Poll

What daytime/occupied temperature are you using?

>70F/21C
33 (6.8%)
68F/20C
132 (27.1%)
65F/18C
164 (33.7%)
62F/17C
82 (16.8%)
<60F/16C
76 (15.6%)

Total Members Voted: 465

Author Topic: Poll: winter thermostat badassity  (Read 52909 times)

Chester Allen Arthur

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #100 on: November 10, 2014, 11:42:14 AM »
I'm trying to keep the heat at 60 in the day, 55 at night.  My apartment is well insulated, so random waste heat from electronics helps keep the place warm.

Fodder

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #101 on: November 11, 2014, 05:01:07 PM »
Keeping the house at 62 is holding up so far. If they know we won't be going outside, my kids will happily run around in summer clothes and no socks at this temperature. They are far crazier than I am :P

My wife complained a bit, but has resorted to wearing a hat indoors and seems fine for now. I don't know if the 62 will make it all the way to January with her though.

My kids too.  Their little feet will be super cold, but they will resist all attempts at socks/tight/slippers.

I get a bit chilly sometimes at 62, but I'll either make myself a cup of tea, put on a robe, or just move around a bit.  Computerizing freezes my hands at this temperature.

Prairie Gal

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #102 on: November 11, 2014, 06:31:02 PM »
Vote for the closest option. Last winter we kept it at 64F. This year we're trying to acclimate to 62F.

That is badass! I have my house set at 20C (68) and it feels chilly if I am just sitting around. And that is with slippers and a sweater on and a lap blanket. I guess it is all what you are used to. I turn it down to 18C for sleeping.

quant

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #103 on: November 12, 2014, 04:33:51 PM »
Haven't turned heat on so far. However not all that badass, coz I live in Texas! :)

I have a question for you guys. As long as I put on enough clothes - I should probably be able to push through the whole winter without heat. BUT the bottleneck is in bathrooms. That's one place in the house - where one is without clothing. How do you deal with that? Just a small space heater in bathroom? Or any other elegant solution I might be missing?

tofuchampion

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #104 on: November 12, 2014, 04:44:11 PM »
I have a question for you guys. As long as I put on enough clothes - I should probably be able to push through the whole winter without heat. BUT the bottleneck is in bathrooms. That's one place in the house - where one is without clothing. How do you deal with that? Just a small space heater in bathroom? Or any other elegant solution I might be missing?

You're referring to showering, yes?  I mean, you don't get naked to use the toilet, I assume.  But for the shower, you're only without clothes for a few seconds before you're in the hot shower.  And when you get out, the room is somewhat heated from the hot water.  Yeah, you'll be cold when you first step out and your wet skin hits the air, but it only takes maybe 30-60 seconds to dry off.  Then you put clothes on and you're fine.  So maybe 2 minutes of being really uncomfortable, and I'd think it would motivate you to hurry up!

I also like to hang my towel close enough to the shower so that I can reach it without getting out, and dry off somewhat before I even open the shower curtain.  That keeps you in the warm space longer, and you don't freeze quite so badly when you step out.

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #105 on: November 12, 2014, 04:49:53 PM »
Have a tiny bathroom! Then the hot water is more than enough to heat the room up, even with a vent fan running.

agent_clone

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #106 on: November 13, 2014, 12:50:50 AM »
For the first half of winter (in my old place) I put the thermastat at 17C.  In my new place  that has much better insulation for the second half I put it at 19C as I want to see what the gas bill ends up being and it was a nice comfortable temperature for me.  It is also only on between when I get home from work, and when I go to sleep.  Or on weekends when I am home between when I get up and when I go to sleep.  I do not turn it on between getting up in the morning and going to work however.  I see no point in heating the place for the 15 minutes I'm not in the bathroom.

In previous towns I have lived in I have not used the heating at all and put on a Jacket instead.  But the temperatures there were typically 2C to 15C rather than -5C to 10C that is typical here.

