Adjusting to a lower thermostat temp

[mightymoo]

We have a programmable thermostat. We were keeping it at 65 to 68, depending on the time of day, lower at night. Well, I decided to try to save further money, to change the thermostat to 62 all during the day, 58 at night and instead of having it set higher all the time, just bump it up when I'm cold - it has 4 time zones a day, so it resets when it gets to the end of the time zone.

What's interesting is at first I found I was constantly bumping up the heat, but now I've been surprised to find I feel fine and I look over and the temp is 62. I guess I've been slowly adjusting to operating at the new temperature! I'm thinking in a couple weeks I'll try going down a degree further!

[ctdoula]

You definatly get used to it! Adding layers can also help you tolerate the 'colder' temps. Silk long johns are worth EVERY PENNY! Also, fleece/wool slippers w/leather type soles have saved me (I love mine from Lands End & have pratically worn them out).

[SugarAndSun]

I tried to lower it overall like that, but have kinda shifted now. I turn it off completely at night. I also keep it off upstairs always. Downstairs I turn it off if I go out, but keep it on 70 if we are home. I still wear multple layers. I am always cold. :

[mightymoo]

Originally Posted by SugarAndSun

I tried to lower it overall like that, but have kinda shifted now. I turn it off completely at night. I also keep it off upstairs always. Downstairs I turn it off if I go out, but keep it on 70 if we are home. I still wear multple layers. I am always cold. :

I remember last year feeling freezing at 68.

When I turned it down I gave myself permission to turn it up whenever I felt cold, but I make a point of only turning it up one or two degrees at a time, if I'm still cold when it reaches that temp, then I will turn it up again. So, I don't sit and shiver, I turn it up as soon as I feel cold. But I've found that by having the programmable thermostat that will go back to 62 within 4-8 hours, I'll often go by the thermostat now and notice it says 62, but I haven't felt cold. Whereas before 62 felt icy to me. I really think by having to go back down when I'm not thinking about it, my body is adjusting.

Similarly at night, I set it low, but we have a space heater in the bedroom, so if its too cold when I go to get in bed, I turn on the space heater for 30 minutes (it has a timer), but by the end of that, I will have gotten all warm under my thick blankets and it doesn't matter that the heat goes back down.

[JERENAUD]

Originally Posted by mightymoo

We have a programmable thermostat. We were keeping it at 65 to 68, depending on the time of day, lower at night. Well, I decided to try to save further money, to change the thermostat to 62 all during the day, 58 at night and instead of having it set higher all the time, just bump it up when I'm cold - it has 4 time zones a day, so it resets when it gets to the end of the time zone.

What's interesting is at first I found I was constantly bumping up the heat, but now I've been surprised to find I feel fine and I look over and the temp is 62. I guess I've been slowly adjusting to operating at the new temperature! I'm thinking in a couple weeks I'll try going down a degree further!

There's clearly something I'm missing with the idea of turning down the thermostat to save money and I'm hoping that one of you can help me.

If I keep my thermostat set at 75 and the house temperature falls to 74, the furnace has to pump enough heat for it to go up 1 degree. If I keep my thermostat set at 62 and the house temperature falls to 61, the furnace has to pump enough heat for it to go up 1 degree. How does one require more energy than the other? Does a warm house loose heat faster than a cool one because of the bigger difference between outside and inside?

I hope that this makes sense because I'd really like to understand!

Erica

[love2bmom]

I'm always changing the heat right now. Having just had a baby (LOL - 3 mo. ago) I'm freezing at night and hot during the day when he's on me. I keep it around 64 during the day and 68 at night. My only worry is my 3 yr. old refuses to wear shoes/socks/slippers in the house. She's a barefooter and her feet are always like icepops. I also hate laying the baby on the floor - it seem drafty.

[mightymoo]

Originally Posted by JERENAUD

There's clearly something I'm missing with the idea of turning down the thermostat to save money and I'm hoping that one of you can help me.

If I keep my thermostat set at 75 and the house temperature falls to 74, the furnace has to pump enough heat for it to go up 1 degree. If I keep my thermostat set at 62 and the house temperature falls to 61, the furnace has to pump enough heat for it to go up 1 degree. How does one require more energy than the other? Does a warm house loose heat faster than a cool one because of the bigger difference between outside and inside?

