Yes, HVAC guy, I DO want it set at 64*.

[Villanelle]

OUr landlord pays to have semi-annual servicing of the HVAC system.  They guys who come are always friendly and knowledgeable.  They are timely and polite, and generally I really like the company and impressed with the customer service. (which is good, because it's not like I--as a lowly renter--have any choice in the matter anyway).

Something that they do causes the 2 thermostats to need to be reset, and each time, they reprogram them for me.  (See what I mean about polite and helpful?).  They guy today could not believe that I wanted the heat set at 64 for when we are awake and home.  "that's what you want for during the night, right?"  No sir.  That's my daytime temp for the main floor.  The upstairs is 61* during the day, since if I'm up there I'm usually doing housework so I'm moving around.  Sometimes, I feel like 64* is a luxury and I could probably drop it another degree or two, but clearly, to him 64* is low.  Once I assured him that's what I want, I ask what most people do and he said he usually sees between 68 and 71.  71!!!!!!!!   I guess if you want to sip iced tea in shorts and bare feet during the winter, that's what you need to do.

[Just Joe]

I aspire to be more like you. We're at 66F right now. Once everyone gets used to that I'll quietly move it down to 65F. Not sure I can push it much further down without buy in by the family.

Still, seems smart considering the price of things this year.

[SunnyDays]

I always keep my thermostat set at 18C/64F in the winter.  Some days, if I'm very active in the house, it's at 17C.
Right now, it was 18C in the house and I shut off the furnace and opened the windows for some air.  It's 8C outside, but sunny and not windy.  Works for me.

We've been warned that utility bills may be increasing as much as 300% this winter.  I assume most people will either go broke or die of the cold, lol.

[Tigerpine]

In Boston during the winter, landlords are required by law to provide heaters that can provide a minimum of 68 deg during the day.

https://www.boston.gov/departments/311/home-heating-help-tenants

Having said that, we personally keep ours set between 55F and 58F.

[Just Joe]

Back when I was a bachelor I heated the little cottage house I lived in by setting the thermostat as low as it would go. When that was too warm I started switching it off when I was away.

[Not Sure]

My wife and I were watching a cooking show one time where, IIRC, Julia Child instructed to let something sit at "a nice room temperature; 62 or 63-degrees."  We've gotten a lot of laughs out of that but I suspect it wasn't really a joke back in the day.

[Adventine]

This thread made me go and check our temp.


It's at 64F right now, which is about the maximum this tropical girl can stand. I am already wearing a long-sleeved thermal top, thermal leggings, jeans, thick socks, thick housecoat and a woolen beanie. AND I've been nursing cups of hot water and soup all day. AND I have a space heater. AND I set up the house layout so that I'm usually hanging out in the warmest parts of the house.


I'm not sick. I just grew up in a tropical climate and 64F is the bleeding edge of what I can take without starting a fight with my spouse.

[Villanelle]

I aspire to be more like you. We're at 66F right now. Once everyone gets used to that I'll quietly move it down to 65F. Not sure I can push it much further down without buy in by the family.

Still, seems smart considering the price of things this year.

It's only very recently gotten cold here, and I'll admit that I'm struggling with it a bit right now.  I know I'll adapt and in a few weeks it will be fine. For now, I'm allowing a small space heater or our gas fireplace to get the family room up to 67*.  That's the space where I spend the most time sitting, so I'm the coldest.  Over the next few weeks I'll push that down a degree at a time, until i reach the point where I'm comfortable at 64.  I may even aim for 63 this year, as a hedge against inflation. 

[Alternatepriorities]

My thermostat is set at 56 downstairs. I spend most of my time upstairs where is is usually a couple degrees warmer. However I also have a woodstove upstairs so I am cheating a bit here. I cut and split all my own wood, so I probably spend less than $60 a year on wood heat.

[RetiredAt63]

My wife and I were watching a cooking show one time where, IIRC, Julia Child instructed to let something sit at "a nice room temperature; 62 or 63-degrees."  We've gotten a lot of laughs out of that but I suspect it wasn't really a joke back in the day.

Historically, red wine was also considered a room temperature wine when room temperatures were in the low 60s (and high 50s).

[NorthernMonkey]

We're at 17C, which is 63F. I need to keep my socks on or I get cold feet quick. , but the 2 year old seems quite happy to run about with almost nothing on, and the baby soon shouts if she isn't happy.

70f is 21c. Thats straight up sweaty and uncomfortable for the winter.

[Dave1442397]

I grew up cold, and I'm not going through the rest of my life cold. My heat is set at 72 during the day, and 62 at night.