In regards to heating in the bathroom I find that this sort of thing http://www.bunnings.com.au/ixl-tastic-original-3-in-1-bathroom-heater_p4442438 is sufficient for a nice space heater (I don't have precisely that but it is the first result of what I was looking for).  Standing right under it gives a nice warmth.  In the locations where I did not use the heater I lso did not have those.  When growing up there was not really a heater in the bathroom either (which is my current town location).

ScooterMac

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #107 on: November 14, 2014, 11:08:49 AM »
We've had our thermostat set to 55, but it finally got cold enough yesterday/last night (what with the "surprise" foot+ of snow we got yesterday) that it kicked on.  We're doing 55 at night and when we're out during the day, and 60 when we're home to start with.

Zikoris

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #108 on: November 14, 2014, 11:20:36 AM »
Our thermostat claims 25C, but there's no way it's that warm - we're wearing sweaters at home now. When it's 25C in the summer we're wearing shorts and tank tops comfortably.

Either way, it's included in our rent, so not a huge deal.

horsepoor

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #109 on: November 15, 2014, 08:38:18 AM »
Haven't turned heat on so far. However not all that badass, coz I live in Texas! :)

I have a question for you guys. As long as I put on enough clothes - I should probably be able to push through the whole winter without heat. BUT the bottleneck is in bathrooms. That's one place in the house - where one is without clothing. How do you deal with that? Just a small space heater in bathroom? Or any other elegant solution I might be missing?

Just get used to it?  I feel like maybe I should be more sensitive or something, but when the house is 57 in the morning, it feels that much better to get into the hot water.  I just make sure to have my clothes laid out so I can get dressed immediately after toweling off, then I dry my hair so I don't get chilled from wet hair.  Don't languish around in the nude and it's fine.

dcunitedfan

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #110 on: November 15, 2014, 11:28:56 AM »
63F daytime, 61F night.  I recently bought some 200Watt ceramic space heaters, for zonal heating (keeping the bedroom a bit warmer at night, under the computer desk while in use, etc)
« Last Edit: November 15, 2014, 11:43:58 AM by dcunitedfan »

RetiredAt63

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #111 on: November 20, 2014, 07:05:23 PM »
For my cold bathroom, I have a decorative fixture (came with the house) that has 6 fat bulbs.  In summer they are CFLs, in winter they are incandescent.  They do warm the room just that little bit when I am there long enough for a shower.

Artemis67

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #112 on: November 20, 2014, 07:41:13 PM »
I keep it at 55F. I'm very cold tolerant, and don't find it uncomfortable at all. At night, I'd rather sleep under a pile of blankets in a cold room than sleep in a warm  room; the warm room will always feel overheated. I've been known to shut my bedroom door so I can sleep with a window open, and if I were ever to build a house I'd love to include a screened sleeping porch.

I will bump the thermostat up to 60F if the house feels damp (to keep mildew at bay), or during periods when the daytime highs are at or below freezing, but that's about it.


frugalnacho

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #113 on: November 21, 2014, 12:00:03 PM »
With the lower house temperatures, do you have issues with the bathrooms not drying?  I have been trying 65F and the master bathroom smells musty!  The towels and shower curtain aren't drying either.  We are also getting wicked condensate building up on the windows, requiring twice/day wiping. 

Any ideas to help this situation?  Run the temp higher for a few weeks to dry out the house, then switch back to 65F?

I usually leave the bathroom doors open during the winter to let the steam go out to other areas of the house (where it's desperately needed).  I also installed a bathroom fan timer, so I can just set it for 20, 30, or 60 minutes depending on how moist it is and then walk away and forget it.  We still perpetually have condensation on the bathroom windows in the winter, but it doesn't mold or smell musty.

We keep the HVAC fan on for most of the winter.  With the air circulating well we don't tend to get problems with mustiness or stuff not drying.  You do want to use the range fan when cooking and the bathroom fans when showering.  The furnace pulls a lot of moisture out of the air in a typical winter, even with house temps set to 18C.

