Inside house temp - do you decline over the winter?

[CurlyDave]

Higher humidity increases the thermal conductivity of air, and actually makes cool temps seem cooler. (Thermal conductivity of a gas is proportional to the reciprocal of the square root of molecular weight, how's that for a factoid from way back in engineering school?) Water vapor has a molecular weight of 18 vs. 28 for nitrogen and 32 for oxygen.

* * * * *

We are just plain too old to take much cold. 70 all winter long, and we are thankful we can afford it.

77 or 78 in the summer. Again just plain too old.

 

[Ed of all trades]

We keep it around 72 in the summer and 73 in winter but lower it at night so we sleep better. We know people who live in pa that don't turn on the heat until Christmas, give or take a bit. Don't understand that myself but I don't have to. Ed

 

[rtimgray]

I was happy when I installed some new thermostats that have a low setting of 45 instead of the old ones that bottom out at 55. So I leave mine set at 45 in the winter. We run gas logs when we are home in the evenings for a couple of hours to knock the chill off. Other than that, everybody wears their outside clothes inside and we all have fleece sheets on our beds. There were a few mornings this past winter when it was about 40 in our bedroom when I got up.

The kids complain about the cold, and I've told them that I'll turn it up when they contribute to the bill.

We usually run about 80 in the summer.

Good luck and take care.

 

[JamesHW]

Generally we keep the house at 69 - 72 in the winter and around 74 in the summer if the AC can keep up with the oppressive humidity and heat we can get in the Mid-Atlantic during the summer. Wife sleeps on the side of the bed next to the radiator under a couple of blankets and a down duvet, I sleep under a sheet and maybe a thin blanket if it is particularly chilly.

Our old house in the country has only a few space heaters since the gas burner in the kitchen was decommissioned years ago (and the pot belly stoves long before that). I will be enjoying the cold this week when I am up there as they are expecting lows around 30 at night. One of my projects is to design a heating system for the house that will likely entail a gas furnace and either radiators or baseboards (along with insulation upgrades and storm windows). One of the assurances I have to provide to the boss is that the house will be warm and comfy during the Upstate NY winters to get her move to the country.

 

[Gary Fowler]

My wife and I are somewhat like CurlyDave, we are just too old to worry about setting house temperature to save a little money. We do like it cooler than most folks though, so winter it 68 on the thermostat, but I do raise it up when the AC is needed. 72 in the summer feels pretty good, especially when coming in from 90F-105 outside temps. My brother/sister-in laws don't like our cold temps and don't stay long when visiting, (they live across a pond from us). They are like a couple of 90 year olds (really only in their mid 60's), they keep their house like an oven winter and summer. When we have the AC running, they still have a heater on in their living room and an electric blanket on the bed at night.

 

[GMIslander]

Mini Split heat pump set at 21c (72f) two or three cord of wood from Dec. to Mar. Power consumption never over 1000 kwh. House is 1500 sq.ft.

 

[Looking4new]

Mini Split heat pump set at 21c (72f) two or three cord of wood from Dec. to Mar. Power consumption never over 1000 kwh. House is 1500 sq.ft.

Except for the heat pump, that is the way my place goes. I set the oil furnace to come on at 60F, the rest of the time we heat with wood. Summers IF it gets hot enough we shut the furnace off and just use the furnace fan to circulate the cooler air from the basement. Same size house and electric (hydro) consumption.

 

[tcreeley]

We heat with wood. The central area is kept warm depending on how much wood goes in. The trick is not to overheat ourselves. Our bedroom- when shut off on the -F nights can get to 32F if we let it. I like sleeping at 52F. At that that temperature I sleep the deepest. 60F is too hot for sleeping. Summer can be a chore and the AC runs almost all of the time.

 

[doxford jim]

We keep our house set at 69F for normal operation and raise temperature if needed (rarely). In the summer we can get by with 76F - 78F inside without using A/C. If feeling cold we put on a sweater etc.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

I could never understand why some people want the stat set at 78F in the winter and 68F in the summer ???

I'm guessing it's a Thyroid problem.