What is lowest you set heat while away?

[ilovemk76]

We live in Ohio and always have ours set between 52-55 while we are home/awake, off at night/while at work unless it drops to 48 (set to kick on at 48). I would think 50 would be fine for an empty home. Our pipes do not freeze at 48-52.

Ok, I am amazed by this but would LOVE your power bill. How do you guys dress in the home? Do you have little ones? I would love to turn ours down some but I am thinking like 65.

We own a vacant house and we did the research and most resources said 50 to 55. We keep it between those two.

I am not living in the 1700s to save a few bucks. Our total heat and hot water bill averages $100/month. If I just bath in cold water I could save a whole $100/month. Not running lights could save more money.

 

[vegasnative]

I am not living in the 1700s to save a few bucks. Our total heat and hot water bill averages $100/month. If I just bath in cold water I could save a whole $100/month. Not running lights could save more money.

I'm with you on this one. I'm cold just reading some of these temps. I have mine set at 72 during the day, I lower it to 70 while we sleep. I'm a wimp I guess, but I just don't like to be cold. Even set at 72 during the winter I need my blanket on while I'm sitting on the couch.
We went out of town 2 weeks ago so I turned it down to 64, going out of town in a few days, so I will do that again.

I guess since I heat with natural gas it's relatively inexpensive to be warm, but I'm sure the ones that heat with oil or electric probably pay more.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

I just wonder how much money people who turn their heat down so low think they are saving! My bill is not that high and we keep our house at around 72 year round. My bill would have to go down to nearly zero for it to be worth walking around bundled up in my own house. Yikes!

As for the temp when away, I weigh risk vs benefit and think you should consider:

how much do you think turning it down will really save you?

how old or insulated is your house?

how long are you going to be gone?

will anyone be checking on it to make sure the furnace is running properly?

I work in property management and frozen pipes cause dameage that is very expensive to repair. I consider all of the above and error on the side of caution.

 

[Lintasare]

I keep my heat set at 70 and have all gas appliances. Still my gas bill is only $38 a month on budget billing. My electric is $80 a month on budget billing. And I have 1300 square feet.

 

[Disneybuckeye]

We have almost 7000 square feet (two heating systems) and I keep it at 68 when we are home and 64 when we are gone. I still swear I am chilly all winter, but as our bill can easily reach $700 in Dec, Jan, & Feb I just can't turn it up higher without feeling bad.

I would cry if my house was in the low 60's or 59's. You guys are some hearty people.

 

[cornflake]

I just wonder how much money people who turn their heat down so low think they are saving! My bill is not that high and we keep our house at around 72 year round. My bill would have to go down to nearly zero for it to be worth walking around bundled up in my own house. Yikes!

As for the temp when away, I weigh risk vs benefit and think you should consider:

how much do you think turning it down will really save you?

how old or insulated is your house?

how long are you going to be gone?

will anyone be checking on it to make sure the furnace is running properly?

I work in property management and frozen pipes cause dameage that is very expensive to repair. I consider all of the above and error on the side of caution.

It's not always a matter of attempting to save money - I wouldn't keep the temp at 72 regardless, that's way too warm imo. I like it around 58-62 at the warmest indoors; 53-58 is fine normally. Can't imagine having it at 70 to sleep on purpose - eek.

 

[anniemck]

Glad we live in Florida... just sayin!!!

 

[kimsuenew]

Ok, I am amazed by this but would LOVE your power bill. How do you guys dress in the home? Do you have little ones? I would love to turn ours down some but I am thinking like 65.

We own a vacant house and we did the research and most resources said 50 to 55. We keep it between those two.

No little ones (set much higher back then)! We do turn it up for visitors also, but never passed 60! We stay clothed, long sleeves generally and our feet covered. When sitting for TV or a movie we each have a throw if need be.

We have propane, we had one fill last year @ a cost of a bit over $1,000.00 but it is an older, two story large house so we did not feel that was to shabby!

 

[quentina]

70. Never goes lower than that in the winter.

Thank God, I could not decide if we were insane or the Dis Boards LOL---71 here...everyday, all year around. If the heat is not on, it is the central air.

58 degree's....I would freeze to death! I could not even imagine!!

 

[bdcp]

Glad we live in Florida... just sayin!!!

Where I've seen people wearing winter coats and scarves when it's 65 degrees.