Doesn't running the HVAC fan use a lot of electricity?

Villanelle

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #114 on: November 21, 2014, 12:09:25 PM »
If my outdoor thermometer, which I brought inside for a while, is accurate, I was at 49*F this morning.  Still no heat on.  We don't have central heat, just radiators, so I can't set a specific temp.  If we could, I imagine it would be about 50 during the day, and off completely at night, no matter what (our lows rarely get below the high 20s).

When it gets cold, the air gets extremely dry, so I have no issues with mustiness whatsoever.  When I shower, I crack the window in the bathroom (we don't have bathroom fans) and leave it that way for about 10 minutes after the shower, with the door into the rest of the house closed.  Because it is part of our lease, I'm actually required to open up the house for about 10 minutes a day, no matter the weather.  So I open the downstairs while I am upstairs doing my shower and dress routine, then open the upstairs (with the bathroom already have been opened) while I prepare breakfast or check email, then close the upstairs.

Spork

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #115 on: November 21, 2014, 02:25:23 PM »
We keep the HVAC fan on for most of the winter.  With the air circulating well we don't tend to get problems with mustiness or stuff not drying.  You do want to use the range fan when cooking and the bathroom fans when showering.  The furnace pulls a lot of moisture out of the air in a typical winter, even with house temps set to 18C.

Doesn't running the HVAC fan use a lot of electricity?

I can't speak for GuitarStv's HVAC but I've measured mine.  With just the fan running it uses 365 watts.  I don't have mine on 24x7, but I do run it when it is cold outside and we're using the wood stove -- to try to push the heat to the edges of the house.

Cassie

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #116 on: November 21, 2014, 02:40:00 PM »
Many of you guys are a lot tougher then me!  I will not wear a hat or gloves in the house.

YK-Phil

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #117 on: November 21, 2014, 03:17:41 PM »

60F when we're asleep/at work


60F when I am asleep at work

1967mama

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #118 on: November 21, 2014, 03:29:48 PM »
I run mine at 68 in the day (20C) and came down late this morning to find that someone who got up early today (and left) had cranked it to 70.7 (21.5C). Made my blood boil! grrrr! We will never acclimate to the lower temps (and save $$) if everyone keeps bumping up the programmable thermostat. I'm growing to loathe that "hold temp" button!

Gmullz

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #119 on: November 28, 2014, 12:41:50 PM »
62F/17C is what I run at under normal circumstances in rooms that are occupied (10C for pass-throughs, like the bottom floor). If I have friends over I'll prop it up to 68F/20C. They've giving me free heat in the form of disposed body heat, so why not! Remember to feed your friends when they come over - their metabolism will heat your house!

Last winter I found 17C pretty chilly (my frugal ways kept me honest, most of the time), but now that I'm biking, I don't mind it at all. I think this is for at least two reasons: I'm more used to the cold, and when I come home my body is all warmed up from the exercise...plus it feels hot because I have tons of layers before I get undressed.

Another positive to biking! They're endless.

GuitarStv

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #120 on: November 28, 2014, 04:26:03 PM »
We keep the HVAC fan on for most of the winter.  With the air circulating well we don't tend to get problems with mustiness or stuff not drying.  You do want to use the range fan when cooking and the bathroom fans when showering.  The furnace pulls a lot of moisture out of the air in a typical winter, even with house temps set to 18C.

Doesn't running the HVAC fan use a lot of electricity?

I can't speak for GuitarStv's HVAC but I've measured mine.  With just the fan running it uses 365 watts.  I don't have mine on 24x7, but I do run it when it is cold outside and we're using the wood stove -- to try to push the heat to the edges of the house.

When we installed our high efficiency furnace we made sure it had a low power low airflow mode for constant usage.  I don't have exact numbers on it, but running it constantly is significantly less power consumption than running a load or two in the dryer each week.

