S/O thermostat setpoints

[Teachaheart]

Our non-programmable thermostat is set at 60 F in autumn and spring and 62 F in winter. We use space heaters if a room needs to be warmer. Our outside temperatures have been in the low teens and single digits the last several days, but most days have been in the upper teens and 20s this winter.

We don't have AC, so the furnace is off from mid to late spring through early to mid autumn.

[skimomma]

17 hours ago, Bootsie said:

For those of you who turn a thermostat down in the 50s in the winter, what type of heating source do you have?  Do you know how cold various rooms in your house are?  My thermostat is set on 68 right now--and it is 68 near the thermostat, but temperature readings in other areas of my house are low to mid 50s

Natural gas, forced air.  I don't know the actual temps in each room but I do very occasionally wake up to find a film of ice on my bedside glass of water on the very coldest nights.  The bedroom has no heat register and it has three exterior walls.  I'd say the rest of the house varies from 45-50, with closed spaces like closets and kitchen cabinets hovering around freezing.  While that sounds miserable, we are asleep, so it really doesn't matter aside from the middle of the night bathroom run.  If we are up late or very early, I override the stat to daytime temps.

 

[Bootsie]

I have found that the temperature at which the thermostat is set in our house really isn't a good indication of the temperature we are experiencing.  As some of those Texans who had our thermostat set on 68, we were finding our house chilly; even my daughter who has been living in the Austrian alps and has her wool socks, sweaters, scarves, and hats to wear was complaining that it was chilly.  Wondering if it was psychological I started measuring temps and realized that our ceilings were in the 80s and our floors were in the low 50s.  

This morning I woke up and it is WARM in the house.  The temperature at the thermostat is 73 degrees!  But, the thermostat is still set at 68  We have a gas fireplace insert in the family room and an electric fireplace insert in the living room and a space heater in the master bedroom--I suppose those are now accumulating enough heat to raise the temperature in the house above 68 without the central heat even coming on.  Our ceiling is still in the 80s but now the floors are mid 60s.  The temp got down into the upper 20s overnight and now it is mid 40s and sunny outside.  (This would typically be considered COLD for this climate this time of year.)

I guess I have learned that the two fireplaces do help provide warmth and are not just ornamental   I have also found that heating our Texas home when temperatures drop down into the 20s isn't too difficult, but when temps get down to zero and the wind chill is negative 18--for several days in a row is a very different story.  

[BlsdMama]

We love our in the country and had to remove our windbreak 5-6 years ago. It makes a difference, oddly, in maintaining heat? I think new windows might help too though. 
 

68-70 during the day. We recently had a new furnace installed and they put in two new dampers. That makes a surprising difference! We used to have warm main areas and cooler bedrooms. Now our bedroom (previously the coldest room in the house) is uncomfortably warm and the front room feels cold to me. We’re going to have to play with the dampers until we get it sorted out. 
 

A/C? That will be our big fight this year. Our A/C unit died two years ago. Perfect!!! My husband despises being hot, I love it. We got an AC unit when we bought the furnace, to be installed this spring. I get more spastic if I shiver. So my ideal temp is 75-80. So help me, that house is not going below 72 this summer. I’ll live outside first. 😉 It has hit 90 in the house w/o AC in the summer, and, with humidity, that temperature can be uncomfortable, but we have basements here and they are very comfortable year ‘round. 

[MEmama]

On 2/16/2021 at 4:27 PM, Bootsie said:

For those of you who turn a thermostat down in the 50s in the winter, what type of heating source do you have?  Do you know how cold various rooms in your house are?  My thermostat is set on 68 right now--and it is 68 near the thermostat, but temperature readings in other areas of my house are low to mid 50s

We have natural gas, steam radiators. They provide a constant warmth, not the variable cycles found with forced air.

The thermostat is in the living room which is the warmest room in the house. It faces south and west so it warms up nicely on sunny days in the winter, so much that the heat sometimes doesn’t come on at all during the day. I have no idea what the temperature in rest of the house is. Upstairs tends to be somewhat cooler, but not by much. 

The heat almost never actually comes on at night. Our house is 70 years old but fairly well insulated and built well. 

[Ausmumof3]

We have a wood fire for winter (but we don’t experience snow etc).  For summer we put the air con on if it goes over 30 (86F).  Not always, but if anyone asks and it’s under that the answer is no.

[Frances]

On 2/16/2021 at 11:06 AM, Junie said:

I would freeze in y'all's houses!

In the summer we keep the house at 76.

In winter, we used to keep it at 73, but now keep it at 74.  I have issues with insomnia and told dh that I thought part of the problem was that I was so cold.  I asked him to covertly bump the thermostat up a degree or two and see if the difference in temperature (without my knowledge, so a blind study) would help me sleep better.  And, yes, I am sleeping better at 74.  (He told me a few weeks after he bumped the thermostat up a degree.)

And I’m exactly the opposite. We recently lost power for five days and I slept better than ever. During the winter, we keep it at about 68 during the day and I would prefer that the furnace never run at night. But my husband would prefer it much warmer for sleeping and he truly suffered during the power outage. We compromise on around 60 at night so that the heat rarely kicks on and he uses an electric blanket.

I honestly can’t recall right now what setting we use for AC during the summer, as we’ve only had it for a couple of years. I know we set it lower at night than during the day because I just don’t sleep well when I’m too warm, but I’m fine with mid to high 70s during the day.

Even though we have an old house with high ceilings and lots of windows (including two large single pane picture windows), our electricity and gas combined rarely exceed $200.

I have to say that I’m intrigued by people who cool their house to a lower temperature in the summer that they heat it to in the winter. If 72-74 is comfortable in the winter, how is it too hot for the summer?

[Ditto]

Winter--66

Summer--72