 

[Leshaface]

Maybe we're crazy but I keep our heat on at 75 during the day and 73 at night and i'm still wearing sweats! Our house isn't huge - 2400 sqft and two heating systems.

 

[DCbride]

We have it 65-66 when home, 62 at night and when away. But our dog stays home and we have a dog sitter....

 

[Fjobe]

Maybe we're crazy but I keep our heat on at 75 during the day and 73 at night and i'm still wearing sweats!

We do too! If I'm cold, I'll bump it up a couple degrees to take the chill out of the house. We haven't gone away in the winter in years, but I'd say we'd probably leave in on 68.

 

[travelcoupons]

There is no one answer to this. It depends on the house & climate. If you live in an extreme northern climate with windy conditions, you need to keep it a little higher, again depends on the house & how it was insulated. Pipes are not supposed to be in outside walls in northern climates, but some houses have them very close to outside walls and inside a cupboard. If you have your house at 60 degrees, that means it's 60 degrees at the thermostat which is located in the center of your house. The temperature in a cabinet under a sink in the northwest corner of your house on a windy day could easily be 25+ degrees colder than that. So the lower you go, you need to think about leaving cupboard doors under sinks open, etc.
In most cases 60 is safe, but I've seen homes where 70 is necessary because of the construction of the house and location of piping.
One last consideration, if there is an ice storm, there is a good chance power will go out & the colder your house was to begin with, the faster things will freeze. When I lived up north, I purchased a 'freeze alarm' if I didn't have anyone to check the house. It would automatically call my cell phone if the temperature dropped. Search 'FA-B-CCA' on Ebay to find those, or you can buy them from most heating & cooling contracters locally.

References: I'm a licensed master plumber & I worked for the natural gas company when I lived up north. I've seen my share of frozen up houses & businesses.

 

[travelcoupons]

Another option is to turn your water off and drain your system if you are going away for a REALLY long time - BUT - and big BUT here.... If your home is older, you do not want to leave your plumbing fixtures dry for long than a 7 days or so - your seals can dry and crack in that amount of time and you would then have hundreds of dollars spent in fixing fixtures and faucets when it is all said and done! So much for energy savings in that scenario - right?!

You also have to buy RV-Antifreeze & pour it in the toilets (tank and bowl), and ALL drains (tubs, laundry standpipe, floor drains, sinks) otherwise the water sitting in the traps will freeze & crack your toilet, etc.
Also, the water has to be turned off UPSTREAM of the water meter. Water meters have a check valve and the way they are constructed, they will hold a little water in them which can freeze and rupture your meter.

Water heaters also need to be shut off before draining & filled before turning on to avoid damage.

If your not 100% sure of what your doing, hire a professional.

 

[JessicaW1234]

Thank you everyone for your replies! Very helpful

 

[Tink-aholic]

These threads come up every few months and I am always shocked at what other people set their thermostats to...I guess for the budget board, anyway. Most of you keep your houses warmer while you are away than I do when I'm home! I set mine for 57 during the day, 63 during the evening, 59 at night. We were planning to go away this week (but didn't because we all are sick) and I was going to keep the furnace on 50.

We have two dogs who are here during the day and the vet says this is fine for them.

It would cost me an additional new car payment every month to heat my house the way some of you do!

 

[scbelleatheart]

I haven't turned the furnace on yet this year here in MI. We have a small gas fireplace we turn on in the morning to take the chill off but otherwise, we don't use the furnace. 2800 sq ft and we keep the master bedroom window open so the upstairs stays at around 55 to sleep. Downstairs maintains at around 70 all the time.
Maybe if it gets below zero and windy we'll use it

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

I set mine at 65 when I am not going to be home or 72 when I am home. I am cold natured and I can't imagine being inside my house with it being 55 degrees in here. That is just COLD and uncomfortable. My electric bill never gets higher than $150 so I am going to keep my thermostat set on a comfortable temp during winter and summer.

 

[dr&momto2boys]

We keep our log cabin in central WI set to 50 degrees while we are away. We only use it once a month or less in the winter. We've had no problem with pipes (knock on wood!) The only problem is that it takes hours for it to heat back up to 68 degrees when we get there!
We do often put a little antifreeze down the drains and in the toilets before we leave...but have been doing that less and less and still been okay. We also turn the pump for the well off, so there is not an unlimited amount of water if something did happen.