How cold do you keep your house?

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I think because our house is old 1880s victorian, it's impossible to heat properly. We have a new heating system, but it was stupidly placed in the attic so the 3rd floor is never heated. How cold do you keep your house?

We leave ours at 50 unless we're home and then we try to stay at the top floor and warm it up to 68. Then turn it down when sleeping. Our bills still run about $400-500/month. Which in our neighborhood is low.

I know our neighbors with 3 kids keeps theirs at 55 and pay about $1k/month for heating. And up the street they pay about $800. Is this outrageously high? God I hate living in a place with winter.

[Snoopy2645]

well we keep our on 66 degrees & our electric & gas is about $225 a month & I thought that was high wow $1k a month I cant imagine thats awful with that I would reconsider running the wood burning stove we have one in the basement but have never used it we have always had small kids so I wouldnt want to chance using it with them around

[nanamom]

i have winter and until I read your post I was unhappy with the heating bill I paid last winter which was between 2 and 3 hundred every winter month. We moved and the first bill was so low I could have kissed it! It was just a tad over 1 hundred. I turned the heat up to 65 to celebrate then came to my senses and turned it back down. My DH was thrilled i had turned it up so I didn't tell him yet it was back down. We have some really cold weather right now so I am nervous about the next one but now I have something to compare it to so I will be more grateful, even if it goes up. Can you insulate? Can you cover the windows? Is there air space under the doors? You said an older home is there a fireplace? We used ours last winter alot to keep the bill down under 3 hundred.

[PRICEPLUS]

I am so glad I don't have a huge house to heat. We have MIL with us so the heat has to stay a little higher. Bills have not been bad because we are on a budget plan. We are still lower than last year.

[jen-taylor]

I have a "smart" thermostat, during the day, it's 60. Heats to 67 afterwork. Cools to 62 at night.

[DeniseNTexas]

Well, we try to keep the thermostat at 68 but DH gets cold and moves it up to 72 or so. I lower it again and it stays there awhile til he discovers it and raises it. It's a yearly battle we have! Our latest electric bill is about $183. Too much but in winter it often runs close to $250. We have a small house but it's old and not well insulated. That's a project for this spring.

[Broken Arrow]

I'm at 55 right now. But I have a separate oil heater in my *cough* room and I turn that on to 65 when I'm home.

[lexi_kaye]

I live in Pennsylvania and I have my thermostat set to 65 during the day and night and it turns to 68 when I am home or will be home shortly (from 6-8 am and from 5-9 pm). It goes back down to 65 at night because I should be in bed all bundled up anyway. My house is very comfortable. Budget plan is $109 per month. That kills me! I know it could be so much cheaper because my house has the original doors and windows from 1948 when the house was built! I have manufactured "storm windows" from plywood and heavy duty plastic that fits into each window outside (there are 14 plus basement windows). That cut my heating bill drastically. Before that, I was paying $156 per month on budget. I am trying to devise a way to be able to afford to replace the windows entirely, but right now I am really concentrating on eliminating credit card debt. I have tried to talk myself into it with the monthly payment increase on a credit card would probably be the amount the gas bill would go down each month, but so far, I have not been successful at that. Does anyone have any statistics on the window replacement and heating savings? It actually is also a safety issue because I am not sure I could get any of the windows open if I had to. For instance, in a fire. I have made myself feel better by telling myself if there actually was a fire, I would just break the window to get out if that was my only option. They are very large windows so it would be no problem for me to fit through. I might get cut, and I would have a window to replace, but if my house truly was on fire, I am sure those would seem like minor issues. But I keep trying to use the safety issue as another way of justifying new windows.

[sakigt]

FL weather here and Ive been keeping it at 74 all day all night. Last month my bill was $85, down from $90.

Now dont get all jealous on me now... I pay my share during the summer. Not to mention my place is less than 1000sqft

good grief, I keep mine at 68 and I thought I was being tough!


I'm such a lightweight.

[pretty cheap jewelry]

Wow as far as the settings you are right on. First of all we have a timer (these are at Lowes and my husband put it in). It raises to 65 for 1 1/2 hours in the morning when we wake up. Then its down to 55 for the rest of the 24 hours.

We run a freestanding wood burning stove around dinner time. It heats the first floor sufficiently as well as enough to get us into bed. Then all are bundled up in bed. Voila, the timer turns up the heat about 1/2 hour before we wake up.

Close the doors of the rooms you're not using. Think about a freestanding fireplace - they're safe and save costs. Put a timer on your thermostat (although you don't really turn it up and down already).

