t-stat

H2O

Now that it is getting colder out I am getting the never-ending question. How low do I set my thermostat during the day when I am at work? If one is out of the house for 8 hrs and they have a new efficiency heating system, how low is to low to set the temp, is 55° to low? I have been told that if the temp is to low it takes the system to long to heat the house back up to temp. You would want the temp as low as possible to save but how low is to low? Are there any good techniques to calculate this? I know it has to do with a lot of thing but there must be a general rule of thumb.

Thank you for your suggestions,

H2O, New England

Frank_17

t-stat

If you ask 7 people that,You're apt to get 10 different opinions on that subject.
What I always tell people is get a programable t-stat, have it drop off 10 degrees after you go to bed, come on 1 hour before you wake, drop off 10 degrees when you leave, come on 1 hour before you come home.
works for me and my customers. however,go too low , your boiler uses as much fuel warming the house up again, no savings there.
my 2 cents worth.
a fellow N Englander

BillW@honeywell

Setback stat

How much heat your house will lose during a setback period depends on how well your home is insulated, how tight your windows are, how much wind you are exposed to and other variables. A setback thermostat is a proven energy saver, many carry the EPA's "Energy Star" rating. If your occupied (comfort) temperature is 70 degrees, set back 10 degrees to 60. If you use a Honeywell T8600 Chronotherm 4, it has what's called "Adaptive Intelligent Recovery"...what that means is that the thermostat "remembers" what the temperatures were for the past three days, and starts the system in small, timed steps that will have the home at the comfort temperature at the start of the "wake" or "return" period. No more getting out of bed or coming home to a cold house. The old sytle mechanical programmable stats just started the system at a set time. Ramping up the temperature gradually saves energy, too. Only the T8600 series "trade" model stats, available from your heating contractor have this feature. The retail models do not. Use the "Find a Contractor" feature above to find someone in your area, and visit www.honeywell.com/yourhome/ for more info.