Just curious, what temperature do you keep your home A/C at? I'm usually comfortable at about 76 deg. How cool can you get your house? I always try to see how low the A/C will go, and I got it to go to 73 deg. then I stopped it. I don't think it's gone below that temp. Just curious again! Thanks!
I keep my room a/c at 77. until late afternoon when the sun comes around and then lower it to 75. Was shopping in Pathmark today, they must have had their set at 65.. I couldn't wait to get out of there.
Posts: 3159 | Location: Staten Island, NY , USA | Registered: Sep 24, 2002
Forensic, I'm surprised at your parents. Most older people want it a lot warmer than that. We keep ours set at 76/78 in the summer...and my mom literally freezes in her part of the house. So I have closed and stopped up all the vents except one for a little air circulation. She still sits with either a throw or a sweater on most of the time. BUT, my mom is 91 and takes blood thinners. Makes a difference.
I think the only time our fans are turned off is when I see dust swirling through the air and figure it's time to clean them - well, also when it's time to switch them for winter time.
veThis message has been edited. Last edited by: vera ellen,
Central A/C stays at 73*. West facing drapes or shades pulled until after sundown. Winter temp finds the furnace set in mid-60's. I have hot water, baseboard heat and the even warmth feels higher than mid-60's would suggest.
My daughters swear that their unusually healthy childhood was due to the fact that no germ could live in our home's cool temps. Silly girls.
Since there are very few days during the year that our house is "open"...maybe 3-5 days, due to our humidity, our central heat/air stays at 77º year round. We also have ceiling fans in LR, DR & all bedrooms...and the LR, MBR & office seldom get shut off. We also have a small attic fan that we run during hot weather to help pull the heated air out of our attic...there are vents at the other end for it to pull from & they all get closed off during the winter.
We have/had some friends who kept their house at 62º yr. round. I finally told DH that I refused to visit them ever again...I freeze to deather there...summer & winter!This message has been edited. Last edited by: ga.karen,
"The soil is the source of life, creativity, culture and real independence." David Ben-Gurion
We have friends whose house is unbearable. He works for the power company (if you can believe it) and refuses to turn on the AC in the summer except in the most extreme conditions. I personally know he won't have the heat on in the winter at all. I stopped over to change clothes one day after a funeral, and she had put a heater in one of the bedrooms to try to warm it up for me. Felt like a refrigerator when I walked in the front door.
They've moved from that house, so I don't know if its the same behavior at the new house or not.
Another 76 degrees here which keeps us comfortable. DH is the only one who changes the temp control in our house. LOL like too many cooks in the broth.
Our AC is on mostly year-round also and 2 ceiling fans in the den. No ceiling fans in BR though as I don't like air blowing on me.
But I keep my office at about 70 since I am the only one there.
~Like sands through the hourglass ~So are the days of our lives
It is set at 69 and we have the ceiling fan on low in the family room. At night we take it down to 66--our upstairs is much warmer than the downstairs. I hate the heat. We've had an extremely hot summer, it was 90 yesterday, yuck!
Posts: 2662 | Location: Ohio | Registered: Feb 25, 2006
16paws ~ 66 deg!!!! That's coooolllld! I think 75-76 is a comfortable temp. I shut the A/C when I go to sleep as there are ceiling fans in the bedrooms and kitchen. Yes, downstairs is always cooler. Our electic bill a few mos. ago was so much (about $350)(spring was very warm!!!) Some houses are very costly to cool/heat, that's probably why the other poster's friend doesn't use his A/C or heat. He needs to sell the house and MOVE. (unless he's just real cheap!!!) When I am all alone, sitting and watching TV in the living room, I brought up a floor fan, and use that instead of the A/C. Trying to limit the constant use of A/C whenever I can. I can't wait till it gets cool enough to open up the windows, another couple of weeks now!
In the new addition where we have double pane french doors and lots of insulation I can get it down to 60 degrees when it's 90 outside. Found that out by mistake. LOL!
