keeping house at 60 degrees

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends indoor temperatures of at least 64F (you can drop that down to 62F at night if you're really looking to save on your heating bill). Setting the thermostat at 60 degrees typically keeps enough warm air in the room for comfort. :-). For every degree that you lower the thermostat can help you save up to 1% on your heating costs. Not quite sure why we have such a hangup about our gas bill, but we are just not willing to pay that! While you're away or sleeping, we recommend lowering your thermostat to around 60 degrees for additional cost savings. You use more hot water in winter. Thats amazing! I love this post. core. If you are pregnant, nursing, have a medical condition or are taking any medication, please consult your physician. If you guys can survive living in the cold, more power to you! Pop off the thermostat cover and blow or gently wipe away the dust. Warm air tends to be lost quickly too! Mrs. SSC keeps it around 80 F if she has her say about it and I crank it way down to 78 On the occasion I turn it to 77 or 76 F, then she starts complaining about it being cold. If you cant reverse the blade rotation or if you think the fan is cooling off the room too much, leave it off. I am not joking. I saw how he and his wife suffered over stupid things. Wohoo! Our gas bill has been between $20-40/moor less. Sensible. When sleeping, program your thermostat to 62 degrees. :-). The same with our whole coffee beans or non-GMO yogurt or whatever. So i would get up, grab them on the way through to the bathroom in the heated area of the down stairs. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. The Non-Financial Benefits of Strict, Strategic Frugality | Our Next Life, Whats Your Selectively Hardcore? Some say youll burn up to 100 extra calories each day if that thermostat is turned down. So, yes, I have our heat in the winter turned up to *wait for the cringing*.. 70 degrees. But turning off the furnace in the winterespecially when you're away for long periods of timeruns the risk of frozen pipes that could easily burst when they thaw. Running AC Under 65 Degrees - Helpful Guide (2023) - Make Me Sustainable And I know A/C can be a fortune for people in hot and/or humid places, so no complaints overall just dont want to pay more than we have to. Copyright 2015 2020 Tanja Hester / Our Next Life. Copyright 2023 This Old House Ventures, LLC. The only part that doesnt fit with this theory is the home theaterhmmmmore data points are needed. January 1, 2018Ill be looking forward to hearing where I can get a view of that sky! Choose the right energy efficient star rated AC. This is the second winter that I am keeping the main part of my 5 BR (1880s,) insulated house at 42-44 degrees F, with the exception of one small bathroom at 62 degrees, my bedroom at 52 degrees, and the kitchen at 58. If I make our laundry soap, dishwasher soap, hand soap, fabric softener or hair conditioner I know the exact cost of those ingredients and how that compares to the watered down, wasteful, over-packaged store bought alternatives. Unfortunately nothing will be done. We always sleep with our temp between 60-64 but he pumps it up when we get up to 72 or 73. The house is long since paid off I did that all on my own before I got married and I enjoy beautiful clothes and great restaurants. Sitting in my sleeping bag, I began to wonder: If we all set our thermostats to our own comfortable low, how many West Virginia mountains could we save? Mom hated working in a hot house I was off at school and Dad was working out side of the house. How to Keep Houseplants Warm (E+, Getty Images) Advice . They believe it is the healthiest. An open fireplace damper lets the same amount of heated air escape up the chimney as a wide-open 48-inch window lets out. Downsides of a fluctuating temperature Constant jumps in the temperature setting can have a similar effect if they occur often enough. I keep mine at 68 minimum - although anything below 72 is chilly to me. What's the Ideal Room Temperature for Comfortable Living? 55 - 60 degrees might be even better if you live in a home that isn't adequately winterized and setup for Winter months. Does keeping the house cold in the winter save money on electricity? My happy place has returned. We hate the thought of burning fossil fuels, and are generally of the conservation mindset, so Im sure this is big time wrapped up in that. Safe Home Temperature For The Elderly - Senior Safety Advice Haha. Looking for more help with repairs around your home? But with us, we consider it a luxury to let the temperature dip down to 78 rather than keeping it at 80 (and the difference feels huge). Ideally, you want to mimic the conditions of a cave. Heat a building, and the rising hot air will pull cold air from outside into the house. Our geothermal heating system helps, too, since it keeps temps more even rather than fluctuating all the time. Hahahahaha perfect. I did just tell Mr. P your heat setting and he started fervently shaking his head. All of this means that your AC unit is working too hard and will wear down more quickly, leading to costly repairs and early replacement. 