A/C is set to 75 during the day, and 68 at night.

[LD_TAndK]

I aspire to be more like you. We're at 66F right now.

I notice the same temperature settings in different houses can feel much different. So one house where 64 is comfy might be frigid in yours. My in-laws have an ancient barely insulated house where the furnace is constantly running, and 62 feels plenty warm. Maybe the constant warm airflow, or poor thermostat placement, I have no idea.

[Sanitary Stache]

Thermostat thermometer in the kitchen says it’s 51 this morning. The furnace has not been turned on yet this winter. I don’t trust the thermostat on it so it gets set to 58 as a backup. It is a few feet from the wood stove, so as long as a fire is going the furnace doesn’t turn on. The fire place can get the downstairs above 70. Short temperatures.
It felt like 50s in the bedrooms last night and colder in the bathroom where the window is junk.
38 degrees outside as the sun comes up.

I think I’ll start a fire.

It’s usually in the 50s upstairs in my office during the day. I layer up to work and then I have to take layers off to go outside. I have some clothes that I wear as a layer sitting in a 50 degree room but can’t wear by itself moving outside in 20 degrees.

[wageslave23]

I grew up cold, and I'm not going through the rest of my life cold. My heat is set at 72 during the day, and 62 at night.

A/C is set to 75 during the day, and 68 at night.

Same temps for me. An extra $1 or $2 a day is not even worth my time to think about.  I set it for comfort without a thought to cost.

[MrGreen]

I suspect that if I set our thermostat in the mid-60s it would rarely ever come on because of where we live. I have sensory issues with heavy bedding though so a cold house overnight would be a problem for me.

[BlueMR2]

We've been warned that utility bills may be increasing as much as 300% this winter.  I assume most people will either go broke or die of the cold, lol.

Yeah, the big headlines here have been "heating prices to increase 3x".  Then when you read the details they say that the expected increase is 27%.  Uhhhh, what kind of math is this?

[Dicey]

Our main living area has 14' ceilings. We learned long ago it takes more energy to re-heat the space if we turn the heat down at night. Now we keep it at 65-66 all the time. This is offset by the fact that we rarely turn on the A/C in the summer. It is what it is.

[ChickenStash]

Now that I work from home I keep it at 68F daytime. I might drop it a bit as I get acclimated to winter temps, again. Weekends are set to 65F since I'll be more physically active. My WFH job is just hours of sitting in front of a computer pushing buttons so I'm not burning many calories. I don't really like being bundled up with heavy clothes when I'm trying to work.

[EvenSteven]

We've been warned that utility bills may be increasing as much as 300% this winter.  I assume most people will either go broke or die of the cold, lol.

Yeah, the big headlines here have been "heating prices to increase 3x".  Then when you read the details they say that the expected increase is 27%.  Uhhhh, what kind of math is this?

Depends on what X equals. If x equals the rate of inflation, and inflation in running at 9%, then 3 times the rate of inflation is 27%.

Post hoc rationalizations engaged!

[Villanelle]

I grew up cold, and I'm not going through the rest of my life cold. My heat is set at 72 during the day, and 62 at night.

A/C is set to 75 during the day, and 68 at night.

Same temps for me. An extra $1 or $2 a day is not even worth my time to think about.  I set it for comfort without a thought to cost.

It's not just the $350-750/yr (if your math is correct, and I suspect it might actually be more than that).  There's also an environmental impact.

And part of my point is that for my and my body, I don't actually feel especially cold.  During the beginning of the season when I'm adjust (and I also forget to dress as warmly as I need to and always wear my slippers), I feel a bit chilled.  But a in a few weeks, I will be comfortable at these temps, when dressed appropriately*.  If I start to get a chill, that is a great reminder that I need to get up and move around a bit, which heats me up enough, and is also good for me.

And no, that doesn't mean 7 pairs of pants and wool mittens inside.  usually a tee or tank, and then a thick sweater or sweatshirt layered over it, and some fleece-lined sweatpants are more than enough.  I do wear very thick socks, and then bootie-style flippers over them (which I take on and off as needed to help regulate my temps since I will get hot if I'm doing heavier housework).

[Rosy]

Almost noon here in Florida and it's 71 degrees in the house and 68F outside.
My favorite time of year - no AC, no heat and we can open the windows for the first time in months.

In the summer AC is set at 78/79 but to be comfortable sometimes I need to set it to 77F. When we leave the house we set it at 80F.
In the winter it usually gets into the fifties or occasionally below at night for a couple of months, we keep it around 65 to 69F, whatever feels comfortable.

