Programable Household Thermostats

[Northendzone]

So for those of you that got em.....how low do you let the temp get at night and when you are not at home?

I let mine drop to 16 c at night, I sleep better in the cold. The wife thinks that is too low. I say what does she know.

[Calgary14]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

So for those of you that got em.....how low do you let the temp get at night and when you are not at home?

I let mine drop to 16 c at night, I sleep better in the cold. The wife thinks that is too low. I say what does she know.

We had our one year home checkup from our builder and they said it should go no higher or lower than 2 degrees what you normally have it at. This is because it's easier and more cost efficient to maintain a stable temperature than for big swings. Sort of like a car doing highway driving rather than the constant accelerating and braking in the city. Before that we had ours set at 16 degrees

[btimbit]

19-21 upstairs and 16-18 main level/basement

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Calgary14

We had our one year home checkup from our builder and they said it should go no higher or lower than 2 degrees what you normally have it at.

Years ago I read on a website (BC Hydro or something) that the rule was only 1 degree per 2 hours of temperature. So if you are dropping it for 6 hours, don't drop the temperature more than 3 degrees.

However for the OP- if you are dropping it for comfort and not for savings, have at it.

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by Calgary14

We had our one year home checkup from our builder and they said it should go no higher or lower than 2 degrees what you normally have it at. This is because it's easier and more cost efficient to maintain a stable temperature than for big swings. Sort of like a car doing highway driving rather than the constant accelerating and braking in the city. Before that we had ours set at 16 degrees

This is absolutely false. The rate of heat loss of your house is a function of the difference between the two temperatures. The lower the temp in your house the slower it loses heat. If you keep it warm, you lose more heat faster. You use less energy brining it back to temperature then maintaining it throughout the day/night or whenever you sleep/work.

[JonDuke]

A buddy has the Nest Thermostat and he swears by it. Can change temperatures from your phone. He loves it. Visually appealing too.

He's with Sunlife, and apparently all/most of the cost was covered by something in his plan that covered home improvements (or something like that).

When my wife is gone for work (multiple days in a row) I keep mine at 15 and I think that's totally normal. I walk around with at t-shirt and no socks. I always ask the kids how they are, and they never complain.

When she's home, she pops it to 20ish and I can't stand it. She also wears a t-shirt though and wont meet me half way and at least wear socks and a heavier shirt.

The only place we agree is at night, when she brings it down. I despise sleeping when it's to hot.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Barnes

This is absolutely false. The rate of heat loss of your house is a function of the difference between the two temperatures. The lower the temp in your house the slower it loses heat. If you keep it warm, you lose more heat faster. You use less energy brining it back to temperature then maintaining it throughout the day.

So are you saying I'm pissing money out the window by keeping my house at 23 from October to May?

[Dion]

During the day I have it set to 70 and at night it's 62 degrees.

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by Barnes

This is absolutely false. The rate of heat loss of your house is a function of the difference between the two temperatures. The lower the temp in your house the slower it loses heat. If you keep it warm, you lose more heat faster. You use less energy brining it back to temperature then maintaining it throughout the day/night or whenever you sleep/work.

^^truth right here, plus inside of most thermostats is a device called an anticipator. It acts as both a cutoff when the temperature is approaching the desired level and it also causes the thermostat to activate upon a steady drop. In other words the faster you lose heat in your house due to a higher temperature, the more frequently it causes your furnace to cycle in a non linear fashion.

[calgarywinning]

Anyone here with a NEST?

[GGG]

^^ I swear the don't drop it more than 3 degrees is a olds wives tale that acutally began as a wives tale to keep it warmer.

I like to run at 18 at night, I used to do 16 but when we had a baby we moved it up.

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by calgarywinning

Anyone here with a NEST?

I have had one for about a year and a half.

[strombad]

Originally Posted by Barnes

I have had one for about a year and a half.

You ravin?

I'm pretty deliriously tempted to get it myself. Super tired of being freezing cold at 7 PM and boiling hot at 7 AM

[4X4]

Can anyone say that they're saving a reasonable amount of money by doing this? Is it worth being cold when you have to take a leak in the middle of the night, or get water, or go attend a crying kid?

[calgarywinning]

I re-phrase the question.

Does anyone here with a nest have a report on it's functionality in our climate which tends to be seasonally extreme.

Also, has google listened in on you to date?

[Philly06Cup]

OMG I want NEST in my new house.

Was recently bought out by Google for 3.2 billion

http://www.energyefficiencymarkets.c...iency-markets/

[Slava]

I asked about the Nest a few days ago on Twitter and a few CPers raved about to me. I am definitely interested but I do want to know about the potential energy savings first. Any insight into that?

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by Barnes

This is absolutely false. The rate of heat loss of your house is a function of the difference between the two temperatures. The lower the temp in your house the slower it loses heat. If you keep it warm, you lose more heat faster. You use less energy brining it back to temperature then maintaining it throughout the day/night or whenever you sleep/work.

Your science sounds a lot more sound than the previous post. It is often repeated though by builder and hvac types that you shouldn't have it vary more than a few degrees. The highway/city analogy is not really at all convincing. Acceleration, energy lost to braking, and momentum do not seem to have anything to do with energy used to maintain a temperature in a house.

Haven't mythbusters tackled this yet? They should.

[habernac]

through the day, mines set at 20. Down to 17 overnight.

[firebug]

You are all wimps...

18.5 during the day.

13.5 at night.