Thermostat Settings

[Bob B.]

I read through the cheapskate/frugal thread, and it inspired me to ask about thermostat settings.

I live in Michigan, where it is COLD. I prefer to set the thermostat at 68. My wife prefers 70.

It's set at 65 at night when we are sleeping. I know of some who set it at 65 for the whole day.

Where do you folks set your thermostat?

[creditcardfree]

In Iowa, we set ours at 69 during the day and 62 at night.

[GREENBACK]

In Ohio we keep ours between 68 and 70 most of the time but turn it down to 60 at night and use a lot of blankets. I also burn with wood a lot and the temp near the stove is usually in the upper 70's. Great on a cold day.

[Redraidernurse]

I live in Texas and we set ours at 70 day and night during winter and 77 day and night during the summer.

[mom-from-missouri]

Normally 63-65 during the day, and 60 at night.
However, since our propane man can't deliver due to our 18 inches of snow....its now at 60 during the day, trying to make it last as long as we can.

[disneysteve]

In NJ and this is always a battle in our house. I'm usually warm and DW is usually cold. We set ours at 70 when we're home and turn it down to 68 when we leave in the morning. We also run a space heater in our family room, which is the coldest room of the house, when we are in there in the evening watching TV.

[MonkeyMama]

California - 68 during the day. (78, summer). I probably prefer 69 (have adjusted down from 70 over the years). Dh and I are the same in summer - I like it 1-2 degrees warmer than he does, no matter what time of year. If I am chilly I will turn up the heat to 69, these days.

At night and no one home? No heat. House rarely drops to 60 overnight, but I have lived in far less insulated houses and can sleep in much colder temps.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Here's my winter thermostat history. When young and pre-child, we set it at 56. When baby came along, I think we moved it to 70, maybe even 72. As child got older, we began turning it lower again, generally to 58 or 56. A few years ago I began getting more cold natured, so we set it at 62.

This year, I've set it at 64 and it feels much better, though I still must wear extra clothing when I'm not active. On colder nights we turn it down to 56 again. Otherwise the furnace runs and runs to keep up. Our house is brick and stone with no insulation.

When I go to public places, I often find myself hot in winter and cold in summer because of being accustomed to slightly more seasonal temperatures.

[Like2Plan]

We live in VA. We keep our thermostat at about 67 during the winter and 72 during the summer.

[greenskeeper]

our electric baseboard is set to off. I burn (free) firewood in our woodstove. Keeps the house around 65-70F

[My English Castle]

I'd like to be happy at 68, but am happier at 69 or 70. I monkey with it depending on my mood. But in the winter, I usually have a fleece vest over whatever else I'm wearing if I'm home.
It goes to 62 at night.
We're in Wisconsin.

[asmom]

68 day and night.

[srblanco7]

69 when we're home during the day, 66 when we're not and at night.

[bennyhoff]

When you're single, go for the glory - I have it around 57 at night & while I'm at work. I up it to 63 when I'm home. Plus I keep a room heater in the bedroom and its probably 68 or so in here - but I only use the heater when I'm home. It makes a huge difference in the heating bill.

[krantcents]

Originally Posted by Bob B.

I read through the cheapskate/frugal thread, and it inspired me to ask about thermostat settings.

I live in Michigan, where it is COLD. I prefer to set the thermostat at 68. My wife prefers 70.

It's set at 65 at night when we are sleeping. I know of some who set it at 65 for the whole day.

Where do you folks set your thermostat?

I live in southern California and have a set back thermostat. During the day, 7 Am to 3 PM, I set it at 65 (heat), 3 PM to 9 PM it i 68 and 9 PM to 6 AM it is 65. From 6-7 AM, we raise it to 68 degrees while we get ready for work. In the summer, during the day it is set at 78 degrees until 3 PM and then lowered to 75 degrees to 9 PM. Generally speaking we shut it off at night. I hope this helps.

[Snodog]

68 during the night and when away (any lower and I don't feel like getting out of bed in the morning), and 70 for when at home. The past month I've started using a heating pad to keep warm. I've found that if you keep your body core warm your whole body feels warm. We have noticed considerable savings as the heating pad uses little power (we used to keep it at 74). In the summer we keep it at 79.

[PMMM]

Programmable set back thermostat.
68 from 5 am to 6:30 am. 63 from 6:30 am to 3:00 pm. 70 from 3:00 pm to 10:00 pm. 10 pm to 5 am 63, Monday thru Friday.
Saturday and Sunday, 68 from 10 am to 5 pm, 70 from 5 pm to 10 pm. 63 from 10 pm to 10 am.

Works for us. On really, really cold days I may crank it up to 71 in the evening to placate my wife. She runs real cold all the time.

Pat

[kork13]

Originally Posted by bennyhoff

When you're single, go for the glory - I have it around 57 at night & while I'm at work. I up it to 63 when I'm home. Plus I keep a room heater in the bedroom and its probably 68 or so in here - but I only use the heater when I'm home. It makes a huge difference in the heating bill.

Go for the glory, huh? hmm... Well, central air is a pretty rare find here in Japan (each room has a wall-mounted heater/AC), so I have no idea what my house's temperature normally is. Sadly, they also don't believe in insulation over here, so no matter how long I run anything, it never stays a consistent temperature. So for me, I almost never run the heater/AC, except when it's unbearable (except for in my bedroom, right before going to bed and set on a timer for shortly before I wake up). I mostly use blankets and/or warmer clothing when it's cold, or mostly just "live with it" when it's warm, at least until it tops 90 degrees outside. That strategy really backfires on me on the nights it drops around 40... waking up can be miserable those mornings. At the same time, at least it's very inexpensive--my power bill is only ~$60/mo ("normal" apparently is 2-3 times that)

Originally Posted by PMMM

Programmable set back thermostat.

Now that I'm living without central air, I realize how much of a luxury a programmable thermostat would be... So easy, and it's always exactly what you want it to be! haha

[cschin4]

I don't play the Thermostat Wars. I 'set it and forget it'. If I can't afford to heat my home to my comfort, I might as well live in my car. And, in my opinion, it doesn't work anyway. If you turn the heat way down and then when you do come home and turn it up, all the surfaces in the house are really cold so even when it does heat up the furnace is working that much harder or it never feels warm.
In the summer, I have central AC because I intend to use it. It is maximally efficient if you just let it maintain a constant temp. And, we have allergies in spring and summer so that is better for us than fans and opening windows. I will pay more to be comfortable and buy less stuff.

[bennyhoff]

Originally Posted by kork13

Go for the glory, huh? hmm... Well, central air is a pretty rare find here in Japan (each room has a wall-mounted heater/AC), so I have no idea what my house's temperature normally is. Sadly, they also don't believe in insulation over here, so no matter how long I run anything, it never stays a consistent temperature. So for me, I almost never run the heater/AC, except when it's unbearable (except for in my bedroom, right before going to bed and set on a timer for shortly before I wake up). I mostly use blankets and/or warmer clothing when it's cold, or mostly just "live with it" when it's warm, at least until it tops 90 degrees outside. That strategy really backfires on me on the nights it drops around 40... waking up can be miserable those mornings. At the same time, at least it's very inexpensive--my power bill is only ~$60/mo ("normal" apparently is 2-3 times that)

I lived in Europe for a few years, and there too they didn't believe in insulation, so I feel your pain. My first winter there was awful, after that I learned how to live with it. I also let it get hot in the summer, and just cool my bedroom as I need to have it cool to sleep.