I hope that this makes sense because I'd really like to understand!

Erica

Because the temperature outside is the same regardless of your thermostat, so comparing 74/75 versus 61/62 makes no sense. Yes, you are probably using the same energy to boost your house 1 degree from 74 to 75 as from 61 to 62, although I'm sure there are subtle differences. But if the temperature outside is 50, if you set your thermostat to 62, you are paying to heat the house 12 degrees. If you set it to 75, you are paying to heat your house 25 degrees. The lower you set your thermostat, the more money you save in heating costs.

[JERENAUD]

Originally Posted by mightymoo

Because the temperature outside is the same regardless of your thermostat, so comparing 74/75 versus 61/62 makes no sense. Yes, you are probably using the same energy to boost your house 1 degree from 74 to 75 as from 61 to 62, although I'm sure there are subtle differences. But if the temperature outside is 50, if you set your thermostat to 62, you are paying to heat the house 12 degrees. If you set it to 75, you are paying to heat your house 25 degrees. The lower you set your thermostat, the more money you save in heating costs.

But that assumes that you're starting from the outside temperature each and every day. If your house is already *at* at particular temperature, and assuming that it's decently insulated, shouldn't the energy use be similar?

Erica

[Carlyle]

Originally Posted by JERENAUD

But that assumes that you're starting from the outside temperature each and every day. If your house is already *at* at particular temperature, and assuming that it's decently insulated, shouldn't the energy use be similar?

Erica

Nah, your house (no matter how well insulated) is ALWAYS losing energy to the outdoors. The better insulated it is, the slower the energy loss is, but you will lose some heat to the outdoors even if you're living in the most well insulated building ever. Partly you lose heat because it radiates through the insulation and the windows. Partly you lose heat because your house is always leaking air (even a "tight" house will leak air--vented fans in bathrooms, around window frames, through the walls, through the doors, etc). The air that leaks out of your house will be replaced by air from the outside...which is whatever temperature it is outside.

Picture this: If you turned your heat off completely tomorrow, how long do you think it would take for the house temp inside to match the temp of the air outside? It might take a day or so, but it would drop faster than you think!

That is what you are heating for--to keep the house from being the same temp as outside. And the bigger the difference between the temperature inside and the temperature outside, the MORE OFTEN your heater will have to come on. So yes, you really are heating your house up from the temperature of the outside air (because there's air from outside leaking into even a well insulated house all the time, AND because your house radiates heat at a faster rate if there's a bigger gap between the temp outside and the temp inside). That's why your heating bills are higher when it's REALLY cold outside than you do when it's only a LITTLE cold out (winter vs. spring).

[SugarAndSun]

Originally Posted by JERENAUD

There's clearly something I'm missing with the idea of turning down the thermostat to save money and I'm hoping that one of you can help me.

If I keep my thermostat set at 75 and the house temperature falls to 74, the furnace has to pump enough heat for it to go up 1 degree. If I keep my thermostat set at 62 and the house temperature falls to 61, the furnace has to pump enough heat for it to go up 1 degree. How does one require more energy than the other? Does a warm house loose heat faster than a cool one because of the bigger difference between outside and inside?

I hope that this makes sense because I'd really like to understand!

Erica

There is something to this though. For example, if you had radiant heat or even baseboard heat you may not want to be turning it on and off like I do. (I keep it off at night and when I'm not home). I have forced hot air though and my house heats up in ten minutes or so... so for me it is worth it. My house is well insulated and that's why I can turn it off at night. If it is 68 or so when I go to bed it will only be 60 or at the lowest 58 when I get up, even though it is less than 30 outside. However, for those 10 hours or so I am not raising the temp at all.

[gentlemango]

Originally Posted by Carlyle

Picture this: If you turned your heat off completely tomorrow, how long do you think it would take for the house temp inside to match the temp of the air outside? It might take a day or so, but it would drop faster than you think!

Right. If the insulation theory was true, someone in a modern house could turn the heat completely off at night and wake up to a nice 70 degree bedroom.

How drafty (read: old) your house is has a LOT to do with how much your heating system has to work, though. Insulation makes a big fat $$$ difference.

