Is it better to keep your thermostat at a constant temperature or adjust it during the day?
Sunday, February 7th, 2010 at
7:49 am
My husband and I constantly fight over the temperature. He is constantly freezing and cranks it up to 71 F. I am constantly hot and turn it down to 63 F. We seem to be using a lot of expensive propane, and someone mentioned that if we kept the thermostat at around 67 or 68 all day and night, the furnace wouldn’t have to work so hard. Is this really true? If so, what is the optimal temperature to keep it at?
-We live in Vermont and it has been bitterly cold lately.
Filed under: Wind Power
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Its like driving a car. If you’re on the highway and you want to average 55 miles an hour you can do one of two things.
Hold the pedal in one place and drive at a steady 55 miles an hour.
Slow down to 35, then speed up to 75, then slow back down, then speed back up….
Turning the thermostat up and down has the same effect as the second one. When you turn it down then back up it has to run for more than twice as long to get the temperature back up to where you want it. If you pick a number and stick with it then the furnace will only run when it has too, and there won’t be as many ‘catch up’ phases so you’re bill will go down.
I’d suggest putting the thermostat at about 65-67 degrees and buying him a sweater.
i’m with your husband. i’m always cold too. but i think 68 is what they say to keep it on in the winter.
68 or 70, and leave it there, when its cold out it will take more to heat the house by lowering and raiseing it,
Yours is a classic struggle, but usually it’s guys who like it on the cool side. You can hit a happy medium by keeping it at a steady temperature. The cold person can actually wear more clothes — a novel concept I know. You can better manage your utility costs and do the environment a big favor by turning the thermostat considerably down at night — like 50 degrees (mine is set to 40) — and using more blankets. My daytime set point is 65 which works just fine — I don’t expect to be able to run around in flipflops and shorts in the wintertime.
Assuming your thermostate has 4 time zones, use them to keep the house cooler when you’re not there, set to warm up an hour before you get home.
I am one of those people that kept turning thermostat up and down all the time, this year I leave the heat on 70 never change it unless its really warm out and I want to open some windows for fresh air..I am using less oil this year.. My father always told me to kept it at one temp. now I know he was right.
Winter is cold in Maine this year and using less is great.
Take care
I checked propane rates yesterday – Ultramar is at $4.10 a gallon – Suburban quoted $4.90 a gallon.
My house is kept at 62 degrees this winter for that reason. We’ve learned to wear an extra sweater and keep blankets in the living room for bundling up while watching TV.
They do say to keep your thermostat no higher than 68 though to conserve energy and propane consumption.