<p>My husband and I are always disagreeing on a comfortable temperature for heat in the cold weather and then for the A/C in the summer. He thinks 68 degrees is good for cold weather. I prefer 70 degrees. Now that it’s hot, he wants to set the A/C at 79 and I think 74 is doable. What do you think is the ideal temperature for summer and winter?</p>
<p>In my home, the ideal temperature fluctuates based on a complex mathematical formula derived from who walked past the thermostat most recently. :)</p>
<p>For my taste: 72°F in summer, 68°F in winter.</p>
<p>Love this thread, and guessing I’ll be at the extremes. But not as extreme as my friend who has been our inspiration ;).</p>
<p>Said friend (living in the northeast where it gets <em>COLD</em>) has been keeping her heat at 59 degrees. Yes, fifty-nine with a 5… that is not a typo. They do wear long underwear most of the day. I thought she was crazy. But she was in a “fight back” mode when oil prices went through the roof.</p>
<p>I did not think I could ever do that. We were in the 68 degrees for heat and sometimes bumped it up a notch if we were watching TV in the evenings and feeling a little chilly.</p>
<p>Then we decided to fight back… just sick of the oil companies and their prices and profits. We now keep the heat at 63. We wear more clothes, and I use an afghan when sitting still. Warm socks, ls shirt and sweater/sweatshirt. That’s really all it takes. Occasionally when feeling really chilly, I will bump it up to 66 for a short while. Then we feel fine.* I thought I would not be able to handle the early mornings, upon waking. But somehow that is not a problem. Maybe there really is something to the mind over matter business.</p>
<p>*We do put the heat to 68 when we are having company over, whether for dinner or overnight. </p>
<p>We don’t need AC, so I can’t comment on that one. </p>
<p>Bottom line, we left “ideal temperature” for comfort behind a couple of years ago. Part of being frugal and with the benefit of being kinder to our planet.</p>
<p>We do 67-68 winter and 78 summer. Colder than that in the winter and even with a sweater I am too uncomfortable in the home office. Don’t need it cooler than that in the summer, just wear shorts and sleeveless shirts.</p>
<p>jmmom, I normally wear layers in the winter, usually a warm first layer shirt, fleece and always socks and slippers, and yes, blankets on every sofa, and that’s with the thermostat at 68 degrees! I’m all for conservation but there is a breaking point for minimal comfort.</p>
<p>We have AC in our home but rarely use it. Our house stays decently cool in the summer. A couple of times a year we get a lot of late afternoon sun and high temps that make our bedroom reach into the 80’s. On those nights I turn on the AC at bed. I like it at 74 and H likes it at 76. Our heater is set on a timer. It is turned off during the daytime hours. It goes on in the early AM and later afternoon. H has it set at 68. Take into account I live in Ca.</p>
<p>Winter: 68 during morning rush; 66 during the midday; 68 for dinner; 65 at bedtime. (We have a fancy thermostat.) Humidifier at 35% (which makes the air feel warmer). </p>
<p>Summer: 78 during the day, 72 at bedtime but only if it’s hot out. Mostly it cools down quite nicely in the evening and it’s not necessary to turn on the AC at all. Last summer, for example, I turned it on ONCE. (It was a bad year for tomatoes.)</p>
<p>I basically live in an icebox in the winter. I put heat up with company, wear polartec, save tons. In the summer, I love heat and it is dry. I have a solar powered water heater which helps. I replaced all my appliances with energy saving units. I rarely use my car. I love this time of year and I really hate the winter and I live in the Mediterranean region. It still snows here in the mountains.</p>
<p>I would think that the thermostat should be set at whatever temp a menopausal woman says it should be.:)</p>
<p>I agree with that^^. I love being in the car because quickly I can shift from heat to cool air. Our house is set at 68 when we are home in the winter and 62 when we are not home. AC is set for 78 but we only use it when the humidity is unbearable or when the upstairs is horrendous. Otherwise I love to have the windows open.</p>
<p>65-68 winter, 76 (night) 78-79 (day) summer. </p>
<p>I have to carry a jacket/sweater around all summer because it seems most places have AC on 70-72.</p>
<p>I am also a big fan of open windows, as is my husband. I am happy with 80 degree’s, but somehow when it’s 90 degree’s +, 80 degrees inside is just a tad too warm. Why is that? And yes, GA2012Mom, I think the bottom line should be whatever this menopausal woman says it should be!</p>
<p>We are tough ! Winter - 60 ,and we live in NJ . Lots of cozy blankets to snuggle in . Summer , we do 76 during day , and 74 at night . 68 is when we have in- laws over .</p>
<p>I have my a/c set at 80 during the day when I’m not here, then it goes to about 76 around the time I go to bed and stays there till when I go to work in the morning. I may adjust it down to 74 or so if need be. I’m still working out the figures too so it will be interesting to see what you decide on kathie since we’re in the same climate with you living right up the road.</p>
<p>Last November and December, I woke up with it around 53 degrees in my bedroom. Went to bed with it around 65-70 degrees. Always bundled up when I was around the apartment…</p>
<p>My bedroom today was 78. Not sure if the parents have the AC on or not…</p>
<p>Very timely thread. Not 5 minutes ago, H & I finally threw in the towel and turned on the AC for the first time this year. Its 86 upstairs and very humid. I’ve got the thermostat set at 72. I wish we had a separate zone for the upstairs. Although it’ll be 72 downstairs, it’ll be closer to 77 upstairs. </p>
<p>In the winter we set the thermostat at 62-66. We love our fleece tops and blankets around here. Of course, when the elderly parents show up, we crank it up to about 72 and feel quite uncomfortable.</p>
<p>Forgot to mention we do set for 60 at night during the winter. The 68 is daytime when I work in a home office. Summer stays 78 round the clock but AC is only on when the outside temperature around 90 and it is humid. We like open windows and if the evening temp is into the 70’s we will turn the AC for the night.</p>
<p>We do turn the heat down at night in the winter at around 11 pm. I think to 63 and then it goes up in the morning. The funny thing is, that I’m generally the one that is cold in the winter so I really do layer up. In the summer though, there is only so much clothes I can take off and my husband is comfortable going around with just a pair of shorts on if he’s working outside and t-shirt when he comes in. So, I’M the hot one! (well, the hot flashes don’t help either…)</p>
<p>We have a separate unit for downstairs and upstairs. I set the downstairs only to run the heater at 68 and the upstairs only to run the AC at 78. We also have ceiling fans in all the bedrooms and in the family room downstairs. My husband would love to run the AC colder but our summer electric bills are outrageous.</p>
<p>We do a constant temp in the winter 65 degree and a constant temp in the summer 79 degree.</p>
<p>One of my colleagues from India sets his winter temp at 75 degree and never use AC in the summer.</p>