What Temperature Do You Keep Your House? (refrigerators, heat pump)

[Lee W.]

78° during the day, 72° at night, programmable thermostat. But...no way does our A/C keeps it at 78° during these hot summer days! Wishful thinking, I guess!

[elnina]

In summer: 78F when I am home day/night, 84F when at work - the A/C starts cooling 30 min before I go home, if needed, I adjust it from my computer at work.
In winter: 70F when I am home, 60F when at work
Summer bill never over $100, usually around $82-85, and in low $50's in winter. 1440 sqft house.
Peak Saver Programmable thermostat (free courtesy of CPS).

[LindaGrace]

I would DIE with it at 70 in the winter. And 60? Good grief!

We just moved in March, so we have yet to go through the heat of the summer, but right now we just keep it at 76. I'm little chilly with it there and would like to turn it up to 78 but the husband is having none of it. We'll see what happens as we go through summer and that bill goes up. I'm sure he'll find a way to live with it at 78.

[elnina]

... and two degrees WILL make a difference...

You can save 5% of the energy used by your air conditioner for every degree you raise the thermostat for settings set between 70 degrees F and 82 degrees F
http://www.fmtn.org/city_government/...ving_tips.html

[charlie_paige]

Wow, you guys keep your houses hot! We keep the downstairs at 73 during the day and the upstairs at 74-76 (depending on the time of day) and at 69 at night. I can't sleep hot, I just can't.

Our power bill is quite a bit more, too, but this is CA, and power is expensive. In the winter, without running the air, and we have gas heat gas dryers and gas stoves, our power is $300-350 a month. We have a 2700 sq foot house. In the summer it is about $400-450, depending on the heat. If we have a bunch of 110+ days, then we have a higher power bill.

[plwhit]

Keep my Apt (around 950 sq ft) at 72 all the time. Have numerous birds and three computer systems. So far this year my bill has been $90 - $130. One big thing is I have no western exposure.

[Steel Man]

Daytime: 80 degrees (83 degrees when we are gone)
Nighttime: 78-79 degrees

House: 2,100 SF (two story all brick exterior)
Highest CPS Bill (all electric house) during summer: $206 last July 2009.
Note: Should be cheaper as we installed a complete new Trane A/C 4-ton system in December 2009. It gets too cold upstairs if temperature is set below 78 degrees...fine with me as we have ceiling fans throughout house).

[hamjeepr]

Originally Posted by elnina

... and two degrees WILL make a difference...

You can save 5% of the energy used by your air conditioner for every degree you raise the thermostat for settings set between 70 degrees F and 82 degrees F
Residential Energy Saving Tips

I used to buy that but then I was talking with my neighbors and they were running theirs in the low 70s with the same power bills and larger sq footage. Now we're down in the mid seventies and the power bills are less. I think it has something to do with the on-off cycling. The start-up current is substantially higher than the draw of constant on. Maybe its easier to cool dry air. If it's set in the 80s the humidity stays higher.

I keep hearing the same argument about gas mileage peaking at 55mph. Its all garbage. I peak out my gas mileage at 74 mph. I lose 2-3 mph when I drop all the way down to 55 and I drive a 06 Explorer. Today's vehicles are tuned for higher highway speeds. My truck's engine loves the 80 mph speed limit on I-10 our near Junction!

[Mom2Feebs]

We keep our house at 74* all the time. Our CPS bill has been in the low $100s for the last few months, but in May it was $220. We did have a big birthday party over one weekend and had it cranked way down so that might have had something to do with it. We have a 2 story house with cathedral ceilings in the living room that open to the game room upstairs (big energy waster, IMHO) built in 2004, 2320 sq ft.

[majormadmax]

During the summer, we keep our thermostats at 76° downstairs, 78° upstairs in a five-year-old, 3400+ sq ft house that has raised ceilings downstairs and a large, open entryway. Almost half of our upstairs is a huge game room.

Sometimes I will drop it down a degree or two at night, or when my son has a lot of his friends over.

During the winter, it's around 68°; but I like cooler weather.

Our CPS bills run between $70-150, depending on the season. I think we've had a few above that range during exceptionally hot months.

Cheers! M2