Heating A House - Which Is More Economical?

[arminnie]

No 62 is 62. I have a jacket on now in my house and the temp is 74. 62 is unbearable to me.

It's a personal comfort level. After living with my eldery parent for the past 10 years with the heat on 85-90 (not kidding) I am THRILLED to be able to put on a sweater and leave the heat down in the 60s.

My dad is in HVAC, so he's qualified!

My dad was HVAC for decades - amazing how his reality of what the temp should be set at changed when he got into his 80s. He really became convinced that 78 was cold enough to kill you. And this was from a man who grew up in Detroit.

He was in the hospital for several weeks this summer. It was very hot outside (high 90s). He asked the nurses to come turn the heat on in his room. The a/c had been turned off long before - but he truly needed it to be at least 85 to be comfortable. His room was like an oven.

I've had more fun buying sweaters this fall. Our house was so hot that sometimes I would go outside in 20 degree weather with shorts, tank top and barefoot just to try to cool down. I didn't have any winter clothes.

Friends would come over on a cold wintry night, and on entering would say "Oh it feel so good and warm in here." But after about 15 minutes they would say - "Oh my gosh - it's really HOT in here."

 

[JR6ooo4]

It is harder to cool down oneself, compared to warming up...

I mean, if you kick off all the covers and you are still hot, what can you do but turn down the heat.

If you are cold, you can add a blanket, add an electrci blanket, socks etc...

but i woudl not want to wake up to a cold house either.

Mikeeee

 

[Kath2003]

Electric blankets cost a fortune; hot water bottles are the way forward

 

[JR6ooo4]

Electric blankets cost a fortune; hot water bottles are the way forward

Q: I set the furnace thermostat down at night, but the bedroom feels cold. Will using an electric blanket save energy overall? What are the most efficient ones and are there other tips for staying comfortable? - Sandi M.

A: Setting back the furnace thermostat at night can cut your utility bills by one to two percent for each degree you lower the temperature. If done properly at a lower temperature, your bedroom can be comfortable for sleeping and less drying to your nasal passages.
First, install a programmable clock thermostat. Program it so it does not lower the temperature until just after you are in bed and then raises it just before you awake in the morning. If you manually set a standard thermostat lower, the room will be very cold when you awake in the morning.
Using an electric blanket or mattress pad is an energy-saving method to stay comfortable all night long. I used an electric blanket for years, but recent switched to a dual control (one for each side) electric mattress pad. I prefer the warmth from below and less weight on top of me.
My queen-size mattress pad uses only 220 watts and it cycles on and off to maintain a steady temperature. The average electricity usage is less than 100 watts, about as much as a standard light bulb uses. When you compare this to cutting your heating bills by up to 10 percent, the savings are great.
The key differences among various brands and models of electric blankets and mattress pads are the controls and the heating wires. The best, but more expensive models, such as Sunbeam SlumberRest, use digital ambient controls. This circuitry senses as the room cools over night and automatically increases the heat output to compensate for steady comfort.
Better controls also provide silent operation. Cheaper electric controls make a quiet click when the thermostat switches them on and off throughout the night. If you cannot fall asleep easily, the clicking can become annoying.
Select a blanket or mattress pad with PTC (positive thermal coefficient) heating wire. Its resistance changes with temperature. Where the blanket or pad is resting tightly over or under your body, and therefore warmer, its heating output decreases. This maintains a more constant sleeping temperature.

Mikeeee

 

[golfgal]

Thankfully, our furnace is all of 2 months old! We just kicked it on for the first time... and YES, it's so good, by the time it registers 62 on the thermostat, it is TOASTY!

And for the programmable thermostat! Off to the Home Depot website to check them out!!!

It sounds more like your thermostat isn't calibrated correctly. I would get a second thermometer and put it in a different room from the furnace thermostat and see what that says. If it doesn't match the other, have your builder/HVAC guy come back and fix it and have them install the programmable thermostat while they are there.

 

[Kath2003]

See firstly I would consider a 100-watt bulb pretty excessive - all of ours in our home use 8 watts or less.

Assuming you're in bed for 8 hours, a 100-watt bulb or electric blanket equivalent still uses twice as much electricity each night as filling a hot water bottle each night, which adds up over time. A 220-watt one would use four times as much...

But obviously I'm usual. I try to use as little electricity as possible. We don't own a drier either

 

[Disney Doll]

We keep the downstairs one at 67. The upstairs one (different zone) is at 65...it is warmer up there, right under the eaves, I have a sunny southern exposure.

That's pretty comfortable for us. I don't like to be uncomfortable in my own home. I think all the up and down with thermostats wastes more oil because the furnace works harder to bring the house up to temperature once it cools down.

 

[crazelion]

programmable thermostat takes a genius to work them. Be prepare to through a lot them. I still have found a programmable thermostat that I could work easily. Trust me I have be through 3 of them now. I went back to a manual push up down thermostat and I love it. It has keep my electric bill down this year.

