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In the middle of the coldest winter in decades, our county government has decided to save money by putting all heaters at 66 degrees. This is in schools, libraries and government offices. It does not sound to bad except the buildings are drafty and that is what the temp is set at, not what it really is in many parts of the buildings. Some parts of the building is under 60. This is really tough on older workers and visitors.
I'll get blasted I'm sure but I agree. Buildings are kept way too warm, first thing I think of when I walk in buildings in the winter time, what a waste of energy having buildings too warm.
Well Susan, I'll get blasted along with you. Unfortunately, the time has finally come where semi-drastic actions have to be taken in order to conserve energy and save money at the same time. If employees/patrons are aware of that they at least have a warning to dress accordingly. 66 isn't a horrible temp and I don't personally think it's causing hardships. Besides, don't think for one second that everyone won't have their little space heaters turned on to keep their tootsies warm. That will be defeating the purpose of conserving, but someone will figure that out soon enough. The stats will show that turning the thermostat down didn't save any money, not look at the little heaters, and they'll turn the thermostat back up again. That's govt. in action.
Just curious though~is it in your county or in your entire state? At this point, I don't believe we are in the same situation here.
You're right about the heaters! They are an energy draw besides being scarey! I read somewhere on C-D someone complaining about their energy bill, then talking about heaters blowing fuses, not good! There was a horrible fire in Manitowoc recently, older home, electrical.
I understand that there is a policy against space heaters and in some parts of the building the temp is in the 50s with a draft. Of course people are spending so much effort at getting warm and wearing coats and gloves that they do not get much work done. Come summer they will really slow down when the air conditioning will be set at 78.
This lack of heat hurts elderly people who do not have good circulation.
I don't think the idea of 65 in the winter and 80 in the summer is bad. It would be good if insulation, caulking, and air flow were all proper first though. I thought I would die if we didn't keep our apt at 72 degrees last summer. We decided I would deal with it and learn how to aim our fan and keep it at 79-80. After 2 or 3 weeks I got used to it and it didn't bother me as much anymore. We kept our power bill WELL under $100 for the entire summer. Not an easy thing to do in TX, especially July and August. Was nice to save some money and we learned that we really didn't need as much electricity as we had been using in the past.
Well, I'm sorry but that they're uncomfortable, but after listening to a horrible news story today I honestly don't feel too bad for them.
There was a 92 (?) year old man in a northern state who got behind on his utilities. They had sent him a few notices and when people went to check on him, there was even a noticed pasted on his door. They went inside and found his bills laying there and the money beside them because he had intentions of paying. Unfortunately, he had frozen to death. Now the state is looking at doing things differently.
Actually, I thought there was a law against that, BUT they did say something about a minimal power cut. Not sure how that works.
There are over 300 people who have died so far because of the winter. If the economy doesn't improve, there will be more people and they'll be living in a lot colder environment then 66 degrees.
I don't mean this to sound harsh, but it's reality.
Like the OP said, 66 isn't the actual temperature inside. 60 degrees inside is freezing but 60 degrees outside is nice. I wonder why. Does anyone know?
Is it because 60s inside doesn't have the sunshine?
The story on the elderly man was from Bay City, MI and they were talking about a limiter switch on his electric because he owed $ 1,000+ in bills. Stories like this are so sad because surely something could have been done. Michigan man, 93, freezes to death after city cuts off electricity
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Unfortunately, the time has finally come where semi-drastic actions have to be taken in order to conserve energy and save money at the same time. If employees/patrons are aware of that they at least have a warning to dress accordingly. 66 isn't a horrible temp and I don't personally think it's causing hardships. Besides, don't think for one second that everyone won't have their little space heaters turned on to keep their tootsies warm. That will be defeating the purpose of conserving, but someone will figure that out soon enough. The stats will show that turning the thermostat down didn't save any money, not look at the little heaters, and they'll turn the thermostat back up again. That's govt. in action.
They are an energy draw besides being scarey! I read somewhere on C-D someone complaining about their energy bill, then talking about heaters blowing fuses, not good! There was a horrible fire in Manitowoc recently, older home, electrical.
