Which way is better to save money on heating?

[DisneyLovingMama]

To try and save money on heat, I've set the thermostat downstairs to go down to 58 degrees at night and while we're not home. However, that means it takes 2 - 3 hours of full blast heat to get the house back up to a warmth level we're comfortable with (68 for me, 70 for the kids).

So, do you think it makes better economical sense to set the thermostat a little higher (61 or 62), so that it doesn't take the furnace as long or as much work to get it warm again?

Just wondering if anyone had any thoughts or facts on the matter...

 

[disneysteve]

From a dollars and cents standpoint, the longer you keep your thermostat at the lower temperature, the lower your bill will be. So setting at 58 will be cheaper than setting at 62.

On a slightly different note, if it takes your heater 3 hours to get the house temp from 58 to 68, something is wrong. Either your system is very inefficient or your house is not properly insulated. If it is the system's fault, you may be able to save money in the long run by replacing it with a new high efficiency unit. I can tell you when we replaced our 40 year old heater a few years ago with a 93% efficient unit, our gas bill dropped nearly in half. That new heater has already paid for itself.

 

[N.Bailey]

I've heard that you do save by turning the thermostat down, but I've never tested the theory. You can buy one of those thingys (forget they're called) that will automatically set it lower from such and such an hour and turn it up so it's warm when you get up and/or get home. I'd bet you could save a little $ by buying one.

Personally, we turn ours back at night to around 65, then to 70 in the morning and use the hair dryer to heat the bathroom for showers. LOL

 

[pumba]

we heat a three family apartment bld cheaper then some people do a single floor residence.......we have a furnace that has great efficientcy and also did 36 new windows and insulated it .....and then had vinyl siding put on and a steel roof......we are doing great...we always keep our furnace at 70 degrees and it is just right here....

 

[DisneyLovingMama]

The house is only 3 - 4 years old, so I hope it's not the insulation. Could be a cheap furnace was put in...I do have cathedral ceilings - I just figured the heat was going up there. I know my windows aren't the best, so I should probably insulate them.

Maybe it doesn't take 2-3 hours....The heat turns on at 5:00, and it's now 6:00 and the temperature is 65. I'm assuming it went down to 58 today, since it was pretty nippy when I got home at 5:20. It just feels like I'm always cold until it's time to go to bed, you know?

 

[disneysteve]

The house is only 3 - 4 years old, so I hope it's not the insulation. Could be a cheap furnace was put in...I do have cathedral ceilings - I just figured the heat was going up there. I know my windows aren't the best, so I should probably insulate them.

Any or all of those could be true. Just because the house is new, I wouldn't assume they insualted adequately. And they certainly may have gone with a "builder's grade" furnace. Any heating contractor could tell you the efficiency rating of your unit. You may even be able to find that info online somewhere. I would think the windows on a new home would be decent but you should still check for leaks, maybe areas that weren't caulked well, that kind of stuff.

Also, N.Bailey makes a good point. If you don't have a programmable thermostat, you should get one. I have ours set to drop the temp to 62 in the morning and go back to 69 at 3:30pm so that when we get home at 4, the house is comfortable (only takes 1/2 hour to raise the temp - that's why I wondered about yours taking so much longer).

 

[mudnuri]

I keep mine at 68-69 24/7. It averages about 71 in here...which is fine by me.

I'm not into being cold...So far, i've used 103 gallons of oil since October 2nd when my tank was filled- per the fill ticket from last week.

Brandy

 

[Michie]

I have cathedral ceilings in my living room and dining room. We bought a ceiling fan with a built in heater and we have been very pleased with it. You might check into those.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Hello DisneyLovingMama,

I have heard MANY times that it can take more energy to reheat a home, if the temperature is allowed to drop too low.

I would only drop it down to the lower 60' range.

What kind of heater/furnace do you have? We have an electric heat-pump here. (we do not live up North) And, even with it, the additional heat-strips will kick on when we turn up the heat, and it would not take long at all to begin to feel warmer! so, I agree that something does not sound good about taking so long to begin to warm up your home.

Last Winter we had a problem with our unit not putting out enough heat. Turns out, it was working at half-capacity because one of the fuses had gone bad. A simple fuse, and we were warm again!

Have you had a yearly maintenance check done on your unit? Around here, every Fall, most heat&air places offer a thourough check-up for Winter for a low price.

PS: Do have ceiling fans in your cathedral ceilings? If so, make sure that they are set to turn the right direction for Winter (blowing UP, not down) and run them when you are home. This will help too.

 

[DisneyLovingMama]

I do have a ceiling fan, but it only has one setting and it always makes it colder. I have no idea what kind of furnace I have...I'll have to go look.

I do have the programmable thermostats and two-zone heating.

I've been using the wood-burning stove, but some evenings I just don't feel like lugging the wood in!

Thanks for all your help! I'll probably have some one come in and look at the furance and hot-water heater. For some reason, I also don't seem to have a much hot water now that it's gotten cold out.

 

[golfgal]

Did you reverse the blade direction on your ceiling fan? It should go the opposite direction in the winter to push the hot air down. I would also venture to guess that you wouldn't see much difference on your heat bill if you set the low temp at 62-64 vs the 58.

 

[Pin Wizard]

Don't know if it works like the electricity, but when I had FPL do an energy survey in my FL home, he said to set the A/C at a temp that's comfortable and leave it there. The times it comes on during the day are for briefer amounts of time compared to shutting it off all day and having to cool the entire house after getting home from work...saving money.

Just one thermostat here. The temp is set for 65 in the winter. Chilly for me, but DS says he's comfortable.

 

[Mermaid02]

I haven't read the other replies, but my Uncle is a oil burner technician/electrician/plumber and he says it actually takes MORE oil/fuel to get your heat up to a comfortable temperature than if you just leave it at a constant..... He swears this is true and just shakes his head when people say they turn the heat way down when they leave their homes.