EDIT - This question has piqued my curiosity, I'll have to take a Kill-A-Watt out from the library and measure the power consumption.
« Last Edit: November 28, 2014, 04:28:45 PM by GuitarStv »

Zarya

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #121 on: November 29, 2014, 07:15:49 AM »
We have floor heat in the bathroom (luxury!) and that helps a lot with feeling chilled at shower time. We also have an ongoing problem with mildew on the walls due to excessive humidity (which condenses on the interior north wall), so this year we're actually leaving the (nice insulative PVC) windows cracked instead of closed in order to promote air flow (like the old drafty windows did automatically). That means the thermostat is set for 20 C during the day at 14 C at night, even though the air temp is actually a bit lower due to the draft. So far it's working out much better than last winter (when the mildew really got out of hand).

-Z

Jomar

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #122 on: December 01, 2014, 02:38:15 PM »
We normally keep the thermostat at 19C (66F), but for two weeks in November my wife and son went to Mexico with my mother-in-law, so I had the house to myself. At first I turned the thermostat down to 16C (61F), but found I really wasn't uncomfortable at all, so turned it down to 14C (57F). Given a couple of more days of acclimating, I think 12 or 13C (54/55F) would have been doable. With the weather we've been having (getting down into the low -20s Celsius), walking into 14 felt fine, and 16 felt balmy! Family is home again, so thermostat is back at 19C- I've been baking at night.

innkeeper77

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #123 on: December 01, 2014, 02:43:29 PM »
This is highly space dependent- in our apartment it is VERY drafty, with terrible windows- we set it to 68 and are still cold. Our new house (we bought a fixer upper- and have some overlap which is nice for doing the major work) feels the same when set to 64... and it is even drafty with bad windows! When we fix the windows and doors I bet we can get it down to 62.

We do turn it down at night and when we are at work though. (We have a cat, but she stays in the warmest area of the apartment most of the time anyway)

Bob W

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #124 on: December 01, 2014, 02:59:54 PM »
I'm such a wuss now that the high is 20 outside!  Reading this makes me cold.  So I ran the math.  Our groundsource heat pump runs about $95 per month for 5 months in the winter.   It is pretty damn efficient for our 3100 sq ft Midwest mcmansion.   So heat cost us $475 at 68.  If I go to 60 it'll cost 355.  For me I'm paying that extra $125 per year.   I'll keep it in mind though and turn down at night, while at work or away from home.  So I might make $425 total for the winter.  For my sins I will not turn on the AC until July 4th!

ThermionicScott

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #125 on: December 01, 2014, 05:52:05 PM »
65F when we're home (weeknights, weekend days)
60F when we're asleep/at work

I ain't no martyr.

This is really close to what we do -- 65°F/18°C when we're at home (including being asleep), 58-60°F/15°C when we're not home.  If freezing pipes weren't a concern, I'd let it get much colder.

RetiredAt63

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #126 on: December 06, 2014, 11:23:43 AM »
I am at 19C during the day, 16C at night.  I notice a lot of condensation on the windows first thing in the morning, and if I leave the setting at 16C on a cloudy day the condensation never evaporates.  Not good for the house.  So I pop it to 19 and it does evaporate.  On a sunny day the furnace never comes on, the solar gain (sun low in sky) is enough.

Is anyone else in this situation?  I have wondered if just leaving the fan on all night would help.  Right now it is only on when the furnace is running.  Not sure I want to have to listen to it all night though.

mochila

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #127 on: December 10, 2014, 08:00:04 PM »
50°F (10°C). We have mild winters. The coldest it's gotten this year is the mid 20s, so the heat hasn't yet kicked in once. My trick isn't one, really: layering. I'm wearing a fleece hoodie over a t-shirt over a thermal top and yoga pants—same things I wore at work today. And no, at 100 lbs, my body isn't exorbitantly well padded.

