What's your home thermostat set at?

[VeganBikeChick]

I really don't want to turn on my heat this year, was stubborn last year and didn't turn it on at all. I'm finding that I'm more cold this year, though. Earlier winter? Colder sooner? Who knows....

Anyway, I'm at home and the current temp in my place is 62. I'm layered up and cozy under blankets, but geez it's cold when I leave my blanket fort!

What do you keep your home's thermostat set to?

[newfsmith]

A lot warmer than when we first bought our house in 1976. Daytime we're set at 66, night set back is 60. That is luxerious compared to 1976 when the daytime temp was 55and nights were 50. If it was sunny out it was usually warmer on our porch than in our house.

[Crankin]

68 in the day and 58 at night. I admit when it's really cold (like less than 20) I jack the heat up to 70 for a bit. My house is well insulated, new windows, roof etc, so our gas usage has been "as low as the most frugal customers in our neighborhood" that the company sends us stats on.
I don't mind the cold when I am outside dressed for it, but I hate being cold in my house. I guess it comes from living in the Sunbelt for so long. Our energy usage is very low compared to most I know, so it's fine with me.

[pll]

Mine is set at 62 during the day, 60 at night. I have only one thermostat for my entire apartment and it is in the coldest room (floor to ceiling windows on two sides of the room); the temperature in my living room tends to remain between 66 and 68 degrees.

I keep a humidifier running all the time once the temperature drops. I feel that helps with the temperature (and my skin and wooden furniture also enjoy the humidity).

A ceiling fan also helps with better air distribution. When at home, I tend wear socks and a light fleece pullover.

[limewave]

68. We have a small house. Our bedroom is in a converted attic and it is FREEZING. We have an electric blanket we turn on an hour before bedtime, otherwise the cold is almost unbearable.

Our heating bill in the winter is around $75-$90.

[grey]

62 - all the time, except on the coldest nights, then we might set it at 55. We are so spoiled - we have a woodstove so lots of times, it's 73 in the living room.

[Grits]

Yikes. I'm not even going to say what mine is set on after those posts.

[Blueberry]

We're 64-65 in the daytime and 58 at night. I love to sleep cold - but I have been warming it up a bit more some days (I work from home, and we're both home a lot).

The summer is when I have more call to be embarrassed. I cannot do hot!

[Owlie]

The insulation in my apartment sucks. What's nice is that I can control the bedroom and the living area separately. I leave the bedroom heating off and keep the door close until just before I want to take a shower, then turn it up to 70, then back down to 60 before I go to bed. I do the same thing with the living room--it gets turned off when I leave for the day, then I turn it up to 70 for a bit and back down to 60. Then I turn it off at night.

[OakLeaf]

67 at the thermostat, which keeps the temperature at 64 in most of the rooms.

I'm consistently freezing at bedtime, so setting it down at night isn't an option. I've been sleeping in two layers of wool on top and one layer wool longjohns or sweatpants, wool socks, wool cap, four blankets, and it's not even cold outside...

[Pax]

74 when we're home, 67 when we leave and at night.

[Owlie]

67 at the thermostat, which keeps the temperature at 64 in most of the rooms.

I'm consistently freezing at bedtime, so setting it down at night isn't an option. I've been sleeping in two layers of wool on top and one layer wool longjohns or sweatpants, wool socks, wool cap, four blankets, and it's not even cold outside...

My mom made me a bag of rice sewn out of one of my grandmother's old cloth napkins, with a flannel cover. Stick in microwave for 1-1.5 minutes, and voila! toasty warm feet!
(Also the giant super-warm comforter helps...)

[tangentgirl]

Hmm. We are usually between 70-75. And I wear sweaters and socks and stuff.

For some reason, being cold is just one of the worst feelings in the world to me. I don't think we spend that much on gas, maybe around $50 a month in the winter. (I pay the electric, not the gas, so I'm not sure.)

[Catrin]

It varies according to hot flashes. If I am feeling particularly warm that day then the thermostat is around 64-65 when I am home, 70 if my inner heater isn't working that day. When I leave home for the day I set it at 60-63. At night I set it between 60-65.

I hate being cold, and I am still wrapping up when it is at 70. I seem to be another one who is better with being hot than cold.

[Brandi]

ours is set at 68 most of the time but if it get's chilly we turn it to 70. Our house well insulated so the heat stays in really well.

[westtexas]

I haven't turned my heater on yet this year, so it's still on the A/C and set to 80. Even on the few nights when the temps dropped to freezing here, my apartment never got below 60. I'm just sucking up my downstairs neighbor's warmth :) That and two cats really helps. I like to be cold though.