 

[mickeyfan2]

On a slightly different note, if it takes your heater 3 hours to get the house temp from 58 to 68, something is wrong. Either your system is very inefficient or your house is not properly insulated.

This is not always true. We have a very insulated home with state of the art windows and we can only raise the temp 1-2 degrees per hour. We have an extremely efficient system. A heater that can do many degrees per hour is oversized and less efficient. We have a 4000 sq ft house and only use a 90,000 BTU boiler to heat it. As a result we keep the house at 70 when home and spend less than $1000 to heat it.

 

[Bob Slydell]

I have heard MANY times that it can take more energy to reheat a home, if the temperature is allowed to drop too low.

I would only drop it down to the lower 60' range.

ITA -- too much of a temperature drop will cost more to raise the temp back up to a comfortable level. I've been told that much more than 5-6 degrees is about the breakeven point.

 

[disneysteve]

The theory that it costs more to reheat your home after turning down the thermostat is an urban legend. It IS NOT true.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy website:

"You can save as much as 10% a year on your heating and cooling bills by simply turning your thermostat back 10% to 15% for 8 hours."

So if you normally keep your heat set at 68 degrees while you are home, that 15% would work out to about 58 degrees when you are away. If you keep the heat at 70, then 15% would be about 60.

Also from the U.S. Department of Energy:

"If I shut off my heater or air conditioner when I'm gone from the house, doesn't it cost more to heat or cool the house back to the right temperature once I return?

The rate of heat transfer from your house to the outside, or vice versa, is dependent partly on the temperature difference between your house and outside. More heat is transferred when the difference is greater, so it takes more energy to keep your house at 72°F when it is 40°F outside than to heat your house back up to 72°F after you return.

With air conditioning systems, the equipment runs at peak efficiency when it operates for long periods. Cooling your house back to the comfortable temperature will use less electricity than the unit would use cycling on and off for short periods to maintain the set temperature. If your house takes too long to get back to a comfortable temperature, you might investigate getting a programmable thermostat, and set it to start heating or cooling your house an hour or so before you return. You could also set the thermostat back, to a lower temperature for heating, or a higher one for cooling, while you are gone, rather than turning it off completely."

 

[Mermaid02]

The theory that it costs more to reheat your home after turning down the thermostat is an urban legend. It IS NOT true.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy website:

"You can save as much as 10% a year on your heating and cooling bills by simply turning your thermostat back 10% to 15% for 8 hours."

So if you normally keep your heat set at 68 degrees while you are home, that 15% would work out to about 58 degrees when you are away. If you keep the heat at 70, then 15% would be about 60.

Also from the U.S. Department of Energy:

"If I shut off my heater or air conditioner when I'm gone from the house, doesn't it cost more to heat or cool the house back to the right temperature once I return?

The rate of heat transfer from your house to the outside, or vice versa, is dependent partly on the temperature difference between your house and outside. More heat is transferred when the difference is greater, so it takes more energy to keep your house at 72°F when it is 40°F outside than to heat your house back up to 72°F after you return.

With air conditioning systems, the equipment runs at peak efficiency when it operates for long periods. Cooling your house back to the comfortable temperature will use less electricity than the unit would use cycling on and off for short periods to maintain the set temperature. If your house takes too long to get back to a comfortable temperature, you might investigate getting a programmable thermostat, and set it to start heating or cooling your house an hour or so before you return. You could also set the thermostat back, to a lower temperature for heating, or a higher one for cooling, while you are gone, rather than turning it off completely."

Since when does the government tell us the truth???

 

[MzDiz]

I decided to keep my thermostat at 63 this winter. The kids barked at me for a couple weeks, but honestly got used to it. I was at my mother's house a few days ago and she had hers set at 69. By the time I was all the way in the door I was peeling off my coat and complaining that it was warm. You could always try dropping it a degree a week and see if anyone notices!

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

The theory that it costs more to reheat your home after turning down the thermostat is an urban legend. It IS NOT true.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy website:

"You can save as much as 10% a year on your heating and cooling bills by simply turning your thermostat back 10% to 15% for 8 hours."

So if you normally keep your heat set at 68 degrees while you are home, that 15% would work out to about 58 degrees when you are away. If you keep the heat at 70, then 15% would be about 60.

Also from the U.S. Department of Energy:

"If I shut off my heater or air conditioner when I'm gone from the house, doesn't it cost more to heat or cool the house back to the right temperature once I return?

The rate of heat transfer from your house to the outside, or vice versa, is dependent partly on the temperature difference between your house and outside. More heat is transferred when the difference is greater, so it takes more energy to keep your house at 72°F when it is 40°F outside than to heat your house back up to 72°F after you return.

With air conditioning systems, the equipment runs at peak efficiency when it operates for long periods. Cooling your house back to the comfortable temperature will use less electricity than the unit would use cycling on and off for short periods to maintain the set temperature. If your house takes too long to get back to a comfortable temperature, you might investigate getting a programmable thermostat, and set it to start heating or cooling your house an hour or so before you return. You could also set the thermostat back, to a lower temperature for heating, or a higher one for cooling, while you are gone, rather than turning it off completely."

Thanks for looking that up, my boyfriend and I have opposite opinions on this and from what you posted, I was right!!!

 

[TerriP]

My husband works in HVAC and his advice to clients is to not turn your heat down by more than 10%. There will always be variables such as age/efficieny of your unit, insulation, etc... but he uses 10% as a general rule of thumb. Once you allow it to get "too cold" in your house, it does burn up your savings when it's time to re-heat the house.

We have a programmable thermostat. We have it set to 68 when we are home and 62 when we are away/sleeping.