My 500 sf apartment uses electric heat. My average power bill the past three years has been $15.32. The last time the heat came on, for maybe two nights, that amount leapt (comparatively) to $22.55.

Jomar

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #128 on: December 12, 2014, 12:48:38 PM »
I am at 19C during the day, 16C at night.  I notice a lot of condensation on the windows first thing in the morning, and if I leave the setting at 16C on a cloudy day the condensation never evaporates.  Not good for the house.  So I pop it to 19 and it does evaporate.  On a sunny day the furnace never comes on, the solar gain (sun low in sky) is enough.

Is anyone else in this situation?  I have wondered if just leaving the fan on all night would help.  Right now it is only on when the furnace is running.  Not sure I want to have to listen to it all night though.

This is probably indicative of sub-optimal humidity control and/or ventilation in the house. Let me guess- your house was built in the 70s or 80s? That or you upgraded your insulation and sealed up an older home? The house might be too tightly sealed for the ventilation you have in place. Older homes normally didn't have mechanical ventilation (though they brought fresh air in through the furnace), and relied on the fact the house wasn't sealed all that well to allow humidity and dank air to escape. Even when they started building better sealed houses in the 70s and 80s, they didn't think about ventilation all that much. Newer homes will have mechanical ventilation systems in place to take care of this, which might be something (a little expensive) to consider. It would improve your indoor air quality. That is, if what I'm saying is true. I have no info to base this on, just a hunch! A dehumidifier would also take care of the humidity problem, but they are expensive to run. And if you have a mechanical ventilation system in place, it might just need some adjustment. Or if you're running a whole home humidifier, you may want to turn it down.

josstache

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #129 on: December 13, 2014, 09:00:44 PM »
My apartment is stupidly cold and heating costs are stupidly high.  This winter we've mostly been using a small electric heater and bundling up.  The apartment hovers between 12 and 15 C (54 to 59 F), but we will need to turn on the heat if it gets colder.

RetiredAt63

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #130 on: December 14, 2014, 10:21:42 AM »
Hi Jomar

Thanks for the thoughtful reply.  The house was built in 2000, good insulation (I know because it cools slowly during power failures).

There is some sort of ventilation / heat exchange thingy that I never bothered to run because it was never an issue before, when I kept the house warmer and more winter days were sunnier (it's been very cloudy this year, depressing).  Not sure I even have the manual (installed before I bought the house).  It is time to go online and see how it works.  Do you have any general tips/suggestions about best practice?

Given our electricity prices (and dropping fuel oil prices), it may still be more cost effective to heat the house a bit more instead of running the air exchange.  Carbon footprint is probably about the same either way.

This is probably indicative of sub-optimal humidity control and/or ventilation in the house. Let me guess- your house was built in the 70s or 80s? That or you upgraded your insulation and sealed up an older home? The house might be too tightly sealed for the ventilation you have in place. Older homes normally didn't have mechanical ventilation (though they brought fresh air in through the furnace), and relied on the fact the house wasn't sealed all that well to allow humidity and dank air to escape. Even when they started building better sealed houses in the 70s and 80s, they didn't think about ventilation all that much. Newer homes will have mechanical ventilation systems in place to take care of this, which might be something (a little expensive) to consider. It would improve your indoor air quality. That is, if what I'm saying is true. I have no info to base this on, just a hunch! A dehumidifier would also take care of the humidity problem, but they are expensive to run. And if you have a mechanical ventilation system in place, it might just need some adjustment. Or if you're running a whole home humidifier, you may want to turn it down.

dragoncar

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #131 on: December 15, 2014, 07:00:17 PM »
I'm starting to get a little bit discouraged here. I got my latest power bill, and calculating the averages from this year to last year, it appears that there's ONLY around .30 cents per DAY difference setting the thermostat down as low as 59-60F. That's compared to keeping it around 64F. That .30 cents per day is only calculating the gas side of the bill, I didn't as of yet also correlate it with the extra electricity it might take at a higher temp setting, therefore possibly running the blower fan longer.

