Basil Fireplace by Cyrusbulsara
Now that winter is here, how green is your home? There’s a quick way to make it greener.
How do you approach the winter? Are you like a possum, snuggling up and waiting for warmer times, or like the squirrels in my yard, doing maypole chases up and down the trees and scattering little footprints across the snow, enjoying outdoor play and keeping warm through being active? Or maybe you’re like a cat, not able to get enough of the heat and longing for an open fire, or a chickadee, bundled up so you’re twice your normal girth with all your focus on good, sustainable food.
A Quick Way to Green Your Home
Turning down your thermostat is a quick way to green your home. With the colder weather here you can save money and energy and do your part to green the Earth by putting up with some discomfort. While this is a quick way to green your home, it may not be entirely painless.
How many people actually green their home this way though? Do you know what the recommendation is? How low can you go?
Recommended Energy Saving Home Temperature
EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) recommendations are to set your thermostat for 70F or lower when you’re home and awake and 62F or lower when you are out of your house or sleeping.
You might know what you have your own thermostat set at, assuming you have one, but what’s everybody else doing? Answer this little poll and we’ll all get to see.
What Temp Is Your House During Waking Hours When You're Home?
- 67 - 68F (38%, 9 Votes)
- 65 - 66F (21%, 5 Votes)
- 60F or below (13%, 3 Votes)
- 69 - 70F (8%, 2 Votes)
- 63 - 64F (8%, 2 Votes)
- 61 - 62F (8%, 2 Votes)
- Above 70F (4%, 1 Votes)
- Don't have a thermostat (0%, 0 Votes)
Total Voters: 24
Loading ...Motivation to Brave a Colder Home
I was encouraged last year to turn down my thermostat and wear more layers when I read Crunchy Chicken’s Freeze Yer Buns Challenge. Some of Crunchy’s readers are really tough – two hardy souls are braving 55F and many have their thermostat set at 62F. Check the comments to see what others are doing this winter.
To see how much you can save by lowering your home temperature visit the Madison Gas and Electric site and refer to their energy-saving table or try their quick calculator.
You can get more information about programmable thermostats and how to use them from the US Department of Energy.
Do you suffer some discomfort to keep your house cooler in winter? Which animal are you like?
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I’m sitting here shivering as I type this. It’s cold and windy outside and the cold is seeping in. But I won’t turn up the thermostat. Since my husband and I both work out of the house, it’s set to 68 all day long – we don’t turn it down during the day. Usually, it’s not a big deal, but today I’m chilly!
Me too Robin. There’s snow on the ground here in Kansas and there’s a cold draft down where my feet are. With 4 layers of clothes on I still don’t feel toasty. A quick cup of tea should help though. I’m off to get one.
I work at home, too, but I’m able to keep the thermostat fairly low by piling on sweaters & blankets and wearing fingerless gloves to type…and occasionally a scarf and hat if I get really cold! It’s cozy in here.
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We usually keep the thermostat at about 68 degrees during the day and about 65 degrees at night. When the weather outside is below zero (like it’s been the past few days) the 60’s feel like a heat wave!
I would love to be generating enought of our own energy to be off the grid and have the thermostat set at whatever feels best!
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Actually, during the day the thermostat is set at 66 from 7 am till 9 am and 5 pm till 9 pm. The rest of the day it’s set at 61 – and we work at home. It’s just easier to get out of bed if it’s a bit warmer then, and dinner doesn’t get as cold on the plate as quickly if it’s warmer while we eat.
Great post! I live on the 6th floor of a building, so I almost never turn on my heat — since everyone else does, my place stays at a comfy temp, as long as I wear flannel jammies, etc. When it gets too bad, I turn it on in the bedroom for a bit to warm it up and then turn it off before I got to sleep. Of course, flannel sheets & someone to snuggle with help!
Bethe
I try to keep it at 68 or below. It’s much easier if I’m up doing things like sewing or ironing vs when I’m sitting at the computer. Moving around really keeps me warm! That and copious amounts of tea.
It is set at 68, and during the day it drops to 64. However, I’m not working outside of the home currently, so I try to brave it during the day without turning it up. I enjoy frequenting coffee shops and the gym to stay warm.
I keep it between 65 and 68- my husband sometimes sneaks it to 70 and I start to boil up because I dress in silk long underwear, socks, pants and atleast two top layers of shirts (over the long underwear). We usually use a wood stove at night to take the edge off especially cause we have young kiddos! Love the post– again– you so awesome alison!
Ours is at 65 during the day if I’m home; I turn it down if I leave. It’s programmed for 58 at night. It’s very chilly when I get up, but wool socks, a hooded sweatshirt and a hat plus various other layers get me through the day. Flannel sheets, several cotton blankets plus a down comforter get me through the night.
Well, our thermostat is set at 58, but that’s just so the heat will kick in in the morning if the woodstove doesn’t keep going all night. Actual temp where the thermostat is (away from the stove) is usually closer to 64-68. And right next to the stove? TOASTY!
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It’s interesting to see how personal temperature is!
I live in New Brunswick (Canada) — a very cold place indeed. I heat with electricity and I have four thermostats — one per room. I keep the kitchen, bedroom and office at 69.8 during the day and the bathroom at 67 degrees, with the door shut. At night, I turn the office and bathroom down to 66 and shut the doors and turn the bedroom UP to 70 because of old age and arthritis!
When I go out, I turn everything down to 66.
On sunny days, I take advantage of the passive solar heat in the sunroom-office by opening the drapes on the south side. I have begun to measure the temperature gains and to document them (at http://www.my-green-home-project.com/passive-solar-house.html). The results are very encouraging.
Having only one thermostat takes away a lot of your flexibility. If you have central heating, you should have different zones; that way, you can control the temperature in each one. (But I think it’s only possible to have different zones for hot water heating, not for hot air.)
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Isn’t this interesting! Some of you are really hardy – hardier than me. I’ve come away with a new appreciation of energy saving and some ideas on how to stay warm.
Gina, I miss my water distributed heating system. In Scotland I had doors to close to keep heat in each room and adjustable thermostats on almost all the heaters/radiators. I think radiant heat is more comforting and effective than hot air.
I had hot air in my previous house and I hated it! It was noisy, if you were close to a vent you felt a blast of hot air, it dried the air so much I had to use a humidifier, but worst of all was the monthly bill during the coldest months: $600 — ouch!!!
Great points. Personally I’ll walk around the house in a coat before I turn the thermostat up! The only problem is trying to get my wife on board. She understand s how it saves money and helps the environment, but those reasons seem to become a lesser priority when her extremities became to cool…
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