What do you keep your thermostat on?

[Jspafford]

Owning my own house for the first time with gas heat, what should I keep my thermostat setting on? I've had it turned off until today when I work up it was 65 in the house. I turned the heat on and set it to 69. Within 5 minutes the house was up to 69 degrees!! I can't believe how fast it warmed. The furnace is a 92+ efficiency according to the label.

I don't want to be uncomfortably cold, but I can't afford a $300 gas bill.

Would supplemental heat like electric space heater help or hurt?

 

[91redneckranger]

Were all going to take a hit this winter. I just turned mine up to ~67* last night, and I know my bill is going to be higher. It kind of offsets itself though, with being low during the summer and higher in the winter.

 

[skippy]

Owning my own house for the first time with gas heat, what should I keep my thermostat setting on? I've had it turned off until today when I work up it was 65 in the house. I turned the heat on and set it to 69. Within 5 minutes the house was up to 69 degrees!! I can't believe how fast it warmed. The furnace is a 92+ efficiency according to the label.

I don't want to be uncomfortably cold, but I can't afford a $300 gas bill.

Would supplemental heat like electric space heater help or hurt?

68 is the standard for energy savings,with a 92+ you are already ahead with energy savings.Also sounds like your house is pretty tight if it warmed up quick.You and Heather should do well with the system you have,just watch the bills and you'll know how far you can push it.

I wanted to change my furnace this year but other things got in the way,like tires for wifey's car and helping my daughter get her first car.I will hopefully convert to 92+ this coming year.

If not already installed,get a programable stat to do your settings automatically for more savings.

 

[bbbb51]

Dont go with any electric space heaters. I work at a apartment complex and when we have someones heater fail we give em electric space heater till other heater gets fixed and when they get the electric bill after running a electric space heater , well u dont want to be in the office hearing the conversation.

 

[Will]

I could stand it on 62F but my wife cranks it to 75F when I'm not looking. Having little kids that can't keep their blankets on also sux. 68F would be great.

 

[Simple_serf]

Off.

Gas to boiler: Off
Power to boiler: Off
Boiler Drain: Open

We are going to use the Woodstove entirely this year... people in the house like to use the boiler in the morning right when they get up instead of stoking the fire first thing. My solution to other people's bad habits.

Our Boiler is as old as the house: 42 years. Nothing is insulated (which I realize is better than all of the times I would have had to dig through asbestos to fix the damn thing) It's not exactly efficient.

Not using the boiler also will mean not trying to find parts for it this year, as we have one good breakdown every year.

In Jamestown, Electric power is a viable alternative... The city owns the Powerplant and charges a very low rate for power (should go up soon....they are talking about a 100 Million dollar new "Clean Coal" (BULLSHIT) powerplant to replace the aging plant that they just spent 25 million to completely rebuild/bring up to modern emissions standards...Glad I don't have to deal with that...)

 

[Mark_88]

In Canada, 72* is considered the lowest acceptable temperature that a landlord should provide to tenants...but I find that is a bit too high and prefer to keep it around 68*...

+1 on the programmable thermostat...you can have it turned down when you're out and heat up just before you usually arrive home...and also lower it at night for sleeping then crank it up for when you wake up...this is great for someone who has a regular routine...but can be a PITA for someone like me who never wakes up, sleeps or comes and goes with any kind of regularity...

But it is still pretty warm and you won't know the real insulation qualities until the outside temp dips and stays dipped for a while...

 

[aogden001]

go buy a programable thermostat. They're not that expensive. $29.00-99.00.
Set it to turn down automatically during the day when you're at work and at night when you're in bed. It should pay for itself the first heating season. If all you have is gas forced air heat w/o ac then you should only have 2 wires to work with. REAL simple.

 

[krugford]

I keep the house and shop fairly cold. House furnace is set to come on 15 minutes before I get up and shuts off 5 minutes before I walk out the door. During the evening I keep it at 60 and I have a seperate space heater in the bedroom. I figure it's cheaper to keep one room warm instead of the whole house.

I keep the shop a fairly consistent 48-50 with the pellet stove and I have a propane heater for when we get below zero. Pellet stove can't quite keep up then...

Keep in mind I'm single and live alone, so the only person I answer to is the other voice inside my head, and I'm stronger than he is.

 

[LearjetMinako]

Turn off the heat and wear more clothes. Thats how I get around. When its freezing outside (below 32) , then the heat comes on.

 

[blue83ranger]

my dad controls it here. It's always insanely cold in the winter. I remember about 2-3 years ago he really had it low. I woke up in the morning and was totally freezing, so i got out a digital thermometer to see just how cold it was, and pointed it at a wall in my room, it read 37* no joke. I can't stand winter in my house. If we do turn it on He likes to turn the heat on to maybe around 70* when he first wakes up, let it run until it shuts off maybe 3-4 times then turns it off until the next morning. for the winter in my room i just turn on as much stuff that makes any heat, usually just light bulbs. But by morning my toes are just minutes away from falling off. and he tries to last to at least thanksgiving before turning it on. One of his cousins sometimes, somehow, goes all winter with no heat, i'm not real sure how that's even possible. and yes, cheapness does run in the family.

 

[Jspafford]

Installed the programmable thermostat when I first moved in. We have forced air with a/c. We kept the a/c at 75 in the summer, but it's been off for almost a month now. I have been putting off turning the heat on for as long as I could. It's down in the low 40's right now.

 

[holyford86]

we used 1200 gallons of fuel oil in my house last year, we are doing pretty much anything to cut down on that even a little bit. and that was keeping the house at 65* all winter.

 

[Kdawg532]

73 in winter
66-68 in summer

 

[skippy]

73 in winter
66-68 in summer

Deep pockets?