Submitted by 1234nameuser t3_zfwx6b in Connecticut
Hi all, I know it hasn't really even hit yet, but as first winter up here from down South have a interest in what everyone's considers the norm for indoor temps & heating usage. Hopefully the $5/gal oil is gone for good for rest of winter.
indoor, daytime - 60deg
indoor, nighttime - 52deg
Usage to date (since 14-NOV) - $312 = 1/4 of 275 gal furnace (250gals full?) @ $5/gal
home - 100yr old 3bd, 2000sqft
52 is crazy
Agreed, it's only for like 6hours overnight when in bed, but wonder if it costs more to heat it back up in the morning rather than just set as constant.
I just have it set at 57 all the time. As well as opening and shutting shades depending on where the sun is over the course of the day when possible.
I’ve been told by some that’s a little extreme for temp but I’d much rather throw on a sweater or hoodie than have propane truck delivery every two weeks.
Yes, I think most of November it was warmer outside the house than inside with the sun....hated that.
Tried to be selective on what windows we'll use during the winter and put bubble wrap on the ones we won't open in addition to plastic.
Yeah that plastic wrap stuff works real well. I use it on my basement windows (live on a slope so half basement is underground, half is essentially a first story) during the winter and i can usually get away with shutting all the heating vents down there unless it’s below 20 or so.
I do exactly this as well. I wear fleece lined leggings with sweatpants over them and a long sleeve shirt and hoodie inside all winter. I keep the downstairs at 55 and the upstairs at 65 (I have a senior cat so I keep her part of the house warmer. She spends 90% of her day on my bed)
I don't turn the heat on if it's 40 or above and we just run the space heater during those days for a bit if we have to. Otherwise we do similar to you so I think you're on the right track.
Do you have a secondary heat source? With the size of your house might be worth it.
Unfortunately with renting no secondary sources. I'd put in a pellet stove as a stop-gap measure with oil prices high if I owned, but not gonna happen with a rental.
The first floor is quite a bit open and space heaters won't run well unless start hanging blankets.
Damn. Because otherwise yeah, I would say go for it. We have a pellet stove and that was going to be my next suggestion. I think you're doing well with the temperatures as you have them.
Expanding foam insulation in any doorway / window / basement cracks, draft blockers (aka rolled up towels) at the bottom of all exterior doors, and plastic film insulation on all the windows. Not cling film stuck to the window, but a perimeter around the window frame of double sided tape and then a large sheet of clear plastic stick to it and shrunk with a hair dryer until it is tight. Doing these each winter added 5° to the house without any fuel use.
Thanks, hit all this up in early November and saw a big improvement compared to October.
Doorframes are our biggest problem and will never understand why I have a full glass back door with a screen door when it's regularly below freezing.
Anyway to put the film and still use the blinds? I have to seal my blinds in which sucks to get light.
Desert rats who recently transplanted to CT. We have been trying to maintain 68-70 indoors during the day and 65+ for overnights. We primarily use two woodburners (one in basement/one upstairs) in 3900sf. Backup is a fuel oil radiant baseboard heater system.
Welcome to CT and sounds like you guys are holding it down well. No way I'm gonna be able to hold those temps without an alternate heat source.
Gonna miss those western road trips and filling the car with cactus in Tucson.
Trust me, we were freezing our prickly pears here until we got the wood stoves installed a few weeks ago!! Welcome to CT to you, as well, my SW friend!
Dozens of us I say, dozens! Moved here last year from Phoenix, I'm liking these 'seasons' so far
Question: have you noticed a marked improvement in your breathing? I'm stunned at how quickly my severe asthma has cleared up. LOVE Connecticut!!
Mine is set to 55 when no one is home/ overnight. 63 is the norm, sometimes I'll turn it to 65 if my hands/ face feel cold. We have electric heat, it's also stupid expensive.
are all you living in igloos? damn!
I have a smart thermostat that knows when I'm home and when I'm not, so it sets itself to 65 when I'm at work, and then up to 68 when I get home. I might change that when real winter kicks off in Jan-Feb. I bought a small space heater, so maybe I'll just have it hold at 65 and turn on the heater in my bedroom at night.
We are doing 60⁰ when we are home (morning and evenings) and I think 57⁰ at night and during day when no one is home. We have 2 space heaters we use as needed. It's not great, but I just don't want to buy oil all winter. This will likely be the new norm until solar, but even then, I don't like being warm. I don't get how people keep their homes at 65/68⁰!
80 was my preferred room temp after 40yrs in Houston
Gonna be dying when visit family and feels like is in the 100s.
Yeah that won't be fun. It definitely gets hot here now, but obviously not like Texas.
65 degrees during the day, 60 at night. I work from home and 65 on a 50 degree day feels way more warm than 65 on a 30 degree day. We have a wood stove that we use for secondary heat whenever it dips below 40 outside, which keeps most of the common areas in the house (2 story, 1400sqft) nice and toasty. Gonna get heavy drapes to help insulate the exterior glass sliding doors in the family room. We're on oil baseboard heat as our primary so anything that saves us money there is a good thing!
Where from the south? You're doing it backwards! I run a couple degrees warmer than you...this warm weather has been a damn lifesaver budgetwise.
Houston, but am used to utilities being $200 max in Aug/Sept time period. Definitely not used to $150 electric + ???? heating bills added on top.
It's ~3.25-3.50 on cash heating oil as of today.
if oil prices can stay in that range I'll definitely be moving up closer to the 65 indoor temp, we'll see
This is our first year here. Keeping the finished basement and main floor at 65 at all times. Heat on the second floor only kicks on in the morning for a couple hours - we like to sleep cold with just electric blankets, but it's hard to get out of bed so it toasts up just long enough to get us out of bed and ready for the day before going back off again. Heat rising from the other two floors seems to keep it livable otherwise.
When it drops below 40 outside we use the woodstove to help out, which cranks the heat inside to like 72 which is amazing. I'd use it full-time, but I'm still trying to figure out how much wood we use and ensure that we'll have enough to get us through the whole season.
60 during the day 50 at night downstairs. Bedrooms are 60 at night. All electric baseboard Last month was $300. I am really hoping to get on the operation fuel program so we can bump up the stat up some
Edit; typos
I have an infant so I’m higher at night than usual. But typical temps with my oil heat are
Day: 62-64 Night: 60
65-68 depending on the weather. Just paid $680 for 3/4 tank of oil, which is about $100 higher than last year. But I don’t like being uncomfortable in my own home and I can afford it, so it’s worth it to me.
Thermostat set at 65 24/7. Back of house faces south and has a lot of glass. Sunny mid winter days temps get up to 75 easily.
80deg was our standard room temp in Houston
65 would feel amazing compared to the 60 we max out at now, but very little sun here being on the backside of a hill.
Sneaky-er t1_ize9lu5 wrote
Yo - that’s cold. Transplanted here close to 6 years.
Indoor when people are home - 68 At work/school - 65 Return home - 68
Overnight - 62
Lucky my home is very well insulated. Used caulk around windows when I 1sr moved in. Fill up sucks but it last.
Invest in insulation - helps in winters and summers. Many Connecticut programs to assist with insulation that cover most cost.