[EmsMom]

The perception of hot/cold can definitely change. I used to live in an apartment that was always extremely HOT! We did not control the temperature but it was hot enough to wear shorts in January. When I moved in with my husband, he kept the thermostat at 62. Wow, that was really a big transition! I was always freezing cold. But I adjusted over time. Now anything over 62 feels too warm and I have to wear less clothes. I do generally wear a wool sweater around the house at 60 to 62 degrees, though. It is a huge help. But my kids will often have on short sleeves and feel perfectly comfortable.

[Yooper]

Originally Posted by JERENAUD

There's clearly something I'm missing with the idea of turning down the thermostat to save money and I'm hoping that one of you can help me.

If I keep my thermostat set at 75 and the house temperature falls to 74, the furnace has to pump enough heat for it to go up 1 degree. If I keep my thermostat set at 62 and the house temperature falls to 61, the furnace has to pump enough heat for it to go up 1 degree. How does one require more energy than the other? Does a warm house loose heat faster than a cool one because of the bigger difference between outside and inside?

I hope that this makes sense because I'd really like to understand!

Erica

Thermodynamics. Well actually "heat transfer" which is dependent on the laws of thermodynamics....... The temperature gradient (the difference in temp from inside to out) does effect how quickly an object (or house) will lose heat. If not, people who live in very cold climates would have similar heating bills as people that live in milder climates. Inside temp effects the equation as much as outside temp. Maintaining a 70 degree temp take much more energy than maintaining a 60 degree temp assuming the outside temp is lower than either one. Then efficiency comes into play as pps have mentioned.

Regardless, I think that it is possible to adapt to lowering your inside temp. We do 65 during the day and 55 at night. But we live in an old and drafty house so the temp reading at the programmable thermostat is a bit optimistic. In reality, we are dealing with 60 and 50. It sucks but we simply cannot afford more. Wool scarves, wrist warmers, and slippers help a great deal.

[Carlyle]

Originally Posted by SugarAndSun

Quote:
Originally Posted by JERENAUD View Post
If I keep my thermostat set at 75 and the house temperature falls to 74, the furnace has to pump enough heat for it to go up 1 degree. If I keep my thermostat set at 62 and the house temperature falls to 61, the furnace has to pump enough heat for it to go up 1 degree. How does one require more energy than the other? Does a warm house loose heat faster than a cool one because of the bigger difference between outside and inside?

There is something to this though. For example, if you had radiant heat or even baseboard heat you may not want to be turning it on and off like I do. (I keep it off at night and when I'm not home). I have forced hot air though and my house heats up in ten minutes or so... so for me it is worth it. My house is well insulated and that's why I can turn it off at night. If it is 68 or so when I go to bed it will only be 60 or at the lowest 58 when I get up, even though it is less than 30 outside. However, for those 10 hours or so I am not raising the temp at all.

The thing is that even though you might not want to set your thermostat to vary between day and nighttime temps if you have radiant heat--you will still save energy (and money) NO MATTER WHAT TYPE OF HEATING SYSTEM YOU HAVE by setting your overall temps lower--i.e. closer to outdoor temperatures. A warm house will require more energy to heat than a cooler one (in the winter, at least )

Again, this is why your bills are lower in the spring...when the temp is 55 outside, you aren't using as much energy to keep your house at 70 degrees as you are when the temp is 32 out. Make sense?

[Mama Dragon]

Can you clue my internal thermometer in on this little tip? I'm freezing at 69 :

[velochic]

Originally Posted by gentlemango

How drafty (read: old) your house is has a LOT to do with how much your heating system has to work, though. Insulation makes a big fat $$$ difference.

OT: I had to giggle about your post. We have an old house, but we've updated it with energy star windows, fiberglass doors, etc. Dh and I complain about NEW homes being so poorly built and drafty now. All in all, older homes are usually better built and resistant to heat/cold difference, but you have to update the insulation. Newer homes seems to be built so poorly that you can never get enough insulation in them to keep the drafts away.

[SugarAndSun]

McMansions, yes, but most custom built homes can be built to be very efficient. DH is a contractor and built our house and as I said the heat can be off, the temp outside $25, and it still only falls to 60 overnight.

I also take back my previous post after doing some online reading. It is even worth it to turn the radiant heat off.

Also, I find that my comfort level depends heavily upon what I am doing. If I am walking around, cleaning, etc. I can be comfortable at a much lower temp. If I sit down for even 1 minutes, 74 will seem freezing to me. If I am not moving, I need to pile on the blankets. :