<p>My Mom and StepDad had a long standing thermostat war. My Mom who was always cold would move the lever up. She did not even look at the dial. She just knew she was cold and wanted it warmer. Sometimes we would walk in an be hit by the heat and find she had cranked the heat up to 80+ in the winter. My StepDad would follow behind her and turn the heat down. After years of them bickering and having the up and down war my StepDad put duct tape on the thermostat making it so the lever could not pass 75’ which was their compromise temp.</p>
<p>In one office I used to work in, there was always a fight between men and women on the room temperature. The thermostat was usually locked, so someone would have to call the super to change the temperature. I guess the super finally had it and decided to unlock the thermostat. I ran into him one day and told him that it was a good idea he decided to unlock the thermostat. He said to me, “If you don’t tell anyone this, I’ll let you in a secret…I installed a fake thermostat for them to adjust. It really doesn’t do anything.”</p>
<p>frankly because our house is so old ( 1900) and doesnt have insulation except in the attic, it wouldnt matter if we had the heat turned up to 70 cause it would just go out again. I keep trying to get H to help me weatherize it, but he has no interest, because the unattached garage where he spends most of his time ( so he can smoke), is insulated.
Its supposed to be in the 20s this weekend- they are going to brine the streets.</p>
<p>Personally with our hills, I don’t think that is quite enough, but last year they just threw up their hands- so it is better than nothing.</p>
<p>We have programmable too. 59 at night, 63 during day. Chilly, I know, but we prefer to dress a bit warmer in house so we can have more pleaseure spending the money saved on something more fun than going to the local utility.
Of course, we turn it up to more normal temps if we have guests.</p>
<p>I used to have a tenant in a 1 br home. He set thermostat on 80 in winter, so he could sit around in gym shorts. Just gym shorts. The short ones from yrs ago. No shirt, no shoes, and no complaints about the heat bills. He knew it was extravagant, but he was in a small place and was willing to pay the bill to suit his choices. I always joked with him asking if he was growing orchids.</p>
<p>I had a tenant once complain about the cost to heat their 3 br unit. I went over one day to see if there was any malfunction. I found many windows that had storm windows with screen in use rather than glass window. I found 1 upstairs room with small window open and a box fan next to it, directed to blow outward- most anybody that has attended college knows what that usually means. When they answered the door, they were in t-shirts and wife was no shoes no socks. Of course they set the temp and they paid the bill, but I pointed out many money saving ideas to them. Want to keep it warm enough to go bare-footed then complain about the cost to heat? Come on!</p>
<p>74 in the day and 68 at night. I personally don’t like to wear lots of clothes in the house.</p>
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<p>I prefer to buy a few shares in energy stocks to offset heating bills.</p>
<p>I can’t think of much more enjoyable things than having a warm comfy home. I don’t need to burn gas and money to go somewhere else.</p>
<p>Everyone else in my family likes it cooler than I do. That’s a problem when it is cold outside because the water heater is in the basement and it has to warm up the pipes to get to the shower on the second floor. The kids don’t like it when I turn up the temperature so that I can get a warm shower but they turn it off after I get started. One solution is to turn up the temperature on the water heater I guess but then I’d get complaints of the water being too hot.</p>
<p>The solution is to take showers at the office. The office showers in the fitness center seem to have unlimited and very hot water.</p>
<p>interesting thread. thermostat is set at 55 in my house, but passive solar allows for temps reaching the upper sixties on good days. bad days means hats and sweaters. my work space is unheated (indoors) which is actually good b/c it means that i don’t waste time. i feel much more connected to nature;-)</p>
<p>We keep it at 60 all the time during the heating season. We wear sweaters. It’s colder in my bedroom, by design. I feel like I’m expiring from the heat in most public places and other people’s houses. I find it very hard to sleep when it is 70 with no air moving in the bedroom.</p>
<p>We don’t have air conditioning, but because of high ceilings, deep porches, and big trees the first floor of the house is usually significantly cooler than the outside in the summer. A fan in the bedroom window normally does the trick in the summer. </p>
<p>My chocolate room is set at about 58 in the winter–it has a separate heating system–unless I’m working in which case it has to be warmer (about 66) for the chocolate to do its thing correctly. In the summer I don’t let the chocolate room get above 68. It’s the only airconditioned room in the house. (And that also keep the humidity in it down, which is also important. Chocolate and sugar are very tempermental. 
