Home Heating - Cost Difference

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Once your desired temperature is met, let's use 70°, does it cost more to maintain that 70° than a lower temperature such as 65°?

Propane central heating, home built 1991, 30° low during the night.

Thanks!
 
I think the quality of your homes insulation comes into play here. If your home can maintain that 70 without help from the heater, than it wont matter. But if its a drafty or older house, than its constantly losing heat, so the heater will run more to maintain the warmer temp. Plus the more loss the more it needs to bring it up to 70
 
It’s beneficial to lower the temperature when you can. I’ve got a programmable thermostat.

Nights - 60°
Morning and evening - 68°
Days when I’m at work - 55°

Info from the DOE
 
Insulation plus the type of house will determine the cost. A two story will be more than a one story in general. The condition of your furnace is another key point. Maintenance will assure proper function.
 
I have fha heat and hot water with propane from the 1990s as well. Excluding this winter which has been very cold I have found the settings of 66 during day 68 when I get home and 63 at night have the fill-ups costing $150 less on average using a Honeywell programmable thermostat. Each climate is different so your winter and summer programs will differ from mine of course. There is no real rule of thumb you take into account the climate and the insulation and watch where the house stays constant with minimal fuel I guess. And if you can live with that that's the way to go just monitor the house without anything and see how close you can get to that where it's comfortable
 
It does cost more to keep at 70° than 65°, but how much depends on a lot of variables.
Just don't overdue it. There have been a lot of older houses around here that have had frozen pipes because the owner set the thermostat at a much lower temp (e.g. 50°) and they've had water pipes freeze, resulting in lots of damage.
With lows in the 30° there, you probably have nothing to worry about.
 
I like it cool in the summer. If it costs me $50 more for electricity to accomplish that, so be it. I'll pay $150 over the course of a year to be comfortable. The same goes with heating. I like it on the cool side, but if you like to be toasty, why not spend a few extra bucks to be comfortable?
 
Originally Posted By: SavagePatch
Once your desired temperature is met, let's use 70°, does it cost more to maintain that 70° than a lower temperature such as 65°?

Propane central heating, home built 1991, 30° low during the night.

Thanks!


Just use a little common sense.
The only reason you need space heating is that heat is lost to the colder outside air.
The greater the differential between the two then the greater the amount of heat that the furnace has to make up.
Cooler will necessarily always be cheaper.
It's just a matter of what feels okay to you as well as what you're willing to spend.
 
Originally Posted By: DBMaster
I like it cool in the summer. If it costs me $50 more for electricity to accomplish that, so be it. I'll pay $150 over the course of a year to be comfortable. The same goes with heating. I like it on the cool side, but if you like to be toasty, why not spend a few extra bucks to be comfortable?


I agree here. I keep it 68 F on my main and top floor at all times. Basement is at about 61 F since I'm rarely down there, except for laundry etc..
 
If the outside average is say 45 you will save as much 20% by keeping it 65 instead pf 70.
 
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Isn't there another thread about this going on right now?

Graph the outside temp every hour for a day. Then put the inside temp on the same graph. Color in between. That's how much heat you need. If your inside temp dips during "whenever" you save money as it narrows the amount of heat you're adding.

For a setback thermostat to "really work", though, your house needs to coast down to its lower temperature quickly due to bad insulation. Who wants that? Your temperature spread, multiplied by your average "R" value constant, multiplied by cost of fuel, is how much money you'll spend.
 
Just for context, the maximum temperature I use for heating is 68 and the minimum temperature I use for A/C is 71. Most people around here set their heat higher (Texans are wusses when it comes to cold.) and their A/C quite a bit higher.
 
Just had the tank filled. Only $450! Was $750 before the new programmable thermostat set to above. Using the old type analog dial was very inefficient
 
It really does depend on the type of house and method of construction, plus insulation. I have had houses that were cheaper to run at a constant temperature without using the thermostat and others that were the opposite.
 
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