That's with a 2005 installed 95% efficient natural gas furnace, and 1992 1500sq ft modular ranch house, that's built very tight. The only other difference since last year to affect gas usage, is that I added 15" of blown in insulation to the attic on 11/04/2014. That was blown in on top of the R22~ fiberglass batts that was already there.

I'll know better after a full year of averaging the power bill with the new insulation addition, but .30 cents a day doesn't seem quite worth being obsessed in keeping it real low.

By FAR the ONE thing that made a serious difference in lowering the electricity side of my power bill this year, was changing ALL the light bulbs to Cree LED's from fluorescent. That includes the bulbs in the refrigerator, and the sensor controlled driveway spotlights. The electric side of the bill has gone down over 30%! Installing the led bulbs was the first thing I did after discovering MMM, and reading through the whole blog from beginning to end.

Wow, only a fraction of a Penny per day!

MikeBear

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #132 on: December 15, 2014, 08:12:22 PM »
I'm starting to get a little bit discouraged here. I got my latest power bill, and calculating the averages from this year to last year, it appears that there's ONLY around .30 cents per DAY difference setting the thermostat down as low as 59-60F. That's compared to keeping it around 64F. That .30 cents per day is only calculating the gas side of the bill, I didn't as of yet also correlate it with the extra electricity it might take at a higher temp setting, therefore possibly running the blower fan longer.

That's with a 2005 installed 95% efficient natural gas furnace, and 1992 1500sq ft modular ranch house, that's built very tight. The only other difference since last year to affect gas usage, is that I added 15" of blown in insulation to the attic on 11/04/2014. That was blown in on top of the R22~ fiberglass batts that was already there.

I'll know better after a full year of averaging the power bill with the new insulation addition, but .30 cents a day doesn't seem quite worth being obsessed in keeping it real low.

By FAR the ONE thing that made a serious difference in lowering the electricity side of my power bill this year, was changing ALL the light bulbs to Cree LED's from fluorescent. That includes the bulbs in the refrigerator, and the sensor controlled driveway spotlights. The electric side of the bill has gone down over 30%! Installing the led bulbs was the first thing I did after discovering MMM, and reading through the whole blog from beginning to end.

Wow, only a fraction of a Penny per day!

30 cents a day, is "only a fraction of a Penny per day"?

How do you figure that?

tofuchampion

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #133 on: December 15, 2014, 08:50:37 PM »
I'm starting to get a little bit discouraged here. I got my latest power bill, and calculating the averages from this year to last year, it appears that there's ONLY around .30 cents per DAY difference setting the thermostat down as low as 59-60F. That's compared to keeping it around 64F. That .30 cents per day is only calculating the gas side of the bill, I didn't as of yet also correlate it with the extra electricity it might take at a higher temp setting, therefore possibly running the blower fan longer.

That's with a 2005 installed 95% efficient natural gas furnace, and 1992 1500sq ft modular ranch house, that's built very tight. The only other difference since last year to affect gas usage, is that I added 15" of blown in insulation to the attic on 11/04/2014. That was blown in on top of the R22~ fiberglass batts that was already there.

I'll know better after a full year of averaging the power bill with the new insulation addition, but .30 cents a day doesn't seem quite worth being obsessed in keeping it real low.

By FAR the ONE thing that made a serious difference in lowering the electricity side of my power bill this year, was changing ALL the light bulbs to Cree LED's from fluorescent. That includes the bulbs in the refrigerator, and the sensor controlled driveway spotlights. The electric side of the bill has gone down over 30%! Installing the led bulbs was the first thing I did after discovering MMM, and reading through the whole blog from beginning to end.

Wow, only a fraction of a Penny per day!

30 cents a day, is "only a fraction of a Penny per day"?

How do you figure that?

