Thermostat setting. Do you turn yours down?

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Do you turn your thermostat down when you leave? I think it's best to just leave it at the same setting all the time that way all the books and crannies are at the same temp all the time. Opinions?
 
I think all the time it spends getting back up to temp negates any savings. Plus it cycles more for a few hours until the temp levels out in the house.
 
I use an automated thermostat and turn it down when I'm not home and at night.
 
Our previous residences in NW & NE Ohio we had thermostats programmed around our work schedules but left pretty much constant on our days off. The programming cycled most in the coldest 6 months in the year, the warmest 6 months of the year were left near constant set point.

Now that I'm retired, and have been basically confined to quarters for health issues much of the time since we moved back to Texas, the thermostats only get adjusted seasonally and when my wife's elderly parents visit. Our Texas and Louisiana houses have been all electric, so the real impact is thermostat setting during the warmest 6 months of the year. We don't futz with thermostat set points during that cycle because trying to play catch-up with A/C is a good way to have the system freeze up and then you swelter waiting for it to thaw out. Better to just let it steadily do its job.
 
There was a huge thread about this a month or so ago.
 
If you were to do the math you would save a slight amount of money. Graph the inside and outside temperatures every hour of the day and you're paying for the space "inside the curve". Reducing the thermostat (or increasing the outside temp) decreases the heat loss. But to compute the savings you need a constant for the insulation R value, and you would quickly realize slightly improving the insulation would be more worthwhile instead.
 
Ours goes down to 67 @ night. I like to sleep in a cold room and it always gets colder than the living room where the thermostat is.

I tend not to worry about the cost of thermostat changes in the winter. Our gas bill never goes up more than $10-15 a month in the winter time and the furnace fan isn't that big of a juice hog so it doesn't raise my electric too much (all those dang Christmas lights do though!) so I don't really care. Now in the summer time I go crazy about the thermostat settings because that can make our electric bill spike an easy $50+.
 
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We turn ours down if we’re going to be gone a while and we turn it down at night, usually about 65. I wake up sweating if we forget.
 
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Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
Do you turn your thermostat down when you leave? I think it's best to just leave it at the same setting all the time that way all the books and crannies are at the same temp all the time. Opinions?


In spite of all the legit websites you can look at that tell you it will save money you "think" it doesn't and look for opinions. Your money.

https://energy.gov/energysaver/thermostats
 
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
Do you turn your thermostat down when you leave?

Yes, if we leave for multiple days. Otherwise, no.
 
Finally convinced the wife to stop touching the thermostat. she would keep it at 74 during winter. the same person who wants in 60f inside in summer. It is now kept at 67f because I want to retire at 60. Not work until I am 80. Put on a sweatshirt or stop the complaining. She is lucky its not set to 65F.

Ok rant off, constant 67f in winter here.
 
We close all windows and doors when we leave the house...and open all windows and doors when we get home. That's temperature regulation in our home.
 
I turn it completely off . . . otherwise it adds another potential thing that could cause a fire. The only thing plugged in when I'm gone is the refrigerator.
 
Originally Posted By: das_peikko
I turn it completely off . . . otherwise it adds another potential thing that could cause a fire. The only thing plugged in when I'm gone is the refrigerator.


For each is own. I couldn't imagine walking around my house and unplugging everything and just leave the refrigerator.
 
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
Do you turn your thermostat down when you leave? I think it's best to just leave it at the same setting all the time that way all the books and crannies are at the same temp all the time. Opinions?


I turn it down to 60 to sleep and when gone. The pets have fur for a reason.

The books care more about humidity than temperature. I’ve never heard an inanimate object like a book complain about being too cold.
 
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
I think all the time it spends getting back up to temp negates any savings.


That usually isn't true, it just seems like it.
 
I turn it down at night. She turns it up at night. Its up in the morning but I dont remember turning it up. Learn to pick your battles and 5 degree difference aint one I need to lose. Too cold to complain.
 
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