We have the perfect winter comforter and lots of blankets to hang out in, warm and fuzzy clothing too. I'm picking up some flannel sheets today since our old ones are practically shredded and I wasn't able to find any thick, quality ones at a price I was willing to pay last year. Having a fan in the bedroom and living room helps too.

[wageslave23]

I grew up cold, and I'm not going through the rest of my life cold. My heat is set at 72 during the day, and 62 at night.

A/C is set to 75 during the day, and 68 at night.

Same temps for me. An extra $1 or $2 a day is not even worth my time to think about.  I set it for comfort without a thought to cost.

It's not just the $350-750/yr (if your math is correct, and I suspect it might actually be more than that).  There's also an environmental impact.

And part of my point is that for my and my body, I don't actually feel especially cold.  During the beginning of the season when I'm adjust (and I also forget to dress as warmly as I need to and always wear my slippers), I feel a bit chilled.  But a in a few weeks, I will be comfortable at these temps, when dressed appropriately*.  If I start to get a chill, that is a great reminder that I need to get up and move around a bit, which heats me up enough, and is also good for me.

And no, that doesn't mean 7 pairs of pants and wool mittens inside.  usually a tee or tank, and then a thick sweater or sweatshirt layered over it, and some fleece-lined sweatpants are more than enough.  I do wear very thick socks, and then bootie-style flippers over them (which I take on and off as needed to help regulate my temps since I will get hot if I'm doing heavier housework).

I have a pretty good idea of the cost/usage difference because I used to set the thermostat at 60 almost all day before work from home and getting married.  Then I got married and it got bumped up a little higher in the evening and night. Then I started working from home and switched to 68 during the day and 63 at night. Now we have a baby and it's 72 during the day and 68 at night. My heating bill was about $100 baseline. My therms used increased about 20-30%. Which would have increased my bill by about $30 per month hence the $1 per day estimate. But with the expected higher prices 20-30% translates closer to $60 per month which is the $2 per day estimate.  Environment and comfort should be the only real factors to consider. At least in my case.  I was really annoyed at first that I had to turn up the heat after getting married and then for the baby until I realized that it didn't affect the therms used much. My working from home has the biggest effect and that's BEYOND worth it.

[kanga1622]

You'd die at my house. I have my heat set at 72 for waking hours and I'm still in layers and wrapped in a blanket unless I'm cleaning. My internal thermostat is broken and I am either freezing or sweating - I have very little middle ground. On the other hand, I am very comfortable with the AC set at 80. But my poor dog and kids are not so we compromise at 76 and I need a blanket. :)

[bill1827]

We've been warned that utility bills may be increasing as much as 300% this winter.  I assume most people will either go broke or die of the cold, lol.

Yeah, the big headlines here have been "heating prices to increase 3x".  Then when you read the details they say that the expected increase is 27%.  Uhhhh, what kind of math is this?

Over here in the UK energy costs have gone up by 3 times since March and are likely to go up by nearly 5 times by next April. (A combination of international energy cost rises and utter incompetence by our useless government.)

Our living room is about 20C and the rest of the house about 18C. We'll be in desparate straits if the temperature goes down to 15C.

[Cranky]

We're 66 degrees in the daytime and 62 degrees at night and honestly, it's a little cold for me. If I get really chilled I have a hard time warming up. I love heat and could do without a/c in the summer. It's the rest of my household that loves the cold.

[HPstache]

There are some battles not worth fighting... we have ours set at 70 :(

[Villanelle]

Our nighttime temp is 57, and that's a compromise.  I'd likely set it at 50 is spouse didn't have other opinions, and even that is only because much colder and I'd worry about the pipes on the outer walls.  When we lived in germany, we'd leave the radiator off in our room.  Sometimes, I could lay in bed and see my breath, and it was glorious.  The feel of being in super cold air and having a ton of blankets, and then shedding blankets as needed (because I do sleep hot) is perfection.  Sadly, Spouse is no longer on board with that and I can't blame him.

But it was admitedly unpleasant when I had to get up and go to the bathroom in those temps.  In Japan, that was somewhat mitigated by the heated toilet seats.  The journey there might have been frigid, but once you sat down you were well taken-care-of.

[zygote]

I'm jealous of everyone's temperature control. HVAC systems are rare where I live, and the apartment I rent has no thermostat. It's all-building heating poles/radiators in the winter and window AC units in the summer.

