Thermostat Wars

[Sum Dum Gai]

Ours stays at 70 year round. Of course, we don't have air conditioning so it's really just the heater. In the summer we open windows as necessary. When we get around to replacing the ridiculously old thermostat, we'll get a programmable and maybe change it up a bit.

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

<<we don't have air conditioning>>

It's a necessity here, it often gets above 105 and sometimes above 115 in the summer.

[Sum Dum Gai]

We only get the occasional high 90's or low 100's days in the summer, so it's not too bad. The house stays warmer than I'd like it on those days, but with the windows open it's bearable.

[kathyattraverse]

Holy Smokes Deb, that is brrrrrrrrr cold. I keep ours set at 65 day and night.

[Miss Tequila]

Feb 1, 2011 0:34:04 GMT -5 ❤ mollymouser ❤ said:

<<< ---- tree-hugging, green, energy-saving weirdo, here.

I don't use central air or heat 99% of the time. (I did turn the air on when I had a houseguest for 4 days in July 2009) Outside? Our temps range from the 30s in the winter to 115 in the summers.

Good God, I couldn't live without central air and I'm in the northeast and it rarely hits the 90's, let alone the 100's....how can you stand it?

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

My MIL won't run her AC until it hits 85 inside, or the heat until it drops below 60. She's not a tree hugger, just frugal. Spends most of her money on HSN, they actually sent her a Christmas card.

[redracerris]

I'm both a tree hugger and frugal. Winter we keep it at 60 and wear clothes in Summer we keep it at 78 and sometimes wear nothing around the house.

[Deleted]

I keep my house 68-70 in the winter (depends on the day and how cold I am) and around 74/75 in the summer. I would HURT someone if they dropped my heat lower than 68!

[wvugurl26]

Heat was staying at 70 when I was home and 67 at night. And then I got a nasty electric/gas bill for a period in which I was gone and had it set on 65 half of the billing period. Now its on 67 when I'm home and down to 66 or 65 at night and when I'm gone. Haven't seen the bill since I turned it down. I hate being cold in my own house. When I am lounging around in the evenings I have on sweatpants, socks, slippers, tshirt, and sweatshirt.
I'll bump it up to 68 if I'm really cold. I was leaving it on 67 all the time but I sort of adapted so then I was too hot at night. The downside to putting it on 65 is I don't want to get out of bed in the morning.

[TD2K]

I can handle cold better than heat. 80F is my comfort limit, 85F is pushing it and 90F I'm past it. Luckily we don't get those type of temperatures here or I'd never sleep without an A/C unit in the bedroom

[Deleted]

I love the heat! I need to get back to Texas ASAP!

[wvugurl26]

I need to go somewhere warm. I adore the hot days. I can get cool. When I get cold, I'm cold forever. My fingernails turn purple and I'm just miserable.

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

<<I need to go somewhere warm. I adore the hot days.>>


You need to come out to the CA Central Valley.

[wvugurl26]

I was in Las Vegas Jan 17th-22nd. It was 70 when I left. I was so sad I had to leave. It was great, I didn't have to dry my hair all week. It was warm enough to wash, style and go. It was 12 when I arrived back on the East Coast. I was freezing and since then I've been sick with allergies and asthma. Someone said being in the dry climate made my allergies better and coming back here brought them out in all their viciousness. I think it had more to do with second hand smoke and feather pillows in the hotel and the cat on the plane ride home. Nice theory though.
I do have a $100 airline credit bc of the cat ordeal. Really had I known it would cause such problems I would have asked to be moved. I only contacted them to make sure it was the cat and not something else.

[Cookies Galore]

We just moved into a 10-unit building in September (all one-bedroom apartments). So far, we really haven't had a need to set the thermostat higher than 62 degrees (I think, definitely between 60 and 65). There is an apartment below, next to, and above us, so we are plenty surrounded by warmth! We lower it to 55 at night and when we're at work. Right now the thermostat is set at 60 and I'm wearing a tank top, cropped yoga pants, and no socks. BF is wearing sweat pants and a t-shirt. We're not freezing.
We also don't pay for heat, but we still have no need to keep it uncomfortably hot.

[Deleted]

What temperature do you keep your home thermostat set at?

In the summer we keep the thermostat set for my wife (between 71 & 73) except when she isn't here, I usually turn off the AC.

In the winter we keep the thermostat set for me (between 72 & 74) because I freeze out much below that.

