This is Day 15 of the Green in 365 series!
One of the best ways to save energy and save money during the winter months is to turn down your thermostat at least 2 degrees during the day and 5 or more degrees at night.
And, if you want to take it a step further, you can install a programmable thermostat, if you don’t have one already, which will make this even easier, because you can program your thermostat to turn down automatically when you are away from home and while you are sleeping, and turn back up in the morning and when you return home.
We installed a programmable thermostat several years ago, and it makes keeping our home at a lower temperature much easier. We are keeping our home a little warmer than usual this winter because of having a little baby at home. In the past we have kept it between 64-66° during the day, and 62° at night, but this year we are keeping it around 65° at night and 68° during the day.
I’ve found different statistics online, but basically for every degree that you turn your thermostat down, you will use 3-5% less energy and could save anywhere from 2-10% on your heating bill, depending on how much you turn it down and for how long.
From what I’ve read, the savings are most significant if you can keep your heat turned down for at least 8 hours in a row. We try to turn our heat up for a few hours in the morning, just to start off the day a little warmer, and then again before bed. But we try to keep it lower for 8 hours during the day, and then again for 8 hours overnight.
What temperature do you keep your thermostat set to during the winter? Have you installed a programable thermostat? Do you turn your heat down overnight, or during the day while you are away from home?
Find all the Green in 365 posts.
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I love this series!
We leave our thermostat at 65–all the time. In the afternoon when the sun shines in . . . it gets warmer in the house. In the summer we use the AC as sparingly as we can–we close our blinds during the day to keep the sun out.
Be Blessed!
I love when the sun shines in and warms up our house in the winter!
Great series 🙂 We keep our thermostat on 68* during the day and 62* at night.
Have a beautiful day!
We keep ours at 68 when we are here and 64 at night and when we are away. I was told by the hvac guys to never drop your thermastat more than 4-5 degrees at night or when you are gone… due to the fact it will use more energy to pull your temp back up! I also use the sun to heat when I can!
Hi Pat,
Hmmm, that’s interesting, I’ve actually read the opposite, that people may assume it will take more energy, but it actually doesn’t take extra energy to raise your temp back up after lowering it. Not sure who’s right?! But, I definitely agree that using the sun to heat is great!
Hi Emily,
It seems I was wrong! I went to the Energy.gov website and it does say that turning your furnace thermostat back 10-15 degrees for 8 hours will save you 5-15% a year on your bill. I unfortunately have a heat pump and they don’t recommend turning it back at all unless you have a special programmable thermostat made for a heat pump. Which I do have. When it was installed was when the hvac guy said no more then 4-5 degrees. Of course this morning it is working overtime here! 18 degrees here! Brrr! Hope it’s warmer where you are!
Thanks for researching that Pat! It’s good to know the right answer! Our furnace is running constantly today too, only 10° this morning. I was glad school was cancelled so I don’t have to venture outside today at all! Stay warm!!