Some Like It Hot & Some Like It Not!
Ask a family member what the ideal temperature for your home thermostat is, and you will get as many different answers as there are people in the house. Some may like it hot, while others like it colder and then others somewhere in between. However, what most people don’t know is that the house itself also has an opinion concerning the matter. If you do not consider your home’s advice, it, too, can become a bit temperamental and serve you with sky-high energy bills. Consider what your home has to say about indoor temperatures and set the thermostat to the ideal winter temperature.
What’s the Best Temperature Range for Winter?
The best temperature, in most cases, is the one that’ll save you money while safeguarding your comfort level. What this means is that there isn’t an y one specific temperature setting at which you should set your digital thermostat to. Really, the manual, or programmable set-points should change according to different situations – when you’re at home, when you’re sleeping, and, of course, when there is no one usually home.
When you are not at home, set your thermostat to between 16-19 degrees Celsius. The lower the temperature, the better considering that you’re not at home to feel the chill.
When you are at home, set daytime temperatures to range between 20-22 degrees Celsius or what ever your comfortable at.
When sleeping, it is the duvet’s turn to keep you warm; as such, consider returning the temperatures to the range they were when you were not around (i.e., 16-19 degrees Celsius.)
For you to effectively manage these changes, consider having a programmable or smart thermostat installed. With a smart thermostat, you will no longer have to tinker with the temperature or beat yourself up every time you forget to turn your thermostat down when heading out. All you need to do is to program your thermostat to raise or lower indoor temperatures at predetermined times.
What is the Ideal Temperature to Set My Furnace During Winter?
The temperature you set your furnace during winter is a personal decision. However, the important thing is that the temperature range you set your furnace should be good enough to keep you and your family comfortable through those cold winter days without creating unnecessarily high energy bills each month. Each winter season, Ontario home owners spend hundreds to thousands of dollars paying their water and gas bills. Keeping your furnace running at around 18 when you’re not home, and 20 to 22 degrees while at home, is the best way to ensure those costs stay low.
If you find our lower end recommendation to be too cold, you can always adjust things as winter progresses. Our bodies acclimatize to consistent temperatures quite quickly, which means that as your body gets accustomed to a specific temperature, it slowly adjusts itself without causing any discomfort. If you start winter at a high temperature like 23 degrees, lower the range slowly, week by week, to about 20 degrees, so you don’t feel the difference. One-degree temperature adjustments can reduce your energy costs by 1%.
If you find that your system runs a lot despite the temperatures being low or your energy bills are awfully-high, it could be time to take some measures to improve the energy efficiency of your home. Programmable thermostats are a great solution – if you don’t have one in your home, consider having it installed as soon as possible. However, make sure that your house is well insulated. Examine your attic, windows, doors, and vents and make sure that they are properly sealed and insulated. Also, consider having your home’s furnace checked and serviced just to make sure the problem is not a technical one!
