during day - noone home - what does thermostat need to be set on?

[imgoingtodisney]

?

 

[wdwnutze]

I always set it at 63 but I just saw something on the news saying that during this cold snap it should go no lower than 65 so the pipes won't freeze. Looks like I'll have to reset our digital thermostat.

 

[Mermaid02]

My uncle is a plumber/electrician/heating technician and he says you actually use MORE oil/energy to bring your home back up to temperature than you do if you leave it at a constant while you are gone. He recommends NOT turning it down when you leave... unless of course you are going to be gone for an extended period of time.

 

[Nancy]

Mine stays at 68 24 hours a 24/7. My gas bills are much lower than people I know that turn them down when they sleep or go to work. I personnally don't see how it saves on gas when it's set lower if the furnace has to run for a few hours to reheat the house to a higher temp. JMHO

 

[believe]

With DH and I on opposite shifts someone is usually always home, so it remains 70-72...the girls bedrooms seem to stay on the cool side if we go any lower.

 

[helenabear]

We have ours set to 60 I think during the day. We don't want it much colder than that because then the cats would really not like us too much They seem fine with that and it usually doesn't get down to 60 anyway during the day according to my DH who used to be at home during a week day.

 

[aprincessmom]

something on the news saying that during this cold snap it should go no lower than 65 so the pipes won't freeze

I saw that this morning, too. With today's highs only expected to reach single digits, it's good advice.

 

[yasuern]

usually its set to 65ish - But because of the cold spell we are in here in MA - I have ours up to 72ish all day and all night - we also are keeping our water trickling to prevent the pipes from freezing and hopeful avoid them bursting - also we have our cabinet under the sink were the pipes are open to help keep them warm. HURRY UP SPRING!!!

 

[Towncrier]

60 during the day when nobody is home.
68 at night when everyone is sleeping.
70 the rest of the time.

 

[wvjules]

Mine is always on 70 for the reasons mermaid states. During the summer I leave the air on 75, anything lower and I'm a popcicle.

 

[December99]

Ours is set to 62 during the week when no one is home. I actually forgot about it yesterday (we were home) and I started feeling cold...then I remembered....

 

[jipsy]

My uncle is a plumber/electrician/heating technician and he says you actually use MORE oil/energy to bring your home back up to temperature than you do if you leave it at a constant while you are gone. He recommends NOT turning it down when you leave... unless of course you are going to be gone for an extended period of time.

Can you ask him then why last year, when I left my thermostat at 66 all winter, my gas bills averaged $250/month and this year, when I set it at 58 when I'm gone, and 66 when I'm home, I'm averaging $100/month?

 

[Disney Doll]

We generally leave our thermostat on 68 all the time. If it really cold or my mother is coming over (she really feels the cold) we'll shoot it up to 70-72 for a while. We feel that it's better to pick a temperature and leave it there, rather than all the up and down. I think if the house is allowed to cool while you're at work all day, then the furnace has to work that much harder and use that much more fuel to bring the temp back up again once you get home.

 

[tiggerlover]

65-68

 

[ead79]

Ours is set at 70 during the day, 68 at night while we're sleeping, and 72 (or 73 if my mom and I get our way ) during the evening when we're home.

 

[Doctor P]

Our programmable thermostat adjusts so that it gets to temperature when you want it to and keeps track of its ability to do that from day to day. Very, very efficient.

 

[Towncrier]

Just to clear up a common misconception. The furnace doesn't work any harder to warm your house up than it does to keep it at a constant temperature. Most furnaces have only two settings. On and off. If you keep track of how many minutes your furnace is on, you will realize it takes only a few minutes to raise the temperature of your home from 60 to 70 degrees. Your furnace will be on longer than that to maintain a temperature of 70 degrees all day.

I think that people are confused by the advice to leave air conditioners on all the time. This is a totally different problem. If you turn you A/C off in the summertime and open windows, you are letting moist air into your homes. Air conditioners have to then remove that excess moisture in the process of cooling your house back down. If you turn your A/C off while you are gone AND leave the house closed off to outside humidity, you will save energy.

We choose to leave our A/C set at a constant temperature throughout the cooling season, mostly because there is always someone home. But when we leave on vacation, we shut it off. And we save a bundle on electricity during our two weeks away.

To each her (or his) own.

 

[katerkat]

When I had baseboard heaters, the house was freezing all the time. Don't know the temp because there was no thermometer/thermostat. My cats had thick coats.
When we had oil heat, 68 degrees all the time, but I was home almost all day then.
Now, it's 72-76 all day. But we don't pay for heat. If we did, it'd be lower. The cats don't have very thick coats at this place, either.