[shootingstar]

I'm in a newish building and the heating system is not working the best. :mad: The HVAC system was not properly flushed...at the beginning. Something that our condo board has to look after....long story. Not worth going into.

So 67 degrees F (19.5 degrees C). I want it at 75. Sorry, this brings back memories of growing up in an old drafty house. :(

I only have wall to wall carpeting in the bedroom. And haven't spent money on scatter rugs which I prefer not use. (It only encourages dust accumulation when I don't vaccum often enough.)

[breeze]

63 on the thermostat, probably around 58-60 in the house. Our rental house is very poorly insulated, and much of the heat escapes through the roof. I can't wait for the day that we move (in a year or so) and buy an energy efficient home.

[jessmarimba]

Thermostat is set at 60 all the time. I turn it up for one cycle to 70 in the morning and maybe in the evening if I went running or something.

I HATE being cold. But I can't afford a new furnace and this one isn't efficient at all. Plus the downstairs just won't ever be warm, as all of the ducts are in the ceiling. At least my whole floor upstairs heats up when the furnace is running!

Owlie I lovelovelove those rice/bean heat packs! But I don't have a microwave at home either :(

[colby]

Most days at home, we have our thermostat 60-65 when nobody's home and at night, and something like 66 or 68 otherwise. Though on weekends and evenings we use our "stove" (gas heat) in the living room to warm the toes.

In Austin, it's still been frequently unseasonably warm (I guess from my perspective it'll always be warm :P) and we're in the middle of a high-rise, so we have our A/C set at 76 or 78. On the occasional humid (or rarely rainy) day it's more about making it dry than making it cool. On nice (dry) days, we can open our floor-to-ceiling slider and get some fresh air in. There have been some cool mornings (30s-40s) but nothing sustained enough to matter.

It's weird to go from one end of the spectrum to the other.

[aka_kim]

The thermostat is set to 63 all the time. My house doesn't heat well and 63 usually keeps the upstairs from getting too hot while the downstairs isn't too cold. That said, right now I'm wearing wristies and have a blanket and cat on my lap to keep warm.

[Koronin]

For the winter it's typically set at 70. I could tolerate it at 68, but my husband can't and would prefer it to be warmer.

[ny biker]

Mine is set for:

- 68 while I'm sleeping
- 70 in the morning while I'm having breakfast and getting dressed.
- 68 while I'm away during the day
- 71 in the evening until near bedtime.

At these temps, I still need a heavy fleece bathrobe, shearling lined slippers and a snuggy.

In summer, it's set for 76 in the evening and overnight, 78 while I'm out during the day, and 77 (I think) for morning.

I got a new heat pump a couple of years ago and it dramatically reduced my electric bills. I literally use half the BTUs in the coldest months compared to my usage with the old system.

[Becky]

66 and 60, respectively. When DH and I bought this house, we spent a significant amount on a new boiler (not planned! :eek:), new windows and a new front door. Last fall, we installed a high-efficiency woodburning insert in the fireplace. The combination of all of these means that our downstairs is often in the low 70s while we're having a fire and the thermostat doesn't kick on. Sure, the bedrooms are chilly, but I like sleeping in a cool room with lots of blankets :)

[redrhodie]

68 during the day, 63 at night. Once in a while I'll spike it to 70, which is a luxury. I also grew up in a old drafty house, and being cold brings back sad memories of not having enough money for oil, so I try not to let that happen. This apartment has really high ceilings, and old windows, so it's expensive. $75 for gas year round, which includes appliances/hot water. I'll be caulking soon. My electric bill is only around $30/month, though.

[surgtech1956]

66 or 67 when we're home and 63 at night.

[Biciclista]

we keep it on 69 when we're home.

[skhill]

Mine's normally at 55, day and night. My goal with the furnace is simply to keep the pipes from freezing. Then I supplement with space heaters scattered through the house.

With the combination of an ancient floor furnace (no ducts, no blower) and not enough insulation, it'd cost a fortune to keep the house at even 65 in the winter. So I wear many layers inside.

[carlotta]

We live in an old building with steam radiators (no individual thermostats). The building is mostly inhabited by elderly women who apparently complain A LOT when their apartments are below 75 (80?) or so. Thus, we leave a couple windows open year round....

I do love that the radiator pipes act like radiant heating in the tiled bathroom...nothing like warm floor when you first get up. I don't miss my grad school apartment...5 winters with virtually no insulation in a cinder-block box with a little tiny furnace. Good times.

[Pax]

We live in an old building with steam radiators (no individual thermostats). The building is mostly inhabited by elderly women who apparently complain A LOT when their apartments are below 75 (80?) or so. Thus, we leave a couple windows open year round....

