval999
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by awval999 »

We have three thermostats, so it's set to 60 in basement, 70 on main floor and 60 on the bedroom floor. Use a space heater in the bedroom at nighttime.
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by linenfort »

65 on the one thermostat downstairs, which makes it 76 upstairs.
We really need a new system.
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by Jim85 »

66 when we are up and around, 64 at night or at work. Used to go down to 60 but learned for our system (steam radiators) it was not cost efficient to vary more than 2/3 degrees unless we were away for several days. If we are away, we put it down to 58.
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by Draak »

Nuvoletta wrote:68 when we are up and here, 64 at night between 10 pm and 6 am, 56 M-F while we are at work. Love our programmable thermostat!!!!

Related note: based on past experience with our 22-year-old and current experience with our 6-year-old, it appears to be a necessary life school teaching moment to have to explain that when one is cold in the house at 68 degrees, one should put on more clothes. :)
So True!!! What is funny is to see how they then deal with "the heat issue" once they move out & are paying their own bills. I have one kid that is walking around her own apartment in sweatshirt + down vest because she can't/doesn't want to spend her limited earnings on heat (she learned the frugal approach concept). The other one has a wood stove + electric heating, so she chops wood a lot to keep her house extra toasty. She hates being cold & would live in a sauna if she could. Might have to help her move to Florida one day so she can see that there are places that don't get cold!
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magellan
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by magellan »

linenfort wrote:65 on the one thermostat downstairs, which makes it 76 upstairs.
We really need a new system.
Depending on the type of system, fixing the uneven heat issue may be separate from a keep/replace your heating system decision.

If your system uses forced hot air, there may be inexpensive ways to adjust the airflow to lessen the temperature disparity. Also, reducing major sources of heat loss on the first floor could help even things out and would likely have a quick payback.

If you have forced hot water, you may be able to split the upstairs into its own zone and that work would be fairly isolated from a burner replacement project. I bet you could get a couple of estimates for this work for free. If you did a zone split this summer and then decided to replace your heating system in a few years, it's a good bet that little or none of the zone split cost would be wasted. Again, with the temperature disparity you've got, adding a zone may have a very fast payback.

Jim
Carlton
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by Carlton »

68 day and night. I have steam heat and it works much better with no set-back at night, which would end up using more gas getting the house back up to temp in the morning than what was saved. Night set-back with forced air or water systems is a fine line balancing fuel savings from the set-back vs energy used for the morning warm-up. Can't stand over heated places in winter...too drying on the sinuses and skin.
linenfort
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by linenfort »

magellan wrote:
linenfort wrote:65 on the one thermostat downstairs, which makes it 76 upstairs.
We really need a new system.
Depending on the type of system, fixing the uneven heat issue may be separate from a keep/replace your heating system decision.
...

Jim
Thanks, Jim. It's forced air. We actually have some people looking into it this month. You are absolutely right: heat loss on the first floor is a big part of it. (Thin glass rear facade).
WHL
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by WHL »

I don't turn the heat on. In the five years I've lived in Texas, I've had the furnace on once - when my parents were visiting at Christmas a few years ago :mrgreen:

60 isn't cold to me, so I'm fine with it being that temperature inside.
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magellan
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by magellan »

Carlton wrote:68 day and night. I have steam heat and it works much better with no set-back at night, which would end up using more gas getting the house back up to temp in the morning than what was saved. Night set-back with forced air or water systems is a fine line balancing fuel savings from the set-back vs energy used for the morning warm-up.
My understanding is that there are two parts to the home heating equation. The first part is the rate of heat loss (btus) from the building and the second is the cost of adding btus into the building.

As you indicated, dropping the temperature overnight will absolutely reduce the rate of heat loss from the building and result in needing to put less btus back into the building in the morning to get the building back up to temp. A building will lose a lot less btus overnight at 60 degrees than it will lose at 68 degrees. When there's a large difference between the inside and outside temperature, the btus you can save from dropping the temp overnight can be enormous.

The second part of your logic is what I'm confused about. Aside from heat-pump systems that use electric heating as a backup when they can't keep up, I don't know of a heating system design that runs less efficiently 'all out' compared to running in fits and starts overnight. With every heating system type I know of, it's cheaper to add btus to the house all at once, than it is to add them slowly with lots of cycling.

The suggestion that it costs more to add the reduced number of btus that a building with a setback thermostat loses overnight all at once in the morning, instead of needing to add many more btus little by little overnight, just doesn't make sense. Perhaps there's something strange about steam heat that I don't understand, but I know for sure this isn't how forced hot water works. When you consider that adding btus all at once in the morning lets the heater run more efficiently and that reducing the temp overnight results in a lower rate of btu loss from the building, you get a win win by setting the temp lower at night. There's really nothing to balance aside from comfort. The more you set back, the more you save.

Jim
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magellan
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Re: What is your winter thermostat setting (while you are up

Post by magellan »

Out of curiosity, I did some googling about steam heat setbacks. Apparently, large temperature setbacks with steam can be more tricky and often work best with a special thermostat. As I suggested above, setting back steam heat definitely will save money. The drawbacks apparently come in the form of comfort and noise. Steam heat often takes longer to restore the temperature in the morning, and you may have to listen to banging and knocking when it starts if you don't have things tuned just right.

I didn't realize that modern steam systems were so finicky! Basically, it seems that for the system to run quietly and smoothly, you don't want to let it cool off completely or it will knock and bang when it starts back up. That means the thermostat needs to call for at least a little heat every now and then during the night to keep the system from cooling down too much. The other issue is that steam systems tend to have more inertia, so it's usually best to begin the setback much earlier than you need it, and bump the temp back up much earlier too.

The long and short of it seems to be that 3-5 degrees of setback with steam is relatively straightforward. More than that often requires finicky tuning to get the comfort level right and to prevent loud banging and knocking when the system starts back up. Either way, you do get savings from setting back steam systems, the balancing act is around comfort and sleeping soundly.

There's some more info on steam heat setbacks at this link:
http://www.oldhouseweb.com/forums/viewt ... =5&t=21936

Jim
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