Home heating

yirara

Wow, you all keep your homes super warm in winter. All that energy! How I heat my home depends a lot on how it works best because energy tends to be rather expensive across Europe. When I lived in a home with underfloor heating I bought a thermostate with a timer and set it to switch on at around 15:00. When I came home from work at 16:00 it was warm. Switched it off again sometimes in the early evening. It worked because the sun warmed up my livingroom through big windows even in winter. Currently I heat my livingroom when I work there briefly in the morning, which gets the temperature up to about 22C. Then it decreases slowly again until about 19.x until the evening when I switch it on again. Found out this is a lot cheaper than having the heating on permanently.

mtaratoot

I also have a "smart" thermostat. It is one of the nicer ones that has the possibility to have a different setting every day. Now that I'm retired, it's mostly the same each day except Mondays. One Monday a month I get up early to go to the coast to volunteer at the aquarium, so I have it come on a little earlier on Mondays. It also comes back on earlier in the afternoon because it's kind of nice to have it on when I get home if it's really cold out.

It's smart enough that it monitors how long it actually takes to get the house warm and it kicks the furnace on early enough to be at temperature at the correct time. It works pretty good - I usually hear the furnace turn off right about the time it's supposed to. If I get up before that time, it's already getting warm. A typical day is:

Furnace turns on to bring the house up to 65 (~18C) by 07:00.
I kick it up to 66F (~19C) when I get up. I tell it how long I want it to stay there - usually noon.
If I don't tell it to stay on until noon, it drops back to 60F (~15.5C).
Furnace kicks back on to bring the house back up to 65 (~18C) by 19:00.
At 23:15, it drops back to 58F (~14.5C) overnight.

I have an oil-filled radiant space heater I leave in the area I spend most time so the furnace doesn't have to heat the entire house. If I used the whole house, it would be more efficient to use the furnace. I don't see any need to heat the parts of the house I don't use, so it's a bit or a compromise. I also wear a warm hat and a fleece vest so I stay comfortable.

Whenever I leave the house, I tap "cancel" on the thermostat, so it lets the house go back to 60F (~15.5C) when nobody is home.

What I really don't like is that the ducts are in the attic. The warm air blows down from the ceiling. Since heat rises, it mostly stays up there. I often have a small fan to help circulate the air and distribute the warmth. I don't have ceiling fans. House is a little over 75 years old. It's what I could afford when I took out a mortgage. I paid it off in November!

cwolfman13

I have radiant heat only with multiple zones throughout the house. We've had to play with it a bit over the years as to not overheat the house. Most of our zones are now set to 65* to kick on. Once the water in the system is heated, it continues to heat so usually when we get home in the evening the house is around 72*. We keep the bedroom zones at 63*. The only room we have a higher setting is the master bathroom so that it's toasty when we get up in the morning.

yirara

The best heating hack I ever found was in the UK. My wee flat had a dreaded storage heater with a night and day tariff. Those who don't know those: it's the most useless type of heating: you use the cheap night tariff (more than 3x cheaper than day) to heat up a huge brick inside the heater, and once the expensive day tariff kicks in this brick gives off the heat. Which means you have a lovely warm place in the morning, but come afternoon when you return from work it's cold again. But I have a habit of noting down my electricity usage (and unit count on radiators) every day. And quickly noticed that the energy company had messed up and the cheap night tariff started at some time in the morning and went to the expensive day tariff in the evening. Yay! Basically I forgot about the storage heater and put on the electric heater that was included in this thing and had a quite warm place at low cost. Of course I never noticed this, right? 🤗

claireychn074

I keep my house to around 18 degrees (64F) during the day and I prefer 10 (50F) at night - but it doesn’t always get that cool. I do have a log burner in the living room so that room will be warmer if it’s on, and I’ll turn the rest of the house down to about 14.

I was brought up in north Scotland with no central heating, so 18 feels mega toasty to me. I struggle at work and in hotels as they are always too hot. I stay in a premier inn every week for work, and the LOWEST that air con will go is 19 (66F) - that’s warmer than my entire house during the day ☹️

ceiswyn

I start losing sensation in my fingers at temperatures below 19C (Raynaud’s). Yes, even when I’m wearing a jumper.

I was brought up on the edge of the Scottish highlands in a house where the heating didn’t work properly, before moving south for university. Back when I was morbidly obese I used to keep my window open all winter, wear summer dresses year round, and my central heating was virtually never on. Now I’m only really comfortable at temperatures over 23C (though I grant you that climbing Ben Nevis in 28C and direct sunlight was.. A Lot…) and I kind of miss my fatty insulation. But on the whole, I think I’ll just carry on paying high heating bills, keeping a cardigan in the office, and snapping at people who seem to think that feeling the cold is somehow a moral failing.

yirara

ceiswyn wrote: »

I start losing sensation in my fingers at temperatures below 19C (Raynaud’s). Yes, even when I’m wearing a jumper.

I was brought up on the edge of the Scottish highlands in a house where the heating didn’t work properly, before moving south for university. Back when I was morbidly obese I used to keep my window open all winter, wear summer dresses year round, and my central heating was virtually never on. Now I’m only really comfortable at temperatures over 23C (though I grant you that climbing Ben Nevis in 28C and direct sunlight was.. A Lot…) and I kind of miss my fatty insulation. But on the whole, I think I’ll just carry on paying high heating bills, keeping a cardigan in the office, and snapping at people who seem to think that feeling the cold is somehow a moral failing.