I do love that the radiator pipes act like radiant heating in the tiled bathroom...nothing like warm floor when you first get up. I don't miss my grad school apartment...5 winters with virtually no insulation in a cinder-block box with a little tiny furnace. Good times.

I lived in a place with radiant heat when I lived in Chicago, it was around 80 most of the winter, I'd keep a window open even on zero degree days.

[Brandi]

my hubby just told me our heat does not come in the night unless it get's below 64 in the house. But he has it set to go off in the morning around 5:30 am to 70 so it is not freezing when we get up and then it is set to go off after 4:30 during the day if it get's below 68. but turns off at around 9 pm. We also have lot's of throw blankets we get under during the winter. Including 3 cats!

[Norse]

In winter for the main thermostat, 68 days, 65 nights; and 60 for the separate den temp control. We also use the fireplace a lot, especially on weekends. Our house is drafty due to all the windows (over 40!). During the transition season of autumn, we only turn it down to 67 nights until our bodies, and our cats, have had a chance to acclimate a little to the new lower temps. The dog loves cold and snow.

[Norse]

One other point, except for the den and the basement, the whole house has hardwood or tile flooring, which tends to make things cooler.

[GLC1968]

Ours is set to 55F. That temp keeps the pipes from freezing in the outer walls if the temp happens to drop to below freezing outside (which doesn't happen all that much). The furnace does kick on for half an hour at 6 am to take the house up to 65, but then shuts off again for the rest of the day.

My H works from home, but he sits in a tiny room surrounded by computers, so it's quite warm in there.

We also have a wood stove (a new one that is the right size for our house, finally!) and we use that to keep it comfortable when we are home like in the evening or on the weekends.

[Tri Girl]

wow- I feel like a major winter wimp here. Our house is very old and very under-insulated (we're working on that one exterior wall at a time). We have it set at 68 in the evening and 73 when we're home.
One winter we lost power for a week during an ice storm. Our house got down down 61 and I swear I almost froze to death. I don't know how you people do it below 61. ;)

[GLC1968]

wow- I feel like a major winter wimp here. Our house is very old and very under-insulated (we're working on that one exterior wall at a time). We have it set at 68 in the evening and 73 when we're home.
One winter we lost power for a week during an ice storm. Our house got down down 61 and I swear I almost froze to death. I don't know how you people do it below 61. ;)

Yeah, but I melt if it's over 75 so you should have seen our electric bill when we lived in North Carolina. :o

[Pax]

wow- I feel like a major winter wimp here. Our house is very old and very under-insulated (we're working on that one exterior wall at a time). We have it set at 68 in the evening and 73 when we're home.
One winter we lost power for a week during an ice storm. Our house got down down 61 and I swear I almost froze to death. I don't know how you people do it below 61. ;)

Not wimpy, each person responds to cold differently.

I have wicked arthritis and the cold makes me ache from head to toe... so my thermostat is set WARM! I don't mind heat at all so in the summer the AC is set really high and isn't even on much of the time.

[jessmarimba]

One winter we lost power for a week during an ice storm. Our house got down down 61 and I swear I almost froze to death. I don't know how you people do it below 61. ;)

Trust me, I hate it. I'm always cold even if the house is set at 70 or higher. I sit about a foot in front of a space heater if I'm home and not moving for any period of time. But my furnace is ancient, my house can't be altered to preserve heat any better, and my upstairs at least heats up from the sun by evening. I spend most of the winter in the two rooms upstairs (my bedroom, and my "sitting room"/tv room).

My boyfriend's house is even colder. His thermostat is set at 55 and he doesn't have a cozy upstairs like I do - it's just as drafty and cold in his upstairs as his downstairs. My fingers are always numb when I'm there and I drink a lot of hot tea to keep my hands warm.

[Pax]

...

My boyfriend's house is even colder. His thermostat is set at 55 and he doesn't have a cozy upstairs like I do - it's just as drafty and cold in his upstairs as his downstairs. My fingers are always numb when I'm there and I drink a lot of hot tea to keep my hands warm.

That's how my SO's apartment was when we met, she would sit around in her sleeping bag to watch TV, she loved coming to my toasty warm place. :D

[FlyingScot]

Count me in with the weenies. I have a programmable thermostat. 70-72 during the day when I'm home (62 if I'm not) which drops down to 60 at night but goes up briefly in the AM to 68 so I don't freeze getting ready for work. Sorry, I just don't like being cold and 70 is my lower limit. Otherwise I just end up on the couch under blankets keeping warm but getting nothing done. My house is also old with no carpeting and windows everywhere and I'm not that big. On the other hand, I do not nor ever will have AC so it isn't unusual for my house to get up to 98 degrees in the summer. I figure it all balances out. :D

[AppleTree]

Now that I am somewhat menopausal, I like the house cooler... I am one that hates being hot more than I hate being cold. I love cycling in the cooler weather! During the day I have it about 66-67 depending on whether I am upstairs or downstairs.