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<p>Bugmom–our house and working situation sounds like yours.</p>
<p>There are other issues in comfort besides thermostat settings and clothing. One that I notice, living in a very cold part of the country, is ambient temperature. If the walls are cold because it is below zero outside, you feel colder, even with that thermostat setting of 68. It can feel balmy when it is 50 outside, chilly when it is 10 degrees. </p>
<p>From what I remember from my days living with an energy conservation fanatic, thermostat set back is always more energy efficient. </p>
<p>No air con here-too expensive in an old steam heated house without duct work. Fans, cold drinks and open windows suffice. When really bad, I put a window air conditioner in a room, as an occasional retreat from the heat.</p>
<p>Setting the thermostat back for at least 8 hrs results in savings if you set it back by about 10 degrees. You don’t save as much if you cut it back a couple of degrees of course. You should not set back the thermostat for a heat pump. It is more efficient to choose a moderate temperature and leave it - unless you have a special programmable thermostat designed specifically for a heat pump. </p>
<p>My heat is set at 62 during the day and 60 at night. I think a cooler house is a healthier house because heat dries out the mucous membranes.</p>
<p>I put in a central humidifier, and we love it. It’s suppose to transmit hit better, and the air feels much better. A lot of people notice the difference when they come to our house. They don’t have that dry cough.</p>
<p>I like booklady and rrah’s temps- winter 70 days and 65 nights. H is from India and I, the Wis girl, like to be warm. Summers I set the air conditioner at 75, as high as I am comfortable with. Winters we wear sweaters and slippers plus throws/blankets for sitting around on couches/recliners. Thick winter comforters. I see the seasonal progression from summer’s T-shirt and shorts to long pants/sleeves, to sweaters et al. Recently the temps finally dropped low enough for the (GFA) heat to kick in more often- worst time of day in our well insulated brick house is late afternoon. Summers the western sun comes into the foyer, heating it up, and winters the sun sets and the house starts to cool down before the thermostat in its central location senses the heat loss. The furnace humidifier is a must. I have sometimes turned on the air conditioner in summmer when the inside temp is only 74 to get rid of the humidity (midwestern saying- “it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity”)- only how more months until summer comes again?</p>
<p>Oh- and we’re in the time of year when low 30’s seems cold whereas in a month or two 20’s will seem balmy outdoors…</p>
<p>We have the house at 68 during the day and 60 at night in the winter. We just have a couple of through the wall ACs downstairs and generally only turn them on if the house gets over 80, (that generally doesn’t happen until it’s been over 90 for several days in a row) maybe not even then if I’m doing sedentary work. Usually a couple of hours brings down the humidity and I turn them off.</p>
<p>Winter - 63. Summer - start running conditioner when it is close to 80 inside, does not happen very often, very few days / summer.</p>
<p>Our thermostat is currently set at 73 and we generally keep it between 71 and 75 in the winter. In the summer, we don’t turn it on unless the humidity is really high or the temperature outside gets above around 90. And then, we have it set between 77 and 80. </p>
<p>I simply could not live with some of the cold temps you guys have your houses set to. Last winter, we tried lowering our thermostat to 68 and I completely froze. And I wasn’t wearing summer clothing, either. I was wearing several layers, my outdoor gear (coat, hat, gloves), and had a blanket wrapped around my legs. My husband came home and asked me why I was dressed like a crazy person. I put my hand on his arm, he jumped because of how cold I was, and promptly turned the temp back up.</p>
<p>^^ I completely agree. I am a big proponent of conserving energy (and $$$), but I am simply miserable if I am cold, and I AM cold at 68 degrees!</p>
<p>I would have constant headache and not be able to do anything at 68. That is hot! Over 70 inside is hot even in a summer, but I will tolerate it since windows are open. My hands and feet are always cold, I like them that way.</p>
<p>I’m another one that freezes if the house is under 70 during the day, I really don’t know how some of you do it. I tried an experiment of lowering the thermostat to 68, and even with a blanket over me, I couldn’t take it. My nose, ears and hands were like ice. We do lower it to 62 overnight, but we sleep under a quilt and down comforter.</p>