ask ken | energy-saving q&as
Solve the Mystery of the Thermostat
And what about the heat from your refrigerator?
By KEN SHEINKOPF
QMy husband and i disagree on the right level to set our thermostat, with the result that our house is always either too hot or too cold.
Should we keep adjusting it to the best setting or just
leave it at one level? — T.R., Rochester, N. Y.
Ken Sheinkopf has been
involved in energy
education for more
than 28 years, including
23 years as an ASES
member and service
on the ASES Board and
numerous other ASES
committees. He retires
from “Ask Ken” duties
after the March issue,
and he’ll be sorely
missed.
ANo household gadget is as universally misunder- stood as the thermostat. I constantly hear from readers who admit that they’ve lived with thermostats all their lives, yet are never quite sure how to properly
set the unit for the season.
Let’s talk about the heating season right now, though
the general ideas here work just as well in hot weather
(with the appropriate adjustments in direction of the
thermostat settings, of course). First, it is a good strategy
to turn the setting down a few degrees when the house is
empty, like when you’re all at work or school during the
day. Maybe you’ve had it set at 68°F ( 20°C), for example,
so if the house is going to be empty for several hours, turn
the thermostat down to 62°F ( 16°C) while you’re gone.
You can save anywhere from 3 to 10 percent on heating
costs for every degree you’ve lowered it during that time
(the variance is due to such factors as the home’s location,
insulation levels and quality of windows and doors).
Second, when you come home at the end of the day
iSToCKPHoTo.CoM
to a house that is colder than
you’d like, don’t immediately
turn the thermostat as high as
it can go “to heat the house
faster.” It’s just not going to
happen. The furnace isn’t going to put out any more heat
if you set it for 90°F ( 32°C)
than if you set it for 68°F. If
you set it higher than you
want it, though, it will continue to burn gas until you remember to turn it back to the
room temperature setting.
Finally, I often hear from
people who think the best
way to regulate the heat is to
find a comfortable setting and
leave it there. Though there are recommended set-points
for comfort that maximize energy efficiency — 68°F in
winter and 78°F ( 25°C) in summer — the fact is that
everyone has a personal comfort level. While you may
find 66°F ( 19°C) comfortable in winter, your spouse may
want it to be 73°F ( 23°C). I recommend you set the thermostat no higher than 68°F in winter. If that feels too
You can save anywhere from 3 to 10 percent on heating
costs for every degree you’ve lowered it.
Got energy questions?
Submit them to ASES
experts@solartoday.org.
Not all questions can be
answered personally.
cold, first try dressing a little warmer. It really is OK to
wear a sweater indoors! If that’s not enough, raise the setting just a little until you find the desired comfort. Every
degree can make a big difference in the bills you pay each
month. Keep these recommended settings in mind, and
you can afford to adjust the heat upward when you have
company over or downward when the outdoor weather
has warmed up a bit.
Of course, if you have a programmable thermostat,
it’ll do all these adjustments for you once you set it to
your desired comfort levels. Whether you make the adjustments yourself or program the thermostat to do it
automatically, keep these rules in mind and you ought
to be more comfortable this winter without dreading the
monthly utility bill.
QWe were sitting in our kitchen the other day, and i commented to my wife how comfort- able the room felt in cold weather. This got
me thinking that the refrigerator and other appliances
are probably putting out unwanted heat in the
summer, so maybe we’d be better off if we moved our
big appliances to the garage, which is just a few steps
from the kitchen. Does this make any sense to do? — J.S.,
The Villages, Fla.
AAside from the fact that it might give all of you more exercise walking to the garage every time you wanted something to eat or drink, I think the benefits of moving the appliances would be pretty small.
I found some research that had been done on this topic
in a Florida home a few years ago, and I think you’ll find
the highlights interesting. During this yearlong study, the
kitchen temperature averaged around 77°F ( 25°C), though
it did vary during the year. The average outdoor temperature for this house was 78.6°F ( 25. 8°C), and the average
temperature in the garage (where the water heater, washer
and dryer were located) was 81.8°F ( 27. 5°C).
The study found that heat-producing appliances in the
home can increase air-conditioning use only slightly in hot
weather, though many Southern homeowners keep appliances like the washer and dryer in the garage, utility room
or other unconditioned space so even this little increase in
heat does not bother them. If you live in a colder climate,
heat from appliances may actually cut down a little on your
heating needs.
The bottom line is that you ought to sit and relax in
the kitchen and enjoy the warmth from the appliances this
winter, and don’t worry about this heat raising your energy
bills too much in hot weather. ST