Does anyone else play the thermostat mambo with their husbands? I used to bump it up and then he would come along and turn it back down, but nowadays it's the opposite! I keep turning it down and he is freezing! I don't understand it! :confused:

[ny biker]

I live in a condo in a brick building with windows on the north and south walls. I have long insulated drapes on the north windows, and they help alot in the winter. In fact the whole north wall of my bedroom feels so cold in winter that sometimes I think I might just put up a curtain rod that extends across the entire wall and cover it with insulated drapes.

The windows on the south wall get nice direct sun, and I like the light but it still feels cold around them in winter. I have blackout liners on the curtains for one window (in the bathroom), which also work to keep the hot sun out in the summer. On the other window, which is in the kitchen, I used to hang a plastic drop cloth over a tension rod for cheap insulation that still let the light through. Since I renovated the kitchen last spring, I just ordered a double-cell honeycomb shade for that window. It's a pale gray color, so it won't totally block the light, but it should help a bit with the cold.

Before the kitchen renovation, I had a circa-1970s dropped ceiling that allowed the warm air to escape easily in winter. Last year I hung a long curtain in the doorway from the kitchen to the dining room, and I actually saw a difference in my heating bills as a result. The first part of the renovation was replacing the old ceiling with drywall, and I made sure they surrounded the new recessed lights with insulation.

I've also done things like put foam insulation around electrical outlets and light switches in exterior walls.

http://www.amicusgreen.com/browse.cfm/draft-stopper-gaskets-combo-12-pack/4,374.html

I still need my shearling slippers to keep my feet from turning into blocks of ice, but it does help to try to reduce the drafts as much as possible.

[withm]

65-66 at night and all day when I'm at work. 68-70 in the evening or whenever I'm actually home, depending on how sunny it might be. My house is poorly insulated and really needs all new windows and doors. I wish I had a programmable tstat.

[OakLeaf]

it isn't unusual for my house to get up to 98 degrees in the summer :D

:eek: :eek: Yikes, there must be something really wrong with your home's design! We finally broke down and turned the AC on when it got to 89° in the house, but that was after it had been in the 90s outside for several days, and we only ran the AC for three or four days this summer. I can't believe it would ever have got to 98°, let alone being "not unusual."

Really it was the humidity this summer more than the heat. Everything in the house was turning to mold - we didn't have much choice but to turn the AC on (either that, or tear out all the carpet and throw away the beds and books). It was just like Florida.

[spokewench]

I don't have a programmable thermostat, but turn the heat down to 60 at night; up to 68 in the morning, turn back down to 60 when I leave; and back to 68 when I come home. However, I do have a wood stove in the living room. So much of the time, the heat is turned way down and the woodstove is keeping me warm.

My main house with the woodstove can get up to 75 - nice and toasty! I like it a lot! Can't stand to be cold when I don't need to be.

[FlyingScot]

:eek: :eek: Yikes, there must be something really wrong with your home's design!"

No it's just old and the main living area is on the west side of the house so it takes a beating from the sun. It didn't use to get that hot until the city cut down my beautiful, non-infected ash tree that did an awesome job providing shade. Also, the days that it got that warm it was >100 degrees outside.

[skhill]

No it's just old and the main living area is on the west side of the house so it takes a beating from the sun. It didn't use to get that hot until the city cut down my beautiful, non-infected ash tree that did an awesome job providing shade. Also, the days that it got that warm it was >100 degrees outside.

I don't have AC either, and this summer was worse than before. The house just to the west was torn down in the spring; when it was there my house was well-shaded from the afternoon sun, but not any more. I never hit 98, at least not downstairs, though!

[jessmarimba]

My upstairs gets wicked hot in the summer. I think partly because it was designed to be warmer in the winter and partly because someone built a wall in the middle of the room. The east and west walls are half window, which add radiant heat in the winter and should allow a nice cross-breeze in the summer (especially combined with the dormer windows on the south side). But the wall blocks the breeze, now all it does it slam the bedroom door shut. Downstairs stays tolerable because the east wall is now a laundry room and the west wall windows are covered by the porch.

[maillotpois]

59 during the day if we're not home and also at night for sleeping. 62 or 63 when I am working at home if I get so cold I can't stand it anymore. 67 at night when we are home having dinner,etc.