In general, what temperature do you keep your house living areas at during the winter?
I was at a friend's house which was set to 54 degrees F (12 C) which is basically ambient inside temperature for the winter here in California.
He told me that he likes to keep it a bit cool, when I started wondering what others keep their houses at.
Just by way of a quick survey, what temperature do you normally keep your living areas at during the active times of the day when people are up and about?
60-65. It may be psychological. In the summer the nighttime temperatures drop here and 50's in the morning if fine, but my mind knows it's going to get warmer soon. When the forecast is for single digits for the next week or more my mind knows it ain't gonna get warm anytime soon.
It's not my choice but the thermostat is set at 68° F because that is the temperature my wife's dog likes.
about 17C
Between 65° and 70° depending on activity level . Hard to maintain an exact temp , we heat with a wood stove . Night time we turn the stove down , average between 60° and 65° .
Down to -12C again tonight - Was up to 0C (32f) today - as high as 11C the last few days - and highs in the -20C range for the last few weeks. With winds hovering around 60kph today it felt a lot colder than the thermometer indicated, with a bit of lake effect snow blowing around.
Duringthe day we keep it around 18C, then after dinner when sitting around watching the news or TV programs we often bump it up to 22 - then down to 17 or so overnight
About the same as mine, but I replaced the original aluminum frame windows with LowE2 glass in Rehau vinyl framed windows about 20-25 years ago. Much tighter and better insulated. Replaced the furnace with a 2 stage mid efficiency furnace about 20 years ago. The DC fan saved a lot on the hydro bill.
My AC can keep the house uncomfortably cool in 30C weather, even with 85% humidity but we generally don't keep it very cool. Electricity is too expensive at peak time
71 F, 24/7/365, except when the windows are open during the day in mild weather. Then it may drop as low as 60 F.
Cindy Hamilton
Glad to see one as high as mine. Us seniors need higher temps. In summer with AC ours is set at 75.
We're working toward that. We used to set it at 70 F. I'm surprised how much difference one degree makes.
Cindy Hamilton
I can feel the difference too. It is surprising.
Oh yes, it does. We had hydronic heat in the last house and it would hold very well at whatever it was set at. The reading on the thermostat thermometer never varied from the setting. Occasionally if we felt cool I'd bump it one degree and life was good again.
New house has hot air with a heat pump. It does not hold as accurately and I can feel the difference from start to finish on a cycle. I've been making little adjustments to the vents for better balance.
We run the blower on our furnace constantly. It really evens things out, plus we get extra filtration for my asthmatic husband.
Cindy Hamilton
Humidity also makes a big difference. In very cold weather the inside air humidity can get very low. Our humidifier comes on when ever the furnace is running. In summers here, it is the reverse. High humidity makes hot air even less pleasant. Central AC takes out humidity but if not in use, a dehumidifier helps.
54! You know the same temperature feels colder when you're in the house than when you're outside. And it's not just becaus you have the sun on you. I think it's true even without sun. So 54 might be fine with a jacket outside, but inside? Does he wear a sweater, or a coat?
When I was a boy my mother kept the house at 68, and she was thrifty. Grew up poor, and just when she married a professional man, the depression hit. Not much money for 8 more years. She also turned it down to maybe 64 (66?) at night, then up again when she got up, always before I did.
In the winter, she would put my coat over the hot air vent so that it was warm when I left for school.
By the time I had my own house, there were timers that would turn it down automatically, and so I did, to 66 or less and up to 70 the rest of the time. I figured, I'm so close to being happy at 68, for a little more money, it can be 70.
Now that I don't have a schedule, could be awake or asleep at any hour, it's probably at 70 all the time but the thermostat is hard to get to now so I'm not sure.
The way our house is laid out the living room and dining room/kitchen is basically one big room . The bedroom has a 3' doorway and a 16" x 24" opening (had a window AC in it when that was an outside wall)in the corner nearest the stove - the hole is right above the stove . A fan in the hole sucks from the bedroom and blows the air across the stove then throughout the rest of the house . Bedroom stays a little cooler than the rest of the house which is fine . Ceiling fans keep the warm air from stagnating at the ceiling .
I come from northern Minnesota and now live in northern Illinois (which feels like the south, temperature wise!). In both places, I keep the house at 60 F during the night for sleeping and during the day when no one is home. In the evening and on weekends, the thermostat is set to 68. If I feel chilly, I put on a sweater. : )
DC
68 degrees when we are home, 63 during the day and overnight. Michigan.
I find a good sweater is a lot cheaper than an extra 5 degrees on the thermostat.
In the summer we also have a ceiling fan in the kitchen - you can only take off so much when it gets too warm - - - -
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