what do you set the heat on at night? - Page 2

[greenmansions]

The past 2 years we had it at 69 during the day and 65 at night. This year now that the kids are bigger and the night nursing is down to a minimum we will do 67 during the day and 63 at night.

We use sleep sacks from Germany that keep DD so nice and warm. DS finally has learned to keep covers up on him.

[oetien]

First of all, we don't turn on the heat unless it's necessary (and it won't be until around Christmas time, usually). Our space heater doesn't have a thermostat, but I'm guessing somewhere around 50 or so. We do have it on at night because we don't want to sleep in the cold, but it's off most of the time during the day (we can wear layer, when dd was younger we wear her all day)
We live in MA, in a big apt. building, and I know for sure we have the lowest winter electric bill (I do admit I get some of my neighbor's heat, but gotta do what I gotta do to keep the bill low, right?) We're usually only pay $20 more a month for electricity (it's a small one bedroom apt. and the heater is electric)

[Logan's Mom]

Originally Posted by Amylcd

We keep ours set to 70, always. I hate being cold.

:

[applejuice]

I turn off the heater at night. That way, I wake up easier. : even in the winter...

[MayBaby2007]

Last year I turned the heat down to 50ish at night. Low enough where it probably wouldn't kick on. DD and I slept on top of a heating blanket and it kept us toasty. I also had a space heater on low in the bedroom if I remember correctly. We have an air mattress on the floor--a few feet above the freezing ground in an old drafy house. The mattress held all that cold floor air and I'd just : That's when we started sleeping on top of the heating blanket.

During the day I kept the heat around 60ish. Some days were colder than others and I'd bump it up to 70 to get the house warm and turn it down. I have radiator heat so it stays warm for quite a bit.

[maryeliz]

We turn it all the way down, which means that it kicks in automatically when the house temp is around 50 and then heat up to 55. In the evening, when everyone is home, I'll sometimes kick it up to the low 60s if it feels really cold in the house.

[slsurface]

Actually, turning the heat way down or off at night costs you more money, because it takes more energy to warm the house back up after it has cooled off. The best thing to do is keep the heat down as low as you can tolerate all the time. We keep our heat at 62 degrees all winter, day and night. We just wear a lot of heavy sweaters and sleep with down and wool blankets.

Here are some good tips for reducing heating bills: http://financialplan.about.com/od/sa...atingCosts.htm

[slsurface]

Originally Posted by CarrieMF

how low you can go at night will depend on where you live. There's no way we could not heat the house at night in the middle of winter. When it's -40 out the temp drops fast inside.

Same here.

[Malva]

Originally Posted by SAHDS

Wow, aren't you all freezing? The temp. goes under 68 degrees (when I'm awake) and I'm doing this: :

At the beginning of the winter, yes, we're cold but our bodies gets used to it and by the time Dec and Jan roll around, we feel fine and start complaining that it's too hot everywhere we go.

Around here, if you're going to be stepping out of the house, you need long underwear anyway so we just wear some inside too. At the beginning of the winter, we sometimes wear hats or scarves indoors and will bundle up under blankets if we're just sitting somewhere. And I love a hot water bottle!

[retro.mama]

We burn wood, but kept the oil thermostat at 60 for day and night last winter since we had a little one. It hardly ever went on, and most really cold nights I pulled the little guy in with us. This year I think we'll keep it lower than that. We have trouble sleeping in the winter if it gets warmer than 65. Personally, I love to mound up blankets and sleep under the heavy weight.

[amyamanda]

Originally Posted by SAHDS

Wow, aren't you all freezing? The temp. goes under 68 degrees (when I'm awake) and I'm doing this: :

Like a PP said, we get used to it. If you don't venture into overheated places during the winter, your body gets used to the cold pretty fast, and it doesn't seem as uncomfortable. We are in the habit of wearing longjohns layers and and wool socks and fleece slippers and hats around the house.

I maybe misquoting this, so someone please correct me if need be, but I think I read that every degree you reduce the thermostat saves $100 over the course of the year (maybe more with oil prices up?) The difference between 55F and 70F is $1500, based on that formula. I don't have $1500 extra. So that's why.

[CarrieMF]

I turn off the heater at night. That way, I wake up easier. even in the winter...

waking up isn't hard if my nose is freezing, it's the getting out of the bed that's hard.lol

[Kyamo]

Originally Posted by slsurface

Actually, turning the heat way down or off at night costs you more money, because it takes more energy to warm the house back up after it has cooled off. The best thing to do is keep the heat down as low as you can tolerate all the time. We keep our heat at 62 degrees all winter, day and night. We just wear a lot of heavy sweaters and sleep with down and wool blankets.

Here are some good tips for reducing heating bills: http://financialplan.about.com/od/sa...atingCosts.htm

Are you sure? Do you have any data on that?

This is the way I think about it. Assume these two example houses have the same daytime temperature. If you leave your thermostat at the same temperature all day and all night, at night you are paying to replace exactly the amount of heat that gets lost to the outside overnight. If you turn your heat down at night, then warm up again in the morning, you are still paying to warm it up and replace exactly what was lost overnight, just distributed differently (using a little through the night and a lot in the morning). However, the house that was cool overnight should lose LESS heat overnight than the house that was warm at night. Why? Because the larger the difference in temperature between two things, the more heat is transferred from the hotter object to the cooler one. Another way to think of it is if tiny amounts of air escape your house through cracks, poor insulation, etc, losing x amount of 20 degree air is worse than losing the same amount of 18 degree air.