I still waiting on the voice active programmable thermostat.

 

[babycakes01]

We heat primarily w wood; I will only turn the furnace on in the am before I start the fire if it's below 63 when I get up.
And we never heat the house above 68 ever-that's when I let the fire die out for the nite.
Sometimes my hubby complains-but rarely, and I just tell him to get out a sweatshirt.

 

[golfgal]

See firstly I would consider a 100-watt bulb pretty excessive - all of ours in our home use 8 watts or less.

Assuming you're in bed for 8 hours, a 100-watt bulb or electric blanket equivalent still uses twice as much electricity each night as filling a hot water bottle each night, which adds up over time. A 220-watt one would use four times as much...

But obviously I'm usual. I try to use as little electricity as possible. We don't own a drier either

All of your lightbulbs are only 8 watts???? That is like a nightlight-how do you see?

 

[DMickey28]

I was going to recommend the programmable thermostat too. If you're going to mess around with it, this is the best way to go, IMO.

Having said that, if your heater is over 20 years old, or maybe even 15 years in some cases (colder climates where the furnace is run more often), the best thing you could do would be to install a new one. The last 2 winters we've burned less than 150 gallons per year (assuming you have an oil furnace and I'm sure gas would be the same). Prior to this, we were burning about 600 to 800 gallons a year.

Seriously??? We just bought a house and have a 37 year old furnace that the owners told us uses about 700 gallons/year. We are hoping to make it though one more winter with it and replace it next year. It's just not in the budget right now for $5K to replace it now.

We just had our upstairs thermostat moved out of the hallway to the bedroom.

Hallways are not a good place for a thermostat. We found that our air/heat was constantly running due to the draft of the hallway.

That's interesting. We have only been in this house for a week but I have noticed that our room will be boiling and then hallway is cool. DS's room stays fairly warm as well and we have a warm mist humidifier in his room that helps keep it warm. I have the thermostat up there down to 63 at night right now and probably will experiment with dropping it even lower at night to get a comfy medium for us.

They have wireless thermostats now that you can move to the place you are so you are comfortable. Maybe this would be an option for you.

I might need to check that out!! I'd love to get one in our bedroom since it seems to be degrees colder in the hallway than the bedroom. The room that DS is going to move into in another week or so when it's done seems cooler though. Hopefully it won't be THAT much cooler than our room. Our room seems very warm.

Our house is 37 years and seems to be very efficent. It's been fairly warm lately though. We have the thermostats set at 63 and also use a gas stove in the family room that warms the entire downstairs enough that we think we can take some of the pressure off the 37 year old furnace this winter. Praying we make it through the winter with it ....

 

[golfgal]

Seriously??? We just bought a house and have a 37 year old furnace that the owners told us uses about 700 gallons/year. We are hoping to make it though one more winter with it and replace it next year. It's just not in the budget right now for $5K to replace it now.



That's interesting. We have only been in this house for a week but I have noticed that our room will be boiling and then hallway is cool. DS's room stays fairly warm as well and we have a warm mist humidifier in his room that helps keep it warm. I have the thermostat up there down to 63 at night right now and probably will experiment with dropping it even lower at night to get a comfy medium for us.




I might need to check that out!! I'd love to get one in our bedroom since it seems to be degrees colder in the hallway than the bedroom. The room that DS is going to move into in another week or so when it's done seems cooler though. Hopefully it won't be THAT much cooler than our room. Our room seems very warm.

Our house is 37 years and seems to be very efficent. It's been fairly warm lately though. We have the thermostats set at 63 and also use a gas stove in the family room that warms the entire downstairs enough that we think we can take some of the pressure off the 37 year old furnace this winter. Praying we make it through the winter with it ....

Check to make sure the vents are open to your DS's room--not the ones in his room but often there is a damper in the ductwork itself and that might be closed so the room isn't getting any air to the room?

 

[C.Ann]

Electric blankets cost a fortune; hot water bottles are the way forward

Before my son-in-law installed the wall-mounted electric heater that I have here at the lake now, the good old "hot water bottle" was my only source of heat.. Actually it was pretty adequate - but I couldn't come up here as early in the spring or stay as late in the fall because of the danger of my exposed water pipes freezing.. (Everything gets drained when I leave and I need to pour antifreeze in the sink and toilet..)

Now - with the heat - I can come up here as soon as the snow melts (so I can get in my driveway) and stay until snow or overnight temps in the teens chase me back to my DD's..

Although the heater has a thermostat - so it will kick off and on during the night - if it drops to the 20's during the night it will only be around 62 degrees in here in the morning.. ("Here" meaning the kitchen/living room area - there's no heat in the bedroom..) For me that's plenty warm enough..

Back at DD's they have their heat set to drop to 60 during the night and then back up to 68 during the day.. For some reason my bedroom is the hottest room in the house (if it's 68 in the rest of the house, it can be as high as 75 to 80 degrees in my room).. So - I keep my heat register closed all winter long and crack the window open.. I much prefer sleeping in a cold bedroom and it's much healthier for you anyhow..

