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Old 10-25-2013, 07:12 AM
 
417 posts, read 730,454 times
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Can you share your usage this last week? Especially if your home is heated using oil. We just bought a home and I am very concerned about heat usage. Want to see if we are using comparable amounts to similar sized homes.

I guess I would need to know the size of your home/tank to compare?
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Old 10-25-2013, 07:38 AM
 
Location: Needham, MA
8,527 posts, read 13,925,497 times
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I see a lot of homes. Many of them are quite expensive homes too. I think I've seen Nest thermostats once or maybe twice in a house. I'm sure you'd be fine using a regular programmable thermostat in terms of energy savings, but then you would lose the tracking feature.

If you're really concerned about energy usage, the best thing you can do is simply have a home energy audit from Mass Save.
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Old 10-25-2013, 08:40 AM
 
417 posts, read 730,454 times
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We have the nest, and its giving me the output but i really wanted to compare my usage with someone else's. meaning energy usage, not usage of the actual thermostat.

we had a programmable thermostat but i opted for the nest bc i would like to be able to turn it down if we leave the house on the weekends or if i had turned it up after a scheduled time in the morning and then want to turn it down/etc. i'm very concerned about oil usage in case you can't tell. all i've been hearing is stories about how pricey people's oil is!

We have a masssave person coming in next week!
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Old 10-25-2013, 08:41 AM
 
417 posts, read 730,454 times
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mike- you can turn the nest on/off/down/up using your cell/computer if i wasnt clear. (our regular programmable one doesnt let you control it remotely)

Last edited by SpringMom3; 10-25-2013 at 08:53 AM..
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Old 10-25-2013, 09:21 AM
 
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I have a nest and my usage last week was 0... I've had it turned off until last night. Temperature probably never dropped below 70, I have a lot of south facing windows and home is well insulated.
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Old 10-25-2013, 02:52 PM
 
Location: Needham, MA
8,527 posts, read 13,925,497 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SpringMom3 View Post
mike- you can turn the nest on/off/down/up using your cell/computer if i wasnt clear. (our regular programmable one doesnt let you control it remotely)
There are many thermostats that now have this feature. Not really a feature that appeals to me personally.
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Old 10-25-2013, 03:33 PM
 
Location: Camberville
15,803 posts, read 21,321,828 times
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The nest wouldn't work in my home because there are 3 roommates with different schedules - just because I'm not going to be home in a weekend doesn't mean my roommate won't be, and it's hard to coordinate that. We just have a normal programmable thermostat.

That said, because we have oil heat, ours is set to 60 and has not turned on yet. Electric blankets are your friend.
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Old 10-25-2013, 07:46 PM
 
Location: Funkotron, MA
1,203 posts, read 4,062,696 times
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It's extremely difficult to truly compare energy usage with other people. There are so many variables involved.

The biggest being personal preference. Everyone has a different definition of what cold is. Other factors would include: amount of insulation, build quality (drafty house vs tight house), materials used, exterior exposures, house size, how many people live there, sleep schedule, etc.

I'm in the same boat as you. This winter will be the first time I've lived in a house with oil heat. I think the best method is to hunker down and invest in some comfy blankets . I plan to have the heat lower than I've had it in previous years and keep track of how much oil I use. After this winter, I'll have a much better idea of how much oil I use for heat and will be able to plan accordingly next year.

If you have the option, try to get an energy audit done on the house. Drafty windows and proper attic insulation can make a big difference in the amount of heat you need.
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Old 10-26-2013, 09:49 AM
 
2,424 posts, read 3,517,721 times
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I have 4 zone heat and cooling. That's $1000 worth of Nest. Not yet ready to spend $1000 for 4 thermostats.
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