How cold/warm is your house?

[MissCrabette]

Since GMW brought this up in another thread, I'm wondering what temperature you keep your thermostat at. How do you save on electricity?

My place is 62 during the day and 70 from 6 to 8 AM and from 6 to 10 PM. I use an oil-filled heater in the office during the day and in the bedroom at night. I open and close the curtains to take advantage of the sun and to prevent the heat from escaping. And yet... my last electric bill was through the roof. Granted, our rates supposedly went up 26%, but I also used more electricity. I'm seriously at a loss for what else I could do to lower our consumption. The only thing I can think of is that we have a private stairwell from the first floor entrance to the level of our apartment, and you can feel the temperature difference while walking upstairs. Not much I can do about that, huh?

[Michele]

Our rental house isn't sealed well. I keep the thermostat set to 70 and the house gets up to 62-64 if it's less than 45 outside, and the heat runs almost constantly. In our bedroom we can use a space heater at night, but I need the boys rooms to be warm enough for them to sleep. During the summer I tried to keep the house temp around 78 bc I was pregnant, and our bill was $400. I stopped staying at home and went to the mall to try to take advantage of their AC....we are doing heat we can, but the lack of insulation and proper sealing is beyond our control.

[diggitydot]

We use natural gas and electricity. During the day the heat pump is set at 68F and at night we have it set to go down to 65F.

[poky]

When we're at home and awake, it's set to about 68 (and despite the lack of insulation, it actually gets and stays there, even when outside temps are really low - the furnace is natural gas, and must be decent). During the day when we're both gone and at night, I think it's down about 58. The cat has fur, and a "nest" of sorts with a low-wattage light bulb that keeps it warm. At night, we have an electric blanket that keeps us toasty.

In the summer, I think we have it about 78, and we don't let it get much warmer than that at night, or we wouldn't sleep.

[SuzySunshine]

We keep ours at 68 during the day in the winter and drop it to 66 at night, we used to drop it to 64 but R's room got to cold at that temp.

[bokelley]

62 at night and 66 from 6-8am and 6-9pm. On weekend 66 as well. We have a electric fireplace and electric blanket so that is why it is so chilly. Never notice it until bathroom breaks in the wee hours... BRRRR that seat is cold!!!!

[spotty_dog]

We set ours at 66 during the day, 61 at night. That's not really telling the whole story though because the thermostat is on the main floor: sometimes the main floor is quite warm (eg. if the gas fireplace is on) so the heat doesn't kick in and the second floor gets kind of chilly. But conversely, heat rises, so when the main floor cools off (especially at night, with no curtains on the windows) the furnace kicks in a lot but the second floor is actually pretty toasty. Having a weird old house is fun.

In medical school in our poorly insulated Cleveland up-and-down we kept the thermostat in the 50s, relied on the downstairs neighbors' heat to keep our pipes from freezing, and just had a space heater and electric blanket in the bedroom. Brr.

[Chrisada]

We keep our house really warm and pay for it royally once a month. DH sets the thermostat, and right now it says its 76. We have plastic on the windows etc., but it still gets cold very easily.

[rainbabies]

63-65* upstairs and down. no AC (I actually have my bedroom window cracked and a fan blowing on me. )

[mommax3]

We keep it at 68 right now. We have a geothermal heat/cooling system, and it is very efficient. If the sun shines at all, even if it is cold, the house is often warmer than where we have set the thermostat....I guess due to the fact it is fairly new construction.

[MissCrabette]

That sounds interesting. You're going to have to tell me all about it, oh, say 10 years from now.

[peggyfromwastate]

We like it warm. It's set to about 70-72. I turn it down when I go out during the day, but nit much lower than 68.

In the summer we cool starting at 78.

[DCJenn]

In the winter at night the thermostat that controls the bedrooms is set at 66, the thermostat in the front (aka old/drafty) part of the house is set at 62 and upstairs the thermostat is set always on air conditioning at 92 degrees unless someone is staying up there. I need the A/C to ensure that the mold doesn't grow on the ceiling. We have the most fuel efficient system available at the time, and I've since replaced both storm doors. The windows are next but they have to be approved through the historic commission. In the summer it's much easier because my house is inherently cold. When it's 90+ outside it's usually set to the mid to upper 70s. I have the windows open from 65-85 degrees because it pisses me off to have to pay utility bills to entities that waste my money.

J

68 during the day, it would be lower but I work from home and despite wearing lots of layers I'm always freezing. 63-65 at night because I like a cool bedroom and a hot husband to sleep with.

In summer 72 or we use the swamp cooler, which gets it much cooler than the AC can and provides a little humidity in this crazy arid, high altitude climate.

[v-girl]

Winter - 70, all the other seasons - 77 (75 if we just can't take the heat)