Heat settings

[asterroc]

Whee! I figured out how to set the heat so it'll turn up to 62ºF when we're awake and home, and back down to 60ºF when we're out or asleep. 62ºF has been tolerable while I'm awake and home. Should I turn it colder while we're out, or while we're asleep? I'm also checking on bird lists how cold they think I can turn it down to and have Gabe ok, I'm just looking for what people think is ok for humans.

Comments

[framefolly.livejournal.com]

I think you're like my parents -- very good at tolerating below 65 temps :P .

[l0stmyrel1g10n.livejournal.com]

i was about to say the same thing. props to you for your carbon footprint size.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

Nope, it's motivated purely by cost, see below.

Though, I am thinking of changing my electricity usage towards renewable, haven't done it yet b/c I wanted to see how much it'd cost, and I don't think T$ wants to contribute towards that.

[framefolly.livejournal.com]

I changed my electricity to 20% renewable, and it's only been costing me about $3 more a month! I mean, it's only a tiny step, but it makes me feel good :) .

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

God no! If I had my druthers I'd have it set to 75 all the time! But my landlord says that the last tenants were spending around a grand a month on heat, and I found $200 a month last year to be a bit steep already. My plan is to set it as cold as I can tolerate, and slowly increase it towards what I prefer while monitoring our oil usage.

[framefolly.livejournal.com]

*Big hug of warmth*

Have I told you lately how much I admire how methodically you manage your life logistics? Can you give me a clone of you? Pwetty please?

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

Heh. Logic only takes over when I'm lazy or trying to save money or something. I'm also much better about things when living w/ a roommate who I feel has high expectations of me, such as T$ now, or my freshman roommate who was a neat freak - she combed out the tassels on our area rug.

[framefolly.livejournal.com]

"...combed out the tassels on our area rug."

*goggles at the concept*

Actually, you're right. My roommate now is also a neat freak in an excellent and inspirational way. I feel so much more human now that we have a shoe-free apartment :) .

[jennekirby.livejournal.com]

I kept my thermostat at 62-64 degrees all last winter. Turning it down at night or while you're out is kind of okay, but there are some calculations that say that the work it does heating up to the target temperature again cancels out the benefit... so probably only useful if sleep and out-time take up the great, great majority of your time.

When I was in high school my mother had the thermostat automatically go down at night and it was a problem when I started to stay up late on my own and feel like I was freezing to death.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

the work it does heating up to the target temperature again cancels out the benefit...

If you have any references for this, I'd love to see them, as it goes against everything I've learned in physics. I've also never seen fuel or electricity companies making this claim, and they'd stand the most to benefit from it if it were true.

started to stay up late on my own and feel like I was freezing to death.

Yeah, I set it to go down at 11:45pm, b/c I figured that T$ would be up that late even if I wouldn't.

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

I can only tolerate temps below 70-72 if I am moving around a lot. And when I am home, I rarely spend much time moving around enough to stay warm. It doesn't matter what kind of warm pants, socks, and shirts I have on, my hands get painfully cold and stiff below around 70 :\ (and my nose drips). Which really, really sucks, because I can't turn the heat down as low as I would otherwise do, except at night/when I'm out. So I keep the thermostat set to 70 when I am home and awake, and 65 when I am out/sleeping (waking up to temps below 65 is Not Good, and I can tell, no thermometer necessary, if it drops below that).

I don't think my birds much like 65 degrees (they get all fluffy when the temp drops below -my- comfort zone) but they've obviously been surviving that for years just fine. And they have each other and a fleece bed for warmth, anyway.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

I've always found that my birds fluff up when I put a sweater on, and I start shivering before they do. :-P Below 65 my fingers can get numb if I don't do anything, even with a sweater on, but I've started using a ceramic space heater with a fan that blows the warm air onto my legs and that helps a lot. I really hope it turns out that we don't use that much oil so I can turn the heat up more.

62??

[demigoth.livejournal.com]

Jeez, I have my thermostat set to 70 (mostly as a precaution, it has only gotten cold enough here on one or two nights so far to actually kick on the heat) and when I'm not wearing socks and pjs and tucked under blankets, even that temperature is below my tolerance level. I have issues with my joints and circulation in my extremities (and also my nose likes to dribble) when it's cold.

I don't know how accurate the thermostat is, so maybe it's actually colder than it is reading. But if it's accurate, that means i saved a bunch on air conditioning electricity this summer by keeping it at 78 while home and 85 while away. Fortunately, we don't have to pay for our gas heat.

Re: 62??

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

Aw man, it looks like everyone here thinks I'm being insane. T$ has absolutely no problem with it being that cold in the house, and while I really don't like it, I really don't like heat bills of over a grand a month, which is what the last tenants had. I'm trying desperately hard to avoid that, and will up the temperature once I'm convinced I'm not draining the oil tank continually.

Re: 62??

[demigoth.livejournal.com]

No no, I don't think you're being insane. I wish I could tolerate that level of cold, since of course I have to go outside when it's way colder than that. If you can tolerate it, go for the savings!

I bet if I had to pay for my heat, I would be bundled up like the michelin man.

Re: 62??

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

Heh, my boyfriend makes fun of me b/c wearing socks in bed does NOT keep my feet any warmer. Seriously, that only helps if your feet are generating any heat, which I swear mine are not!

[blahblahboy.livejournal.com]

I think I need to go back to physics class.

Part of me wants to say that solar power should not be considered renewable energy... unless we can figure out how to get the extra heat we absorb to do so off this planet. And I guess that means ethanol too?! I guess I read all these things saying how the artic ice cap is melting faster because of a feedback loop concerning less ice to reflect solar radiation away from the water. Has anybody tried to measure the input output flows at which energy comes in and out of the Earth?

I think it depends if you have carpet in your apt. With hardwood and stone floors, 60 degrees is basically sock and fleece weather. Besides, it's only where the thermostat is that it's 60 degrees. It may suck if your place doesn't heat evenly.

In this house, I think since everyone sleeps upstairs in this house, we keep downstairs at 60 degrees at night, as well as when nobody is home.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

I don't think solar power significantly increases the heat of the Earth, but I could be mistaken. Regardless, the definition of "renewable" is that it won't run out, not that there's no side effects - wind turbines can disrupt bird migrations and are loud for nearby residents, and ocean-based ones (tide or wave generators) can disrupt the ocean ecosystem.

The term you're looking for is Earth's Energy Budget.
http://okfirst.mesonet.org/train/meteorology/EnergyBudget.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth's_energy_budget

Hardwood floors. :( I think I'm going to increase the temperature when I'm home.