Where am I wrong? (If I am)

[slsurface]

Originally Posted by Kyamo

Are you sure? Do you have any data on that?

This is the way I think about it. Assume these two example houses have the same daytime temperature. If you leave your thermostat at the same temperature all day and all night, at night you are paying to replace exactly the amount of heat that gets lost to the outside overnight. If you turn your heat down at night, then warm up again in the morning, you are still paying to warm it up and replace exactly what was lost overnight, just distributed differently (using a little through the night and a lot in the morning). However, the house that was cool overnight should lose LESS heat overnight than the house that was warm at night. Why? Because the larger the difference in temperature between two things, the more heat is transferred from the hotter object to the cooler one. Another way to think of it is if tiny amounts of air escape your house through cracks, poor insulation, etc, losing x amount of 20 degree air is worse than losing the same amount of 18 degree air.

Where am I wrong? (If I am)

Think of it this way. If your house cools off at night when you turn down the heat, the furnace has to run very hard to bring it back up to a warmer temperature during the day (especially if you live in a place where the daytime temps are not all that much warmer than the nighttime temps). If you keep if at the same temp it runs less, the fan kicks on less too. Read the article I posted. It's ok to set your thermostat a couple degrees cooler, but a significant difference will make your furnace work hard when you crank it up in the morning. Change temp at night will also decrease the life of your furnace and fan motor. By maintaining the same temp day and night, your furnace works less overall. The same principle is true for A/C (although I don’t have that luxury).

Your house will always loose a little heat (especially if it is ancient like mine), it’s the law of thermodynamics. However, your house will not loose more heat just because the temperature differential is greater. If you want to decrease heat loss, then insulate, caulk windows, use draft dodgers, etc...This is why DH and I recent glass blocked the basement windows to reduce the heat loss from the basement. We also replaced some of the 90+ year old upstairs windows.

See this link for more info about home heat loss. http://homerepair.about.com/od/heati.../heat_loss.htm

[CameronsMama]

We usually keep the heat at 60ish overnight, and 65-66 during the day.

[BetsyS]

We keep it around 60 or 62 all the time. But, we live where it isn't very cold (Georgia). I've noticed relatives in Ohio keep their houses much wamer than us.

My toddler sleeps in a crib (and doesn't get out ever). We use a space heater in his room with a thermostat. It's set to 65, so his room is a bit warmer.

[pumpkin]

We leave it around 60 day and night.

If we could auto program it, I'd probably have it turn off for a few hours during the night. I get way too hot in bed if the heat kicks on during the night.

We live in a very cold climate. I just hate warm temps and have no problem with expecting people to layer in the winter.


While most of our friends complain about $400 a month heating bills, we spend about $20 a month.
(Now our A/C bill, that is a whole nother story).

[dubfam]

Originally Posted by slsurface

Think of it this way. If your house cools off at night when you turn down the heat, the furnace has to run very hard to bring it back up to a warmer temperature during the day (especially if you live in a place where the daytime temps are not all that much warmer than the nighttime temps). If you keep if at the same temp it runs less, the fan kicks on less too. Read the article I posted. It's ok to set your thermostat a couple degrees cooler, but a significant difference will make your furnace work hard when you crank it up in the morning. Change temp at night will also decrease the life of your furnace and fan motor. By maintaining the same temp day and night, your furnace works less overall. The same principle is true for A/C (although I don’t have that luxury).

Your house will always loose a little heat (especially if it is ancient like mine), it’s the law of thermodynamics. However, your house will not loose more heat just because the temperature differential is greater. If you want to decrease heat loss, then insulate, caulk windows, use draft dodgers, etc...This is why DH and I recent glass blocked the basement windows to reduce the heat loss from the basement. We also replaced some of the 90+ year old upstairs windows.

See this link for more info about home heat loss. http://homerepair.about.com/od/heati.../heat_loss.htm

I am really skeptical about this. I think that it would depend on a lot of different factors. But I KNOW our bill is MUCH HIGHER when we heat our house at night. That includes turning it down and everything. We use SO MUCH MORE fuel by running the heater twice as much. We turn it off when we are going to be gone for more than a couple hours as well. We also live in a mild climate (pacific NW) so it might be a different story in North Dakota or Wisconsin...
My point is that this isn't true across the board. I know it's not true for us.

This kinda reminds me of the logic that you shouldn't turn off your car because it takes more fuel to restart it then to just let it idle. Not true if you are letting idle longer than 30 seconds or so.

Great article, though. We all need to learn how to save on heating costs this winter!! :

.

[pranamama]

My rental is poorly insulated, and I save a ton of money by turning off the furnace at night, and after heating up the house in the morning, otherwise it tends to run all day. By only having it on for morning, and evening heat ups it is much more affordable. We also have a little space heater for leg warming. My furnace says it is the least fuel efficient available. THANKS LANDLORD

[Phoenix_Rising]

We set it at 63 for the day and 55 for night. Other than that we layer up!