Thermostat Setting
Napoleon
I keep my thermostat at 59 from 8am to 5pm and 9pm to 6am.
From 6am to 8am and 5pm to 9pm the thermostat is kept at 64. Is this
more frugal than keeping the thermostat set at 62 the entire day?
Would it be more worthwhile to keep the thermostat set lower at night
or would you use more gas just getting it up to 64 from say 56? I use
natural gas to heat and I am in upstate NY.
What are your thermostat settings, where do you live, what do you use
to heat, and did you see a savings last year from lowering it at
night?
-N
h
"Napoleon" <ana...@666yes.net> wrote in message
news:2d58i41djoa6ggfhf...@4ax.com...
We used to use a set-back and found no cost savings. I'm in upstate NY too,
and I have oil heat with three zones. The livingroom is kept at 50 unless
we're using it (rarely). The downstairs and upstairs zones are set at a
constant 60, 24x7. We work at home, so someone is in the house at all times.
We used to set it at 65 during the day and 55 at night, but there was no
cost savings as compared to just leaving it at 60 all the time. The house is
somewhere between 55-60 at all times, and that's plenty warm as long as you
wear a sweater or have several blankets on the bed.
Rod Speed
> An appropriate time of the year for this post.
> I keep my thermostat at 59 from 8am to 5pm and 9pm to 6am.
> From 6am to 8am and 5pm to 9pm the thermostat is kept at 64. Is
> this more frugal than keeping the thermostat set at 62 the entire day?
Should be, because you're at the higher temp for only 5 hours
a day and so the losses will be lower for the rest of the time.
It may be hard to see in the bill tho with such small temperature differences.
> Would it be more worthwhile to keep the thermostat set lower at night
Yes, because you would lose less heat during that time.
> or would you use more gas just getting it up to 64 from say 56?
No. You can get an effect like that with a heat pump, but not with gas.
phil scott
its frugal... it would be more fugal if you use a matress warmer and
set the stat to 50F at night.
Phil scott
Nicik Name
>
> -N
Dave Garland
> I keep my thermostat at 59 from 8am to 5pm and 9pm to 6am.
> From 6am to 8am and 5pm to 9pm the thermostat is kept at 64. Is this
> more frugal than keeping the thermostat set at 62 the entire day?
Probably. Heat loss is proportional to the difference in temperature
between inside and outside.
> Would it be more worthwhile to keep the thermostat set lower at night
> or would you use more gas just getting it up to 64 from say 56?
The only convincing situation I've heard of where "getting it up" is a
cost factor is people with heat pumps that kick in resistance heating
when faced with a strong demand. But they're probably not going to live
in upstate NY.
> What are your thermostat settings,
46F at night (electric mattress pad turned on when needed), 55F daytime,
more if my hands feel cold (wearing warm clothes takes care of the rest
of the body).
> where do you live,
Minneapolis. Probably 5-10F colder than upstate NY where I grew up
(Southern Tier, but depends on exactly where "upstate" means).
> what do you use to heat,
natural gas
>and did you see a savings last year from lowering it at
> night?
I've been doing this for years.
Dave
MarieD
I live in SC and I keep our thermostat at 69 in the winter, and about 74 in
the summer. It seems that the colder it is outside the colder it is in my
house, even if the thermostat says it's 73. Our heat is gas. And really I've
never tried to see if there was a difference in cost between lowering the
heat at night or leaving it. I'm fine with leaving it at one temp 24/7
(unless it's not cold enough outside, then I just turn it off.) We're having
a cold wave here right now so until today the heat hasn't been turned off
for the past few days. Also if it's sunny, the house is warmer.
We've only lived here a whole year. So I don't know how the cost will turn
out. During the summer, after the first couple of weeks of extreme heat, we
found that the air ducts were not connected to the vents properly and were
blowing cold air into the (badly insulated)attic. So after working on all
that, I assume our gas and summer electricity costs will be much lower this
next year!
Marie
Dave
>
> I live in SC and I keep our thermostat at 69 in the winter, and about 74
> in the summer. It seems that the colder it is outside the colder it is in
> my house, even if the thermostat says it's 73.
That's because of really low humidity in the winter. You can get a
whole-house humidifier. (to install on your furnace, or you can get a
standalone unit pretty cheaply...but you have to keep refilling it) You
want the humidity level to be about 40% year-round. It's probably 20% right
now. Do you have a lot of static electricity? Nose-bleeds? Dry skin? Low
humidity symptoms. -Dave
MarieD
news:gg5fvt$677$1...@nntp.motzarella.org...
> That's because of really low humidity in the winter. You can get a
> whole-house humidifier. (to install on your furnace, or you can get a
> standalone unit pretty cheaply...but you have to keep refilling it) You
> want the humidity level to be about 40% year-round. It's probably 20%
> right now. Do you have a lot of static electricity? Nose-bleeds? Dry
> skin? Low humidity symptoms. -Dave
Thanks- yes that is a major problem. I will look into this. I always loved
winter, but the heat inside buildings always wrecked my nose! And the kids
are constantly sliding their feet across the room and poking me.
Marie