Both my wife and I run hot and generally prefer lower temperatures. In the winter, we leave all the radiators off, and the poles still make the apartment hotter than we'd prefer. At least we don't pay for the heat (other than through our rent, I guess). In the summer, we pay an exorbitant amount for the electricity to run the window units and are usually still too hot.

If I had my way, I'd leave our apartment at 66F year round.

[dizzy]

I'm jealous of a lot of you.  My husband was a full time plumber, refuses to believe that a temperature below 71F in the house won't goof up the pipes.  It's so hot once the heat turns on.  I'd have it at 65F if we could.

[HPstache]

I'm jealous of a lot of you.  My husband was a full time plumber, refuses to believe that a temperature below 71F in the house won't goof up the pipes.  It's so hot once the heat turns on.  I'd have it at 65F if we could.

How could a plumber actually believe that?

[rantk81]

In the winter, 67F at night and 72F during the day.

In the summer, 73F all night and day.

The extra hundred dollars a month or so is worth it to me, to be comfortable in this regard.  I scrimp in other areas.

[Villanelle]

I'm jealous of a lot of you.  My husband was a full time plumber, refuses to believe that a temperature below 71F in the house won't goof up the pipes.  It's so hot once the heat turns on.  I'd have it at 65F if we could.

We have a bathroom on an outer wall, and it's the wall that gets the most wind, and it also seems to get the least heat from the central system.  When it's really cold, I set up an oil radiator heater in there.  It has a built in timer so I set it to run for 30 minutes, then off for an hour (I think that was the cycle), repeat, during the night when it is coldest out and we set the thermostat the lowest.  I set up a little digital thermometer in there on one of our first cold night, and it seems to keep things at least 60* in there, if not warmer.  I also open all the bathroom cabinets to let the warm air circulate to the pipes.  I hate using electricity to heat a bathroom unused overnight, but it allows us to keep the rest of the house cooler so overall I'm sure the net use is lover. 

[TomTX]

My wife and I were watching a cooking show one time where, IIRC, Julia Child instructed to let something sit at "a nice room temperature; 62 or 63-degrees."  We've gotten a lot of laughs out of that but I suspect it wasn't really a joke back in the day.

During the winter, the house I grew up in was set at 64F during the day, 62F at night.

[bmjohnson35]

Since we live in the south, we are conservative in the summer months.  We don't even use the heater in the winter.  We leave our unit in A/C mode year round.  The lowest I have ever seen it get in the house is 60F during an extended cold snap. 

[monarda]

We used to have the house set at 63-65 in the winter, now that we're older we like 67 daytime, 65 nights. We keep our heated bathroom floor tiles set to 70 in the coldest months. hmm... heated toilet seats in Japan. I like that idea. We keep the butt warmers turned on in our car for about half the year. We are well into butt-warmer season.

If we ever move, radiant heating will be key. I think I will like that.

When we have people over in winter (like for our NYE party), we turn the house up to 68 or 69 for the guests. I have to wear short sleeves, then. Much too warm for me.

We only turn on the AC in summer if the house gets to 80. It usually doesn't (thanks to shade trees) and the dehumidifier is sufficient to keep us comfortable. I freeze if the AC is set lower than 77.

[sonofsven]

Ok, I'm guilty of being the winter time shorts/t-shirt/barefoot guy with measured temps upward of 70* indoors. If it gets too hot I just open doors and windows as needed.
Of course, I don't have "push button heat" (snark), I heat with wood. I work hard gathering all that wood and I'm sure gonna use it.
I believe the wood stove to be the height of our inventions: a magic box, insert wood, out comes heat.

[iris lily]

If anyone here has pet cats, I am reporting you for  cat a use! Cats do not like tempe at 65 degrees F.
Do not torture your cats that way! Aren’t they in charge around your house? Haha.

[coppertop]

I'm 67 and have a thyroid condition, so I am either freezing or sweating.  We set the thermostat at 68 during the day, 62 at night.  It's 10:15 a.m. right now and my hands are freezing.  We are trying to keep the bills down, so I am dealing with it.

[kanga1622]

I'm 67 and have a thyroid condition, so I am either freezing or sweating.  We set the thermostat at 68 during the day, 62 at night.  It's 10:15 a.m. right now and my hands are freezing.  We are trying to keep the bills down, so I am dealing with it.

We could live together quite happily. I have a space heater on me all day long at work or my fingers are so tight I can't type. Never thought that my thyroid condition was perhaps why my internal thermostat when haywire but it makes sense. Grab a cup of tea or hot chocolate in a nice ceramic mug to help warm up your hands. Or just hold a cup of hot water for awhile.