Whether You Think You Can Or You Think You Can't..... You're Right - Henry Ford
Posts: 6965 | Location: Central Florida | Registered: Feb 12, 2005
75 in the summer and 73 in the wintertime. I was told years ago by a man who owned a supermarket that he never used a/c. His store was cooled by all the refrigerators and freezers. His store was really cold. So maybe some of the bigger stores are like that too. think the stores are over heated in the wintertime. As soon as I walk into a store in the winter I feel like stri pping!!lol The very thought of that is disgusting!!lol
Posts: 14647 | Location: Harford county, MD, zone 6 | Registered: May 10, 2003
Depends on the activity in our home? We have ours (in NE) set at 77 during the day (and if we are working/active, sometimes set it temporarily lower), and down to 73 at night for sleeping.
TG I have been so lucky to spend most of this summer in the mountains. It may get into the 80's during the day, but cools into the 40'-50's at night.
Well, it seems that everyone likes it warmer than me! I really cannot handle heat it makes me nauseous. Nothing worse than heat and a lack of moving air, that makes me feel as though I am suffocating. My mother used to keep it at 78 and then complain that she didn't feel well, my sister and I would go over and lower the thermostat to 70 and she would say oh I'm doing fine. I really like walking the dog on a cold winter day and feel the wind on my face. I keep the thermostat at 70 in the winter.
Posts: 2662 | Location: Ohio | Registered: Feb 25, 2006
In winter we keep the heat around 68-70 day and 62 night in NE. In the mountains where the air is drier, 62-65 is very comfortable during the day, and 60 at night. We do have a lot of windows so solar gain is a plus too.
During the summer I keep my thermostat set at 12 Celsius which is 54 Fahrenheit. This effectively keeps the furnace from coming on. There is solar gain and with heat from cooking, pets, and people it's always comfortable. Rarely gets really hot here but when it's going to get into the 80's and 90's outside I close all windows in the morning, then later in the day open all the ground level north facing windows and the upper south facing ones and have a lovely cool breeze blowing thru. I keep some windows open all time during the summer months unless it's predicted to be over 80. On a cool morning I put on a sweater but my house is very well insulated so it's pretty comfortable year round. We don't have or need air conditioning here in the north.
In the winter when I am home I keep the thermostat at 18C (64F) and use my wood stove. This keeps the furnace from coming on most of the time and the temperature stays well above 70 in the daytime and at night I like it cooler so let it cool down. Rarely gets below 20C (68F). The furnace only comes on when I'm lazy and don't feel like fetching wood and I've been known to crank the thermostat way up if I feel cold. I have a seldom used high efficiency gas furnace. I look upon carrying wood as good exercise and don't mind most of the time. When I'm away in the winter I keep it at 15C (59F).
My heating costs are quite low and cooling costs are non-existent. My house is very well insulated so it's almost always comfortable. Even this morning it was 8C (46F) outdoors but 72F indoors. Yesterday it was 2C (35F) in the early am so I started the wood stove for the first time this year for fun! Could have just put on a heavier sweater but like sitting watching the fire while I drink my tea. Won't bother with a fire today as it will be in the 70's outdoors and it's very comfortable inside.
Lucky
"I have always had an aversion to the concepts of in style and out of style." ~Rose Tarlow
I was referring to the summer only! In the winter, my house gets really warm once I put on the heat, no problems. I suffer only when it's too hot inside in the summertime and need A/C. Joyluck, it sounds like you don't get much hot weather at all. That's good and it's not so good. Do you have a long, long winter? I have a long enough winter, and I think yours may even be longer than ours. Do you get a lot of snow? You're in Canada, right, where? Very nice there!! I've never been to Montreal, would like to see it, but I don't speak French!
FFG, come on up! LOL You might even see snow! We occasionally get a dusting of snow in September altho it never lasts.
Wavy, winter is about 5 months long here, from about November to March. Snow is gone by March so by April it can be nice and we usually start gardening then. It can be quite warm in June, July, and August but rarely over mid-90's. Winters are becoming less cold and in fact we didn't have enough snow cover to protect the plants last winter and lost some. Because it can get cold we don't have the noxious bugs they do further south, nor the mildew as it's quite dry. We also never get hurricanes, tornadoes, or floods so consider ourselves fortunate to live here. I can always put on a sweater or coat but not much one can do in extreme heat but sweat, suffer, and stay in AC places. I've lived in some of Canada's hottest areas and prefer an area where it's cooler.
Montreal is great and I'm sure most tourists don't speak French either. I lived there for 4 years and don't speak it either. Just muddled through with a few words and phrases. I always say I can shop in any language! LOL
Lucky
"I have always had an aversion to the concepts of in style and out of style." ~Rose Tarlow