You didn't say 30 cents per day, you said ".30 cents," which is point-three cents, aka 3/10 of a cent, etc.  ;)

frugalnacho

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #134 on: December 16, 2014, 08:01:00 AM »
You didn't say 30 cents per day, you said ".30 cents," which is point-three cents, aka 3/10 of a cent, etc.  ;)

Maybe he works at verizon?

http://verizonmath.blogspot.com/

For those of you who don't know, verizon told this guy the data charge was 0.02 cents/MB, then charged him 0.02 dollars/MB, and when he called to argue it he got stone walled by idiots that couldn't understand the difference.  It was quite humorous, but also very sad.

MrSal

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #135 on: January 29, 2015, 06:07:09 PM »
here in the house we keep it at 65 when at home and then 50 when asleep out of the house...

weve seen a big difference... usually -50% savings when compared to last year when we ran the thermostat around the clock

we live in central PA...

we've gone from using 150 therms last january to about 70 therms this year...

dragoncar

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #136 on: January 29, 2015, 08:16:24 PM »
Spring has sprung in CA!  Who has turned off their heat for the spring? :-p

Dexterous

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #137 on: January 30, 2015, 05:17:48 AM »
I think at less than 60F I could move to the 2nd floor of a 3 floor apartment and be kept in that range for no heating cost... assuming the windows are effecient.  :P

Guesl982374

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #138 on: January 31, 2015, 01:30:11 PM »
60-62 F

PencilThinMust

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #139 on: January 31, 2015, 01:36:39 PM »
I have 3 yr old twins, if not, I would be able to compete.

Longwaytogo

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #140 on: February 02, 2015, 09:55:46 AM »
I have 3 yr old twins, if not, I would be able to compete.

I have a 2 and 4 year old and watch my 1 year old niece 5 days a week. We keep the house at 65F daytime, 60F at night. They are adjusted now, usually they refuse to even wear socks.

Its been a pretty big savings since our old 70 day 68 night clown ness.

MrSal

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #141 on: February 02, 2015, 11:59:18 AM »
I was still working abroad last year while my wife was at our houseb here in the US. Comparing to this year her bills were astronomical.

She kept it at 69/70 24/7 during winter falling into the fallacy that "it costs more to reheat than keep at same temperature".

This winter we've been keeping it at 65 when we're home and 51 when asleep or out of the house.

If it were up to me I'd keep it at 50 most time. The other day she went away for a few days and I didn't fell uncomfortable all the way until 48 F ... If I kept still like watching TV for a long time only my hands would fell a little cold and only if exposed... Other than that it was fine.

Our bills went down about 60-70% because of the change ... And if it weren't for my wife when getting out of bed in the morning wanting the house heated all the way to 65 again just to take a shower and dress up ... we'd cut another 25% of our current bill.

I think it's wasteful to heat the whole house back up (which takes about 45 min) when you only spend 25 min to shower and dress up and be out the door for the day...

But hey it was already a big victory convincing her of the new tempos ... She still doesn't appreciate it much but when I see her in shorts bare feet and at shirt I tell her she doesn't get to complain under that dress code :D ... At the end of the year she will appreciate the fact our savings total almost 700 bucks which is a flight ticket to Europe

TheThirstyStag

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #142 on: February 02, 2015, 03:44:42 PM »
She kept it at 69/70 24/7 during winter falling into the fallacy that "it costs more to reheat than keep at same temperature".

I, too, face a lot of push back on that. 

Is there any good article that explains why it's good to drop the temperature for a certain time, and why they generally recommend at least 8 hours of "down time" to make the drop economical?

MrSal

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #143 on: February 02, 2015, 07:39:18 PM »
Several.

I think energy.gov even has a few articles.

You can expect 1% savings per degree per each 8 hours period.