I also have Raynaud's, and I get you! Mine starts to kick in at lower temperatures (or possible I don't notice it before) but it's a major pain. For me, it's my fingers, or rather the area between the fingers, the ball of my thumb, toes, chin, nose and ear canals. Keeping hands and feet warm is useless as it's triggered by cold and especially wind anywhere.

I tried something new this winter: My flat has some older double glazed windows. I put plastic film tightly onto the frame and I think it makes a difference of about 2C overall. It was -8C last night and this morning my temperature inside was about 13.5C. Last winter it was a lot cooler. Saves some heating costs

jwardtabitha1

We keep the house at 72F in the winter, and 76-78F in the summer.

yirara

jwardtabitha1 wrote: »

We keep the house at 72F in the winter, and 76-78F in the summer.

That would be impossible here. Like heating one room up to 72F in winter twice a day and the bedroom a bit before going to bed already costs a lot of money. Constantly, the whole flat would be close to 300-400 Euro/month

ninerbuff

68 in winter, 77 in summer


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

claireychn074

yirara wrote: »

ceiswyn wrote: »

I start losing sensation in my fingers at temperatures below 19C (Raynaud’s). Yes, even when I’m wearing a jumper.

I was brought up on the edge of the Scottish highlands in a house where the heating didn’t work properly, before moving south for university. Back when I was morbidly obese I used to keep my window open all winter, wear summer dresses year round, and my central heating was virtually never on. Now I’m only really comfortable at temperatures over 23C (though I grant you that climbing Ben Nevis in 28C and direct sunlight was.. A Lot…) and I kind of miss my fatty insulation. But on the whole, I think I’ll just carry on paying high heating bills, keeping a cardigan in the office, and snapping at people who seem to think that feeling the cold is somehow a moral failing.

I also have Raynaud's, and I get you! Mine starts to kick in at lower temperatures (or possible I don't notice it before) but it's a major pain. For me, it's my fingers, or rather the area between the fingers, the ball of my thumb, toes, chin, nose and ear canals. Keeping hands and feet warm is useless as it's triggered by cold and especially wind anywhere.

I tried something new this winter: My flat has some older double glazed windows. I put plastic film tightly onto the frame and I think it makes a difference of about 2C overall. It was -8C last night and this morning my temperature inside was about 13.5C. Last winter it was a lot cooler. Saves some heating costs

We’ve done the old cling film over the windows this year too (moved into a 200 year old cottage and not all windows are double glazed). It makes a huge difference and means they don’t run with condensation.

SafariGalNYC

My home thermometer reads 75 right now. Nice and toasty.

In the summer I like to sleep cool 69 at night, 70s ok during the day.

kshama2001

Well, my partner and me moving in with my mother and brother didn't work out. A contributing factor was vastly different temperature preferences and refusal to compromise on one party's side. So now it's just the two of us, and we can negotiate and compromise.

I have it set between 65-68°F (18-20°C) during the day, which is warmer than I'd like it. I noticed this AM when I had it on 68 degrees that the furnace had difficulty keeping up. Outside, it was 7°F (-14°C) with the wind chill.

I baked a cake to help the furnace out I'll be using the oven again tonight, and tomorrow the cold spell will be over.

When we look to buy a house, one thing on my list is different heating zones. I'm also prepared to completely redo the whole HVAC system, so it will be quiet as well as zoned.

I have the heat shut off to my bedroom and keep the door closed, so it's around 59-61°F in the winter.

kshama2001

yirara wrote: »

ceiswyn wrote: »

I start losing sensation in my fingers at temperatures below 19C (Raynaud’s). Yes, even when I’m wearing a jumper.

I was brought up on the edge of the Scottish highlands in a house where the heating didn’t work properly, before moving south for university. Back when I was morbidly obese I used to keep my window open all winter, wear summer dresses year round, and my central heating was virtually never on. Now I’m only really comfortable at temperatures over 23C (though I grant you that climbing Ben Nevis in 28C and direct sunlight was.. A Lot…) and I kind of miss my fatty insulation. But on the whole, I think I’ll just carry on paying high heating bills, keeping a cardigan in the office, and snapping at people who seem to think that feeling the cold is somehow a moral failing.

I also have Raynaud's, and I get you! Mine starts to kick in at lower temperatures (or possible I don't notice it before) but it's a major pain. For me, it's my fingers, or rather the area between the fingers, the ball of my thumb, toes, chin, nose and ear canals. Keeping hands and feet warm is useless as it's triggered by cold and especially wind anywhere.

I tried something new this winter: My flat has some older double glazed windows. I put plastic film tightly onto the frame and I think it makes a difference of about 2C overall. It was -8C last night and this morning my temperature inside was about 13.5C. Last winter it was a lot cooler. Saves some heating costs

claireychn074 wrote: »

We’ve done the old cling film over the windows this year too (moved into a 200 year old cottage and not all windows are double glazed). It makes a huge difference and means they don’t run with condensation.

I did this when living in a house with older windows. Recommend.

https://www.amazon.com/3M-Indoor-Window-Insulator-5-Window/dp/B00002NCJI/ref=asc_df_B00002NCJI/

pauldurham5182

We have been keeping ours between 60 and 70 the last couple of weeks. But with these below zero wind chills been forced to. Normally the house is kept at about 65.

bradkcrew

I doubt anyone can top this. My downstairs is 58 and my upstairs is 55. Needless to say I don't have guests during the winter months! It will still cost me over $2000 for heating oil for the winter. I also don't have AC, so no one really wants to visit in the summer either, lol.

It always amuses me that people that like the heat at 75 have to have the AC at 65. Things that make you say, "hmmmmm..."