[Vermonr]

I find it interesting how most people have the temperature higher during the day than at night. I always keep the temperature lower during the day (55) when I'm moving around and active, and then bump it up to 58-60 at night. If it gets too cold I can't fall asleep.

[murphy7845]

I like to be cold at night, if its hot I don't sleep as well.

[Cambium]

Originally Posted by murphy7845

I like to be cold at night, if its hot I don't sleep as well.

I get massive headaches waking up if it was too hot overnight. 24/7 365 days a year I have a circulating fan on and temp set low.(61) Havent gotten sick in 6 years.

[Sporin]

We have a digital thermostat that brings it up to 65 in the morning for showers and such, then drops down to 55 all day, then back up to 60 for the evening when we are home and up, then back down to 55 for while we are sleeping.

More then about a 10 degree swing starts to be diminishing returns from what I've read.

We have oil heat but the electric blanket is cheaper overall then having the heat up higher at night.

Now that I work from home I do get cold during the day, but I muster through with sweatshirts and the occasional knit hat.

[Sherylcatmom]

Originally Posted by Sporin

We have oil heat but the electric blanket is cheaper overall then having the heat up higher at night.

We pre-warm the bed with a heated mattress cover and heating blanket so it's nice and toasty when we get in. We then turn them off, and as we sleep the room cools down, which is when our bodies prefer it colder.

In the morning, getting out of bed into a cold room is an eye-opener.

[pauldorell]

Originally Posted by pauldorell

This is an interesting question for me too. I've already moved to Vermont (Middlebury) and am not sure how much the heating will cost this winter. So far we haven't turned on the oil boiler and have been heating only with a wood stove. It's actually pretty hot at the moment - over 70 degrees in the kitchen. We're trying to keep the oil consumption for the season in the 300-500 gallon range (approx. $1000-$1800), but we'll have to see how that goes. Obviously a lot depends on how large an area you're heating and how well insulated the building is. And some parts of Vermont are colder than others.

Update. Now that winter is almost half over, it looks as if we're going to make it with less than 300 gallons of oil and about 4 cords of kiln-dried firewood. We have thermostats for 3 zones and keep upstairs at 60 during the day and 54 at night. Downstairs is 60 during the day and 50 at night. The actual room temperatures are usually warmer because of the wood stove, and the furnace is off most of the time. This is still a fairly expensive setup, but not bad for an old house with 2400+ square feet.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by pauldorell

Update. Now that winter is almost half over, it looks as if we're going to make it with less than 300 gallons of oil and about 4 cords of kiln-dried firewood. We have thermostats for 3 zones and keep upstairs at 60 during the day and 54 at night. Downstairs is 60 during the day and 50 at night. The actual room temperatures are usually warmer because of the wood stove, and the furnace is off most of the time. This is still a fairly expensive setup, but not bad for an old house with 2400+ square feet.

But this winter has been mild so far, right?

[square peg]

Well, Hopes, it was... But it's been below zero every night for the past week, which is kinda more normal.

[pauldorell]

Originally Posted by Hopes

But this winter has been mild so far, right?

I feel like we compensated for that for about 5 weeks by cranking up the heat for visitors. Still, I'm waiting to see what happens if we approach record lows in the -30 area. So far the lowest temperature has been about -10.

[pauldorell]

Here's a really good article on heating in the Northeast: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/bu...l?ref=business

The situation for heating oil looks grim.