What is lowest you set heat while away?

[sarahlovesmickey]

We turn it down to 55 when we leave our house. We have a newer, well insulated home. When we are there during the day it is around 68 to 70. And at night, it goes down to 60 to 62 because we are all comfortable at that temp. We have over 3000 square feet to heat so any higher than 70 would be pretty pricey for us.

 

[mom2val]

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[QVCshopper]

I just have to ask-- all of you with 50-60 degree thermostat settings - what do you sleep in at night? What bedding is on your bed? Last night we were below freezing outside. We had heat set to 70 inside. Our bed has regular sheets, a waffle blanket, a fleece blanket and a quilt. I wore flannel pjs and socks and was FREEZING!

You probably need warmer sheets. We have fleece sheets from QVC that are simply amazing. All of my family uses them now. Or, at the least, flannel sheets. That way, the blankets and quilts cocoon you in warm sheets.

We keep our house at 65F during the day, but it goes down to 62F when we are out and 58F at night. If it's a sunny day, it can easily get into the 70s from the warm sunshine, but if not, it can be a little chilly. We have a few space heaters and I put pillows in the laundry room and basement windows for a little extra insulation.

 

[scbelleatheart]

It really isn't the cost for us. We (read I) need a cold bedroom. Window open, fan running, feet outside the blankets. My whole family is that way. We grew up in an old victorian and when the coal ran out during the night the bedrooms would get very cold. It's what we got used to.
My DM comes over on holidays and says we have the hottest house. That is without the furnace running in January.

 

[leebee]

We keep our house at 57 degrees, day and night, and this seems to be fine for the pipes, even when it's windy. To answer questions: We wear long sleeved shirts, sweatpants/regular jeans, a sweater/hoodie, and socks when home in the winter. We each have a throw blanket for watching TV in the evening. Right now (about to go to sleep on the couch as DH is upstairs in bed with a cold, snoring like a buzzsaw) I am wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt, and have a Kmart quality bedquilt, and am more than warm enough.

We live in a 2000 sq. foot "box" style house, built in 1912. We can't afford to replace the windows but made sure the glazing was solid; windows are covered in shrink-plastic and have fleece curtains. We have oil heat, which right now costs about $3.60 a gallon, with a 240 gallon oil tank. We burn about 800 gallons of oil a year, the vast majority between mid-October to mid-March. Do the math, and you'll understand the thermostat setting. Nothing "1700's" about it. It's VERY "2000's"... heating oil costs are astronomical.

 

[cornflake]

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.

I don't think you're crazy. I think you're perhaps not mammals, but cold-blooded creatures who've learned to type.

I just have to ask-- all of you with 50-60 degree thermostat settings - what do you sleep in at night? What bedding is on your bed? Last night we were below freezing outside. We had heat set to 70 inside. Our bed has regular sheets, a waffle blanket, a fleece blanket and a quilt. I wore flannel pjs and socks and was FREEZING!

It's apparently (according to the digital thermometer in the kitchen), 57 currently. I'm wearing a t-shirt and shorts. My bed has a sheet and if it's really cold (there are always windows at least partially open; sometimes it's windy and colder), two blankets (one microfleece and another on top). Usually one blanket. In flannel pjs, socks and under three blankets, I think I'd burst into flames, heh.

 

[WantToGoNow]

Ours stay on 60. We have electric baseboard heating and the unit in our bedroom doesn't work. Last night i had on shorty pj bottoms and a tshirt. My bed has a sheet, a microfiber blanke and a quilt. It actually felt too warm this morning.

 

[tink2dw]

I lived in Oregon, Ants were a common household problem. You could have the cleanest pro cleaned house it did not matter!!

If you have water beds, do not forget to turn the heater WAY DOWN!! I forgot, I turned the house heat way down. Got home from WDW and All I wanted was to sleep in my own bed. Nope not to be. Ants had set up a home in the sheets, under the water mattress, all through the carpet, it was a disaster!! Dh tried to eradicate the ants but they just kept arriving. Yucky!!

I slept in my lounge chair for a week. I turning off the bed heater. It took 3 days of constant vacuuming, and spraying with amway window cleaner, and getting under every single inch of the water bed mattress with the spray. And putting a circle of baking soda around the bed. Ants don't like powder on their feet it drives them nuts!! I had throw a whole bag of powder sugar out under the back yard bushs, to finally get them out of the house!

And another 4 days before I could get over the willies. And to go buy a new bed!! So, I could finally sleep in a bed!!

 

[mom2val]

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[shamrock30]

We also have oil heat. Although our house is only 10 years old and insulated, it can easily cost $500-600 a month to heat it in the winter. That's with keeping the thermostat at 59 degrees at night, 60-64 in the daytime. I live in the northeast, and many of the home owners I know keep their houses at a similar temperature. And yes, you do get used to it.

 

[2disneyboys]

all I can say is my poor 9 year old! he is the only one in our family that would be able to even breath if the temps were over 72.. DH, I and DS#1 all prefer it chilly! We keep the house temps @ around 64 year round.. we are usually in Jeans & tshirt during the day and sleep in shorts and tshirts w/ regular sheet and a quilt or blanket. DS # 2 would prefer at least 80 degree's...DS #2 wears footie pj's all the time, or is wearing at least 2 layers of clothing. His bed is fleece sheets, and 3 blankets year round. we have a little space heater that is plugged in whatever room he is in and he practically sits on top of it while playing (not literally, but you get the point)

we have oil heat, but honestly, cost is not the factor in what we set our temps on.. (point in case - we keep the a/c around 64 during the summer! so our electic bill is quite high for 3/4 months a year) We want to be comfortable so we keep the house temps @ a level that is comfortable to the majority of the inhabitants. My youngset son understands that he's going to be a little chilly, so he dresses appropiately.

the lowest we set the thermostate is 55 when we are going to be out of town, but we have plenty of family in our area so if some freak storm was going to happen, we could call one of them to go turn up the temp if needed.