Of course our 50+% savings comes mostly from the 16 hours set back at the low 50s - we pay now about 75$ per month in January temperatures. This is northeast US and we only have about 6-8 inches of fiberglass insulation in the attic - which has a big stairwell to the main living area where it's not that well weatherized (wood door only with no stripping etc etc) ... I need to address that in the spring. Will try to raise it to R-50 at least and insulate the stairwell as well changing the basement windows. I bet a lot of cold air gets sucked in from those single pane 50 year old windows

TheThirstyStag

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #144 on: February 17, 2015, 07:14:18 AM »
Several.

I think energy.gov even has a few articles.

You can expect 1% savings per degree per each 8 hours period.

Of course our 50+% savings comes mostly from the 16 hours set back at the low 50s - we pay now about 75$ per month in January temperatures. This is northeast US and we only have about 6-8 inches of fiberglass insulation in the attic - which has a big stairwell to the main living area where it's not that well weatherized (wood door only with no stripping etc etc) ... I need to address that in the spring. Will try to raise it to R-50 at least and insulate the stairwell as well changing the basement windows. I bet a lot of cold air gets sucked in from those single pane 50 year old windows


What I'm still trying to figure out is if the 8 hour period is absolute.  Does the % savings per degree drop off exponentially if the period is less than 8 hours?

I ask, because I bought a programmable thermostat on clearance and although even the default program has an 8 hour temp drop overnight, it has a "recovery mode" where it kicks in early so it heats up to the desired temp before you wake up.

For example, the thermostat's default program was set for 70 degrees at 10pm, then 62 overnight until 6am when it sets at 70 again.  This is an 8 hour period, but with the default "recovery mode", it actually kicks the heat on over an hour before 6am, so the heat is off for a net of 6-7 hours. 

In my situation, I have it set for 67 until 11pm, then 60 until 8 am.  Recovery mode kicks the heat on at 6am because it takes 2 hours for my house to warm back up to 67.  Heat is only off for 7 hours, despite the 9 hour program gap. 

Essentially, I'm trying to figure out if I'm accomplishing anything by having my heat off for 7 hours. 

BlueMR2

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #145 on: February 17, 2015, 10:40:11 AM »
Now running 70F in the house.  We hit -12F the other night and have a couple of -14F in the forecast.  Combine that with plumbing that is run through the exterior walls, and we have to turn the heat up at these temperatures to keep our pipes from freezing.  :-(

mochila

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #146 on: February 20, 2015, 04:15:21 AM »
It's -4 F outside. My thermostat is still at 50 F, but the heat has been coming on periodically ever since I returned from a work trip Monday. I imagine it had been going while I was gone.

My January power bill registered my usage at 42 kWh ($12.48). February's will be considerably more.

lizzzi

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #147 on: February 20, 2015, 06:55:40 AM »
I've managed to get the thermostat down to 60 degrees F. except for around 20 hours per week when little children are here, and I crank it up to 65 degrees Fahrenheit. What annoys me is the service charges that are levied before the actual usage even appears on the bill. For the gas bill, there is a $25.00 basic service charge, and for the electric bill (furnace fan uses a lot of electricity), there is a $42.00 service charge. So there is no way to escape those, no matter how low I keep the thermostat.

netskyblue

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #148 on: February 20, 2015, 08:44:00 AM »
I'm a wimp compared to you guys.  I just DID turn my thermo down a couple degrees, it's now 73 in the morning while I'm getting ready for work, 65 during the day when I'm gone, 74 when I'm home in the evenings, and 65 from 10:00 to 5 am.  10:00 has the effect of making me go to bed sooner (and thus turn off the computer & lights) because I can't stand 65 degrees awake.

80 is my "comfy" temp.  So I'm basically BURIED in blankets, teeth chattering at 73-74. 

76-77 I'm ok if I'm wearing a lot of layers.  80 is t-shirt & jeans.  I miss summer.

lizzzi

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Re: Poll: winter thermostat badassity
« Reply #149 on: February 20, 2015, 11:04:10 AM »
There's a lot to be said for quality of life, netskyblue. You can only do what you can do. Hey, we're all here to support each other…so do what you need to do, and save money in other ways.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!