2010-2023 The Pistachio Project All rights reserved. When menopause hit I was running outside every night at 8 pm to cool off. If you kept the house at 60 instead of 65 degrees for a whole winter, you would see a 10 to 15 percent reduction in your utility bills, he said. These 3 rooms all have portable electric heaters which are turned down or off when Im at work. She blogs at The Pistachio Project in order to share what she learns with others. No joke. Closing these doors when you go to bed prevents large volumes of heated air in the living space from escaping after the fire has gone out. Oh, I really dislike hearing stories like that, of people who are so cheap they make things unnecessarily unpleasant for themselves or, worse, loved ones! Lowering your thermostat 7-10 degrees for eight hours a day can reduce your annual heating expenses by as much as 10 percent. Really liked your blog, I will have to look at more Wow. I had an especially rough time after my third shot, a bit less so after my fourth, and while perhaps this was affected by an eight month gap between this shot and my last one, this was a much easier go then either of those, certainly not made worse by getting the flu shot at the same time. As I dig deeper, I find evidence to the contrary or rather that youd have to keep the house super cold in order to deter germs. One of my guilty pleasures is getting home the day the maids have been there. We chose the latter! This closes off natural air passageways so they cant act as chimneys, allowing warm air to escape up through the house. Your email address will not be published. But certain things just arent worth it to us, and apparently heat is among them. And yeah, the crazy thing about adapting more to the cold (not my natural inclination!) Wait, really? During the winter, you might want to keep the temperature at 68 F and in the summer - at around 78 F to lower your energy bills. A couple years ago my furnace died. Good Housekeeping - OSHS : Rule 1060 - Item(4) Department of - Studocu In the summer and winter, I like the house at 66 during the day and 65 at night. If you feel a shiver each time you open your utility bill, your house may be too cold. We live in northern Florida. Also, I now know to throw in some extra socks if I ever come visit. Im shooting for full retirement by 45 (29 now) and hoping to cut back to PRN (aka picking up a few shifts per month) by around 40. I dont think Ive ever had a larger gas bill than $40 and even that was on the high side and rather uncommon. What Is the Ideal House Temperature? | Aire Serv Put on more clothes, keep doors to rooms closed, eat . He never recovered so that he continued to live as if he were in the depression refusing to spend money on things he should have like decent glasses for his wife and then having her take a bad fall. Oh my! Except when SIL visits. Then dad would close the damper on the fire or let it go out during the day. I prefer to look for smaller changes that add up to a nice savings rather than one big habit to tackle. Worth checking out! Ha I would definitely make fun of you once if you were my coworker, but then Id leave you alone to your quirky space heater ways. If the house is still at 80 degrees when the outdoor temperature bottoms out at 60, it makes sense to keep the windows open a bit longer even though the outside temperature is going up, since it . Haha. Have you looked into maybe better insulate the house? In almost all cases, it will save you money to shut off your AC while you are away from home. Of course, what temperature you set your thermostat at will vary depending on your household and their needs. :-) Were hugely unfrugal in a ton of other ways, which more than offset our one virtuous thing. Measure your air filter before shopping; they range in size from 12 X 12 inches to 30 X 30 inches. BTW if you havent already tried this, electric blankets are wonderful energy savers. Setting your thermostat to a lower temperature at night may actually help you sleep better. Yours happens to be on the cold side while mine is very much on the warm side. I was perfectly content and it really cleaned out my colon. Window coverings block up to 60% of the heat coming in through a window, according to the Department of Energy, so keep them closed, especially when the sun is coming in. Interestingly, some studies say that you want that classic temp of 68 degrees but this study done in the 70s shows that kids did better when in temps around 62 degrees. But as you noted, there are lots of examples of people coming out of the depression with a great sense of whats truly important, and spending accordingly. Cost: $8 each for a door-bottom sweep and a garage-door gasket. Allowing your body to be cold is great for your metabolism. Not too shabby! Choose a setting on the low end when youre sleeping or are away and go with a higher setting at other times (see table bellow) for savings of between 10 and 20 percent of your bill. air conditioner on 76 vs 78 degress? - AnandTech Forums If you find it unsightly, place the film on windows and patio doors selectively or only in unused rooms. I happily wear my hoody (and sometimes even mittens) and take those savings every day of the year. But Gas is dirt cheap. Its not like you asked them to turn on their heat, so youre just benefiting from thermodynamics no harm in that! Im not particularly extreme in my frugality. And after your post about living in the cold, I bought a water bottle, and it has CHANGED MY LIFE. Ive experienced dry cold and dry heat and wet cold and wet heat, and theres no comparison. Thanks for the encouragement. Well never get sick of that! We have our house around 60 at night and I would keep it at 62 when we are there during the day/evenings, but he wants it warmer, so we typically have to bump it up to 65 after he complains (but not before.) Unfortunately due to health issues, we cant keep our thermostat that low, but we do keep it lower than we prefer. I open the windows and air out the house in cold temps too! We have had some really colder weather than usual.