 

[MUFFYCAT]

Ours is set at 60, sometimes it may go up to 63. Anything over that and the house feels like an oven.

 

[mom2val]

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[shamrock30]

If heat cost me $500- $600 a month my family would be sitting around in parkas. Good grief how do y'all afford bills like that? I am upset in summer when we get our highest bills @$225!

Some people spread the payments out over 12 months by using a full service oil company, but we just prepare ourselves for a large bill during the coldest months. We can go for 4 months or so without an oil fill-up in the summer, but we still use some because our hot water is tied to the furnace.

 

[mrodgers]

If heat cost me $500- $600 a month my family would be sitting around in parkas. Good grief how do y'all afford bills like that? I am upset in summer when we get our highest bills @$225!

Back in 2005 I think, our heat rose up to $500-600/month. I went
That was when I started asking around and found out everyone else was filling their tanks once a year. I was filling ours once a month. At less than $200/month, I never gave it a thought and thought it was normal when we bought the house.

That last bill for March 2005 was $865 to fill the tank! That spring, I tore into a window that was leaking and pulled back some siding. Found out I had VERY little insulation. That summer, I tore all the siding off, tore all the sheathing off, and put new insulation in the walls. Some of the cavities had no insulation at all. I resheathed with better materials and upon finishing the front wall, the AC window unit cycled off for the first time since moving in. It ran constantly from June through August without the compressor ever cycling off.

After reinsulating, we now get filled with oil about every 2 to 2.5 months. I fill 2 or 3 times through the winter at about 100 gallons each time (on a schedule, they refill when in the area) as opposed to over 200 gallons a month. Much easier on the checkbook now.

Getting over 200 gallons of oil filled at over $4/gallon isn't a lot of fun.

We keep thermostat at 67. Still a little chilly, but tolerable depending on where you are in the house.

 

[leebee]

Utility costs in the northeast can be quite astronomical! Our electricity is just as expensive; never below $100 a month, and that's in the spring/early summer, without AC and before we start running the fans (we don't have central air or window units). Residents are me and DH, now that DD is at college. In addition to the "lights," we have 2 refrigerators, which I think cost quite a bit to run, clothes dryer, stove/oven, microwave, two laptops, and two TVs, but the laptops and TVs are plugged into powerstrips that we can shut off when the units aren't being used. Water runs off the oil heater (and consequently we wash/rinse clothes in cold water!). I am pretty anal about shutting off lights; right now we have one string of outdoor holiday lights, 3 strings on the tree, a nightlight on in the kitchen, and one light on here in the family room. Actually, this is the "expensive" time of year, as it gets dark so early and light so late. My electric bills will run about $130 at this time of year, mostly due to an evil little surcharge called the "delivery fee." Bangor Hydro boasts that they haven't increased rates in X years... but they don't mention the fee. The breakdown on the bill is about 60%;40%, delivery fee:electricity costs. That's right, it costs more to have the electricity delivered than the electricity COSTS. DH always jokes that there's NEVER any guy with a bucket full of electrons at the door; I guess it just costs a lot to send electricity out over all those 25+ year old wires!

I remember how shocked we were to get here and discover the cost of electricity (that was before we learned what OIL heat costs). We'd been in PA in a 2000 sq ft house that was fully electric: power, heat, water heater, etc., running the same number of appliances, computers, etc. In February, with the heat going at 68 degrees, we'd barely break $100 a month. I miss those days... It's just crazy here.

 

[angierae]

We keep our house at 68 when me or DD17 are home, and 65 when just DH is home. On top of that, I have electric throws both in my bed and on the couch, to be used whereever I am, and DD runs a space heater in her small bedroom (so it doesn't need to be on for long.)

I will happily claim to be cold-blooded. If I get cold, it doesn't matter how warm wherever I get to is, I will stay cold for HOURS. Like, down to my BONES cold, and it is painful. I need to be warm.

 

[disney1990]

We keep ours at 58 all of the time - even when we go away. Pipes have never frozen.

It can be chilly but it depends on what you're doing. If you're moving around you don't notice it - if DD / DH sit down to do a LEGO project and say they're cold after sitting for a bit I tell them to put on a sweatshirt

Sweatshirts don't keep my face or my hands warm. We keep ours at 67 day and night.

 

[Lintasare]

I love my natural gas. For a 1300 sq foot condo I pay $32 for heat, hot water and appliances. My electric is $80 and water is paid by the HOA.

 

[*Seanaci*]

My dad and I (Hubby, DS and I live with my parents) fight about where the thermostat should be set. I leave it at 63 or 64. My dad will kick it up to 65 or 66. He works all day...I'm a stay at home mom. I've gotten used to the cooler temp. And if I get cold I put on extra clothes (hoodie, sweats etc). I have no idea what the electric bill is every month. We pay a set amount of rent to my parents each month...which in turn gets out toward through bills. I would imagine it's between 150-200.

What's funny is my mom complains when dad bumps the heat up...but that could be due to her being in her menopause phase...hot flashes anyone? Lol