[Villanelle]

I'm 67 and have a thyroid condition, so I am either freezing or sweating.  We set the thermostat at 68 during the day, 62 at night.  It's 10:15 a.m. right now and my hands are freezing.  We are trying to keep the bills down, so I am dealing with it.

We could live together quite happily. I have a space heater on me all day long at work or my fingers are so tight I can't type. Never thought that my thyroid condition was perhaps why my internal thermostat when haywire but it makes sense. Grab a cup of tea or hot chocolate in a nice ceramic mug to help warm up your hands. Or just hold a cup of hot water for awhile.

Yes, in the winter, I have a hot beverage of some kind available much of the day.  Heats me from the inside if needed, and depending on what I put it in, can also serve as a hand warmer.  I also sometimes wear knit fingerless gloves.  Ifind that my extremities run quite cold, even when the rest of me is comfortable. Putting on another sweater or even turning up the heat might make the rest of me too hot.  So thick socks, slippers, gloves (thin and fingerless so they don't affect my dexterity), and a hot tea are perfect.  Hands and feet get the disproportionate heat they need and the rest of my stays comfortable.

[trc4897]

I used to keep the house at 65 during the day and 60 at night in the winter. Not for any money saving reasons but because I just run hot. Now that I am married we keep it at 55 while we are at work, 68-69 when we're home and 62 at night. My wife runs cooler, so she is in pants and long sleeves in the house in winter and I am in shorts and a tshirt lol. I did a bunch of home air sealing in the last year and my wife has already noticed how the house feels more comfortable to her even though we are keeping it at the same temperature as last year. Must have sealed up enough drafts to help

Summer we do 80 while we are at work, 76 when we're home, and 74 at night. Ceiling fan right above helps me feel a lot cooler in bed

[bacchi]

If anyone here has pet cats, I am reporting you for  cat a use! Cats do not like tempe at 65 degrees F.
Do not torture your cats that way! Aren’t they in charge around your house? Haha.

We use a cat heating pad with a snuggly blanket around it.

[ATtiny85]

If anyone here has pet cats, I am reporting you for  cat a use! Cats do not like tempe at 65 degrees F.
Do not torture your cats that way! Aren’t they in charge around your house? Haha.

We like that it pushes the cats to cuddle more with us. They stay away during the 74F summer temp, but get in close with the 65F winter temp.

[trc4897]

If anyone here has pet cats, I am reporting you for  cat a use! Cats do not like tempe at 65 degrees F.
Do not torture your cats that way! Aren’t they in charge around your house? Haha.

Never would have guessed 65 was too cold for a cat. My dog lovesssss when we keep the house cooler in the winter! Granted she is an American Eskimo so she has a very warm winter coat. She'll also refuse to come in the house when we let her out in the snow. Too much fun to run around and play in it! haha

She doesn't like in the summer when we let it get up to 80 when we're at work, but she just lays in our finished basement where its never above 70

[Cranky]

If anyone here has pet cats, I am reporting you for  cat a use! Cats do not like tempe at 65 degrees F.
Do not torture your cats that way! Aren’t they in charge around your house? Haha.

I bought my very elderly cat a heated bed for this reason!

[iris lily]

If anyone here has pet cats, I am reporting you for  cat a use! Cats do not like tempe at 65 degrees F.
Do not torture your cats that way! Aren’t they in charge around your house? Haha.

We like that it pushes the cats to cuddle more with us. They stay away during the 74F summer temp, but get in close with the 65F winter temp.

Sing it baby! I have a new cat who, while  very affectionate, will not sit on my lap and will not let me cuddle him. I get to pick him up for about 10 seconds and then he wiggles to be put down.

I’m toying  with the idea of freezing him out so that he seeks me out To sit on me for body warm.

[clarkfan1979]

I'm in southern Colorado and I haven't turned on the heat yet. Unfortunately I think that day is tomorrow (Sunday). A cold front is approaching.

I'm pretty sure my basement is warmer than my upstairs. Is that possible?

[lukebuz]

I keep mine at 33* in winter.  I tried to bump it down to 32*, but for some reason my kitchen and bathroom taps kept clogging up.  Anyone have any idea why? 
Anyways, it's not that big of a deal.  Wife left me and took the kids years ago, so it's just me. 

[coppertop]

I'm in southern Colorado and I haven't turned on the heat yet. Unfortunately I think that day is tomorrow (Sunday). A cold front is approaching.

I'm pretty sure my basement is warmer than my upstairs. Is that possible?

We find our basement is warmer than our first floor. (first year in this house).  We believe it's on account of the dehumidifier that is on almost all of the time.