 

[DMickey28]

Check to make sure the vents are open to your DS's room--not the ones in his room but often there is a damper in the ductwork itself and that might be closed so the room isn't getting any air to the room?

How would I find this damper? I have the vents closed in our room but it doesn't seem to make any difference. The other two rooms are open but don't seem to be doing anything!

 

[golfgal]

How would I find this damper? I have the vents closed in our room but it doesn't seem to make any difference. The other two rooms are open but don't seem to be doing anything!

If your basement is unfinished you need to find the line that goes to his bedroom. If you are in a 2 story the damper might be in the ceiling/floor between the two floors. Is the house new? If so, have the HVAC person that put in the system come out. If not, call one to come check to see if everything is working properly.

 

[Kath2003]

All of your lightbulbs are only 8 watts???? That is like a nightlight-how do you see?

Energy saving bulbs are standard here - an 8-watt bulb gives the same light as a 60 watt equivalent. An 11-watt bulb is the same as a 100 watt bulb. They retail at around 5 for $1 and last 5-10 years each. I don't think I've ever changed one

They fit in all our standard light fittings; you can buy the same shapes, effects etc. as a 'normal' lightbulb.

Currently sat in the lounge under an 8-watt bulb and absolutely no problem seeing anything; just finished all my paperwork for work.

 

[PatsMom]

Another one who normally heats with wood. We have three heat zones - the downstairs (where my office is) is set to keep the heat at least 50 (pipes are in this area). Very little heat from the upstairs stove comes down here so when I quit working for the day or go into my "real" office, it gets darn chilly down here with no fire. The second zone is the living/kitchen/dining (and my daughter's bedroom and bathroom). The good stove is there and the heat rarely comes on. Its programmed for 60 so if we have a real cold night and the fire goes out, then the heat will come on enough to keep it from really freezing.

My daughter is used to sleeping in a chilly room - she liked her door closed at night which meant no heat went into her room. Throw on a few blankets and it was fine. She would kind of dash into the bathroom when she first got up in the morning though! Her dorm roommate told her it was good practice - evidently the dorm she is in gets a bit drafty and chilly in the winter.

Third zone is my bedroom and bathroom. Door gets left ajar so we get heat from the living room stove. Thermostat is set at 60.

I'd rather get up to a house that is a bit chilly than burn oil! Once the fire gets started it warms up quickly.

 

[golfgal]

Energy saving bulbs are standard here - an 8-watt bulb gives the same light as a 60 watt equivalent. An 11-watt bulb is the same as a 100 watt bulb. They retail at around 5 for $1 and last 5-10 years each. I don't think I've ever changed one

They fit in all our standard light fittings; you can buy the same shapes, effects etc. as a 'normal' lightbulb.

Currently sat in the lounge under an 8-watt bulb and absolutely no problem seeing anything; just finished all my paperwork for work.

Ok, that makes sense. Since you were talking about 100 watt bulbs then your 8 watt I thought you were talking about regular ones not the florescent bulbs . The flourescent bulbs here are still pretty expensive-$3/each or so--even the energy wasting bulbs cost way more then 20 cents!

 

[Liberty Belle]

Energy saving bulbs are standard here - an 8-watt bulb gives the same light as a 60 watt equivalent. An 11-watt bulb is the same as a 100 watt bulb. They retail at around 5 for $1 and last 5-10 years each. I don't think I've ever changed one

They fit in all our standard light fittings; you can buy the same shapes, effects etc. as a 'normal' lightbulb.

Currently sat in the lounge under an 8-watt bulb and absolutely no problem seeing anything; just finished all my paperwork for work.

Wow. Cool.

 

[Ciao Mickey]

Believe it or not, it is actually quite toasty in our house at 62 this time of year! And we DO turn it up... to between 68 - 70 in the dead of winter. This IS Michigan!!!

From michaelbluejay.com...

"Except for the most northern climates, you should be able to remain warm enough to sleep comfortably without any heat as long as you have sufficient blankets. If you can't stand to have the heat off completely then set it to as low as you're comfortable with -- 60, 50, 40. I've never used heat overnight and it gets into the low 40's in my room sometimes when I get up in the morning ... It doesn't take more energy to heat your home in the morning than it does to keep it heated all night. Think about it: As you heat your home all night, some of that heat is lost through the walls to the outside, so your heater has to keep working to keep the temperature up. So overnight your heater is heating your home over and over and over again. If you turn it on in the morning then it's heating it only once."

Thanks dawson5!!!

That is absolutely insane letting your room get into the 40's. They tell you that you can get hypothermia if a room goes below 60 degrees. Unless you go to bed dressed in a hat, coat and gloves, how can you possibly be comfortable in that climate?

We just had our boiler replaced 3 weeks ago. We were without heat for 4 days. Our home didn't get below 55 degrees, but I was chilled to the bone and miserable.