I've been experimenting with my thermostat the past couple of weeks to see how I can save energy. I've noticed that if I keep my thermostat at 67 degrees my boiler will cycle every hour or two to maintain the temp - but if I set my thermostat to 66 degrees it will cycle every
4-6 hours. It's been around the 32 degrees outside all week. Is there a natural temperature that a house can hold for longers periods? If so, how can I raise that temperature?
Of course. It's the point at which heat gain (from the heating system, the sun, appliances, lights, mammals -- you, your family, your dogs and cats) balances heat loss (from conduction to the soil, radiation, convection, air infiltration, etc.). It varies from one house to the next, and from one day to the next for the same house, because the factors influencing both gain and loss are dependent in part on the weather.
By reducing heat loss. The most effective methods of doing so are insulation, weatherstripping, storm windows, etc.
Well, the first thing I noticed was a possible problem with your control variables.
1 - I've been experimenting with my thermostat the past couple of weeks (i.e. weeks - plural)
2 - It's been around the 32 degrees outside all week (i.e. week - singular)
Unless it was also around 32 degrees during the first week of your experiment, those results may be invalid. Assuming everything else remained constant - insulation, windows, number and duration of times the doors were opened, hours of sunlight, etc - the outside temperature would need to be fairly constant over the entire period that you conducted your tests. In addition, unless your house is tight enough that nothing but the strongest winds matter, you might have to factor wind speeds and direction into the equation.
All that said, the obvious things like increasing the amount of insulation, sealing off drafts, creating wind breaks, etc. would help your house retain heat longer so that even at 67 or 68 degrees the furnace would cycle less.
I don't see how. Your house will dissipate energy to the atmosphere proportional to the difference in temperatures (in - out). I suppose you could consider the case where in = out...
Add insulation. It worked for me. My house never gets below 55, and rarely gets below 60, but used to get down to about 50 when I had no insulation in the attic. And yes I do live in the northeast US. On the rare freak occasion where it got down to 55, it was below freezing for several days and I havd been away from home for a couple of days with the heat off. Running appliances, the TV, etc does warm it up noticably. Probably saves some wear and tear on my refirgerator too.
where did you add insulation? My attic is pretty well insulated, my big problem is my outside facing walls. Some rooms the walls get pretty cold but I know they are insulated because my entranceway has no insulation at all and that wall is stone cold. I also have a picture window that has a storm but still is very cold to the touch and I know a lot of my heat exchange is taking place there with my radiator right underneath. Anyway to warm up that window? I have insulating blinds but they are not airtight and I can feel cool air coming from around the edge when they are drawn.
Yes. I've found that it holds temperature better in October than it does in January even though the thermostat has not changed settings. Both months have 31 days too. .
Accurate measurements are really difficult to obtain. Cycle times are a poor measure and a measure over a few weeks is not very accurate.
The most accurate test run over several years and include measuring inside outside temperatures, cooking number of times doors are used sun light the number of people home, electrical as well as oil or gas usage, then all the results are combined and compared. The final results are still a little questionable.
My guesses are the times you are observed are observation errors caused by factors not recorded.
Unless it has been added to or was done relatively recently, it could probably still use more altho that wouldn't be where I'd start given your other descriptions.
Doing the uninsulated wall area(s) would help undoubtedly. There are ways to add into existing cavities. Depending on what you have in the walls it could be possible to add there.
A storm window or even one of the clear plastic sealing kits over a storm window will make a significant difference in all likelihood just by itself.
If there are any leaking doors, windows, around electrical outlets, etc., that's big as air movement takes a lot of heat or lets in a lot of cold air depending on which way it's moving.
What's under the floor in the heated area?
There are local utility companies that have energy efficiency surveys as part of their consumer services -- might check w/ them to see what is available. For some upgrades/improvements there are still a few w/ cost share or no-interest loans and there can even be some tax credits depending on what you do...
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