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

<<Someone said being in the dry climate made my allergies better and coming back here brought them out in all their viciousness.>>



I agree with "Someone", Allergies, especially those pertaining to the environment, can be very "location specific". Los Angeles is the only city in CA with worse air quality than Sacramento, but I love to travel there as my allergies suddenly vanish.
A couple of months ago, my wife discovered (as an ambulance rushed her to the ER from her company Christmas party) that she has a severe food allergy to buckwheat. Even though she had eaten buckwheat before, the doctor told her that allergies can have a "creeping" effect. The first time or two, the allergic reaction may be so slight you don't even notice it, and then BAM!
She now has to carry an EpiPen, as another attack could easily kill her.

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

<<or the humidity gets bad>>


Isn't that the norm for your area? I hate humidity far worse than the heat. I will never forget the summer I spent in South Carolina (1981) when I'm used to high temps with less than 20% humidity.

[TheOtherMe]

House is 18 months old, so pretty efficient. I have a programmable thermostat, which is set at 65 during the day and 60 at night. I wear a sweatshirt during the day. I'm retired, so I'm here most of the time.

In the summer, thermostat is set on 76. I usually keep a fan blowing on me.

[Sharon]

We have a programmable thermostat, which I love. In the morning our house is 67. It drops to 62 when DD leaves for school. Then in the evening it is 68 and drops again to 62 for the night. I have it set to turn on 15 minutes before I get up so that the house is warming up when it is time to get up.

The only drawback has been the last two months. I have been starting work at a different time every morning. When I leave work for the day I figure out what time I will need to be there the next day. I just put up with a really cold house on the days I need to be to work at 4 or 5 in the morning. This is not the norm and we should be done in a couple more months.

In the summer the house is what it is. We don't have central air. It is only a few days out of the summer that it is ever an issue.

[wvugurl26]

I have a programmable thermostat but I just manually adjust it for now. One day I might figure it out but then I'd have to figure out overrides. I have 1 weekday off every 2 weeks so if I'm home I'd want it at 67 but if I'm gone I'd want it down to 65 or whatever. Then there's work travel.
Some allergies do creep up and get worse. Either its the area I'm living in now has made mine worse or they have gotten worse period. I'm having new tests 2/16. I am not looking forward to being off all antihistamines for a week prior to testing. That's probably going to result in an ear infection and another round of antibiotics.
I was not encouraged by my reading today on adult onset asthma. A lot of the risk factors described me plus my mom has it. Which multiplies your chances by some pretty variable I can't remember off the top of my head.
I would agree that a drier climate would make my allergies better but I was suffering pretty good while I was there from the near constant exposure to second hand smoke. And I didn't realize I was sleeping on feather pillows. I was taking my regular antihistamine plus zyrtec to be able to breathe somewhat normally. I have backed off the 2nd antihistamine now and the sinus infection is mostly gone but the chest pain/breathing stuff and fatigue is alive and kicking my butt.

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

Programmable thermostats are the shite! I had a house with one for six years, lost it to foreclosure, and am now in an apartment with a "stupid" thermostat. I hate having to remember to adjust it at night, I've had six years where I didn't need to do so.

[Peace Of Mind]

Feb 1, 2011 19:22:47 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

I need to go somewhere warm. I adore the hot days. I can get cool. When I get cold, I'm cold forever. My fingernails turn purple and I'm just miserable.

That's me too! I always feel so ugly in the winter. All pale, blueish, my skin and hair seem dry from the heat running. Yuck! Oh, and if that's not bad enough I'm coughing the entire time! I went to a party tonight and everybody kept asking me if I'm alright because I kept coughing. I have to say "Sorry. I'm not contagious, I swear! Just allergies." Freaking allergies...

ETA: wvu - I once moved to New Mexico. It didn't help me at all. I think they were even worse. And when I traveled to California my nose would bleed constantly.

[Sharon]

The programmable thermostat works well for us because since DD entered middle school she has gotten herself off to school. I have to be at work before school starts. This way the thermostat was turned down during the day and I didn't have to rely on a teenager to remember to do that every day. I set it to turn on 15 minutes before she got home so that the house was starting to warm up when she walked in the door. It also put a stop to her cranking up the thermostat to 80 thinking that would make the house warmer faster.

[wvugurl26]

Yeah I don't think I'd want to live on the west coast permanently anyway. Too far away from everyone I know and well I still had allergies! Hard to say if they were all bc of smoke and feather pillows or not. I didn't sneeze a lot, I was just so congested I couldn't sleep and I couldn't breathe normally.
I've heard both camps of thought on the programmable thermostats but I haven't figured it out. It came with apartment and was installed by electric/gas company. I did go online and find the manual and save the link as a favorite but that's as far as I got.