And yes we are in Coastal CA but it was 32 last week, below 40 every night for two weeks or so and hasn't been over 65 for 3 weeks.

[cschin4]

I keep it 66 to 70 depending on how i am feeling. If I am working around the house, etc, I turn it to 66. If surfing the net, etc I turn it up. I am not going to be uncomfortable in my own home. I am on the budget and pay about $150 for our gas bill. The electric also goes up over $100 in the winter. I have found that turning the heat down doesn't really accomplish anything. The home gets cold and then even when I turn up the heat, it just never feels warm as all the counters, floors, furniture, remain cold. So, I set it and forget it.

[Ima saver]

I keep my house set at 60 and wear sweaters. My house is large, 3200 square feet. My electric bill is under $100. I have used about 200 gallons of propane in the past 3 months at a cost of about $400 to heat this house since October 15th. It gets to below freezing every night because we live in the georgia mountains.

[MonkeyMama]

I have a big house - set it at 68 all day (someone is always home), off at night (but I set it 60 when it gets super cold - like last week's freeze - for the kids. Usually doesn't drop below 60 on its own. BEfore kids we just turned it off at night).

Bill was $100 last month - usually more like $40-$60. We don't get much winter. But the house is extremely energy efficient which helps too. We rarely have to turn on the heat or air 1/2 the year. It used to cost more to heat our little condo in a warmer climate.

Occasionally if it feels extra chilly I set it to 69 or 70 too. I think we are whimpy, we bundle up and feel like we are freezing sometimes at 68 - LOL - but we are used to warm weather I guess.

I've heard the stories of $500 bills but most of these people set their house 72 all day and night. That is pretty crazy!

It's funny more and more I See people assume our bills must be huge because out house is big. Actually our bills are low because the house is new.

[jlvkfyang]

I keep mine at 73 all day. I have two small children and an elderly mother. Don't want anyone to get cold. Our local gas company has a budget plan, and i Pay about $95 per month in Nat Gas Bills.

[pearlieq]

Our house is new and not overly large (2400 sf). We keep the heat at 61, which is pretty comfortable for us. Gas bill are between $100 - $150 per month. They go down to about $25 a month during the summer.

[PrincessPerky]

this year we keep it at 64.

between lowering the heat, and insulating windows and doors, the bill has dropped, course it always was way lower than yours.

I think for an old house, insulating/closing off rooms would work faster to reduce the bill than just lowering the heat. cause well if you start colder you still work to get it hot. but if you keep the heat in, instead of constantly trying to get it hot....I dunno I am not making sense, but if you want a warm kid it is easier to put on sweater than to heat up the room, removes cold fingers faster in my experience. I just figure the same thing would work on a house, course I am now picturing a house with a sweater on it I guess what I am trying to say is leaky houses are trying to heat the world, and that is expensive..heh not to mention all the environmentalist complaining about global warming, maybe it is leaky houses not smog (being silly there)

[rachie]

I keep mine at 60 when I'm not home, and around 64 when I am home. It is a little chilly on cold nights, but I just bundle up.

However, I do have a question for people with pets. I have three indoor cats. How cold is too cold for them? I know they're animals, they have fur, all of that...but they're used to being indoors, not longhaired, getting older...

I wondered what you all do when you have animals that are there when you're gone. Could I go lower than 60 with them, or is that probably safe? I want them to be safe and comfortable.

Thanks!

Rachel

[tinapbeana]

1800 sf 80 yr old home. original doors, original windows with storms, original insulation, plaster walls, 2 story.

i refused to turn the gas on when we moved (long story), so only modes of heat are woodstove (free wood), 2 electric space heaters, and a heated mattress pad. the thermostat is in a non-heated portion of the house and says it's usually 50-55. heated portions of the house are probably 60-65. we prefer a cooler house anyways (keep the thermostat at 68 in the summer!), so it's not actually all that chilly to us.

last electric bill was $72.

for comparison, my previous house (a rental) was 950 sf, approximately 40 yrs old. gas heat, well insulated, new windows, vinyl sided, we kept the thermostat at about 65 and our gas bill was $180-$250. ACK!!!

[PrincessPerky]

On cats...the two outside are there outside, all year long, and the average overnight here is 30something degrees this month, they seem fine, now the last litter of kittens momma had is prolly not going to make it, but then no cat in her right mind should go getting pregnant in winter anyway. (regardless of how warm it was in December, January here is cold..well too cold for kittens anyway)

My point is they are much more comfortable than you are in their warm coats, though I wouldn't go overnight to cold, the fur does grow in response to need.