Mid 70's is nice and comfortable for us, then the second floor is low 70's. So sleeping is more comfortable/not too warm
How warm do you like to keep the house?
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Lol. My wife did the fire this morning when it was pretty cool in the house and overdid it, as I've done too sometimes. It got up to about 78 in here. Oh well, it's only wood, right?
LowbanksArcher
Member
Lol. My wife did the fire this morning when it was pretty cool in the house and overdid it, as I've done too sometimes. It got up to about 78 in here. Oh well, it's only wood, right?
No. Around here, windows are to allow wind-blown rain in.Isn't that what windows are for?
Seanm
Minister of Fire
I've never seen so much standing water in places that normally drain off or drain down right away.
Seanm
Minister of Fire
I havent received any US news but watching the Vancouver BC news on global 85,000 folks were without power this morning. Im much further inland as you know but we woke up to 4 inches of sloppy snow but no storm activity. Hope you dont flood!
Flooding under these conditions is always a concern around here, but mostly in the lower river areas. We're fortunate to be in a higher elevation without those problems.
The thermostat is programmed for 68 when we're home and awake, and 62 otherwise. Sometimes we bump it up a degree or two if we're feeling more chilled than normal.
When burning, I shoot for 72.
The ducting upstairs is undersized, so the bedrooms usually end up at 63 when the setpoint is 68, and 58 when the setpoint is 62. It would help if we could open the doors, but our cat is not trustworthy. No joke, I have more than once contemplated putting a screen door on my bedroom door to keep her out but let the heat in.
I went digging for info recently about indoor temperatures in the past, especially prior to whole-house heat. I've found very little so far, but what I have suggests 60-65 being common in the main room with the stove or fireplace, and 50-60 in other rooms.
I also stumbled across a claim by the BBC that in the UK the average thermostat setting is 63.5, and bedrooms are kept around 57, but from my visits over there, my impression is in reality they usually set thermostats in the 68-70 range like we do.
When burning, I shoot for 72.
The ducting upstairs is undersized, so the bedrooms usually end up at 63 when the setpoint is 68, and 58 when the setpoint is 62. It would help if we could open the doors, but our cat is not trustworthy. No joke, I have more than once contemplated putting a screen door on my bedroom door to keep her out but let the heat in.
I went digging for info recently about indoor temperatures in the past, especially prior to whole-house heat. I've found very little so far, but what I have suggests 60-65 being common in the main room with the stove or fireplace, and 50-60 in other rooms.
I also stumbled across a claim by the BBC that in the UK the average thermostat setting is 63.5, and bedrooms are kept around 57, but from my visits over there, my impression is in reality they usually set thermostats in the 68-70 range like we do.
Just to show how fickle this wx has been, I was just outside gathering some cut rounds and it was sunny and warm. That water is gone now, but I had a 3-gal size orange bucket by the chicken coop that was empty a couple days ago and is now full. About nine inches.
Yeah, that's kind of hard to believe unless it were night time temps. What are the heating fuel options over there?
lopiliberty
Minister of Fire
Its usually between 80 and 90 in the living room and depending on the temp outside it can feel too hot or feel just right.
I like that reply. There really is a lot of psychological factor in this. I've always been amused that on a cold blustery wet winter day, 80 can feel nice and toasty and on a hot summer day we will have the A/C turned to 75 or less and still feel a bit too warm.
heavy hammer
Minister of Fire
I like it about 81 once it starts getting over 84 it starts to feel to warm. On real cold days I have seen 90 plus and it feels nice especially after being outside all day the warmer the better. I like being able to sleep in shorts and a t shirt with out a blanket, if that happens the house is just right. The thing I don't get is the wife wants the house extremely warm in the winter which is great, but once summer comes around and the house gets over 75 she wants the AC on. I don't get it until the house is over 80 I can't stand even the thought of AC. Unless it's 75 plus and sunny it's not warm to me.
hamslam42
Member
We like it 68 in the house, and 70 - 74 in the stove room. But we like it cold to sleep, like 60 - 62. So we almost always keep our bedroom door shut when the insert is going, and we usually don't worry about loading it up for overnight burns since we don't need it warm for sleeping. The insert is in our lofted family room which is open to a loft bedroom and the rest of the upstairs, so those upstairs bedrooms can get pretty toasty. If it gets too cold in the bedroom, we only have to open the door for 10-15 minutes and it will warm it up enough.
7acres
Minister of Fire
Heating and cooling appliances are for relief from outdoors temps. Winter indoor temps are 74. Summer indoor temps are 72.
Thermostat is set at 68. The living area is usually between 72 and 74 when burning. The bedrooms are 67 - 68.
HisTreeNut
Minister of Fire
Our room with the stove runs about 75-78. Each room away drops about 5 degrees. The back side of the house and the hardest to heat runs about 60-62 unless it is bitter cold outside.
I like the low to mid 70's regardless of the time of year...just can do without humidity.
I like the low to mid 70's regardless of the time of year...just can do without humidity.
This seems to be pretty typical (or average at least). All these responses show that every body is different and every home is different and every climate makes for different results.
Makes it kind of hard to give individual advice.
As regards to heating peripheral rooms, I've found it quite useful, if counterintuitive, to place a small fan at the door of a bedroom, for example, and blow it outwards. It blows the cool air out into the heated area and causes the warmer air to replace it above. Again, though, it depends on the layout.
HisTreeNut
Minister of Fire
I found what seems to work the best but given the odd layout of the entrances to our stove room, it takes a while. I had some good success using 2 fans instead of one. One fan blowing air out of the room and a second down the hallway creating cross-breeze of sorts. The wifey disagrees and has a method she thinks works better but the temps are not any warmer and the room with the stove drops 4 degrees. First year with the stove so I have time to figure it out....and convince the wifey.
That's right. It takes some experimentation because every layout is different. All you can do is learn the basics of what you want to accomplish, listen to others' experiences and do whatever works for you.
Lake Girl
Moderator
How many thermometers have you got? What if they don't all agree??
We have oil heating here in the highlands. UK governemnt guidelines for saving energy whilst heating the home list 18C/64F as the minimum recommended temp for a living room and the max recommended temp is 21C /70F. The guidelines say the max temp is recommended if there are sedentary old folk in the home... so I like to set our stat to 18C so I can kid myself that's my age too.
When the stove's on, the boiler is off - and the temp is around 18 C in the hallway, dropping down to around 16C/60F in the bedrooms (we never have central heating on in the bedroom at any time and have the window open at least a crack every night of the year.... can't sleep without fresh air). Living room temp with the stove on is maybe 21/70 when the stove is at the top of its cycle, and falls away to 18 close to reload time.
I could make it hotter, but that's cosy for us. Like someone else said here, I like to wear woollens in the winter and summer clothes in the summer and enjoy experiencing the change from one to another.. although at 21C the woollens are off for a while.
I am also conditioned by the old wives' tale (which I think may have some truth in it) that you're more likely to catch colds if your house is too warm in winter.
Y'all have to bear in mind with everything I've said tho, that I'm in scotland, where the average low temp in the winter is above freezing and the newscasters talk as if it's Armageddon when it falls to -10 / +15 F in the glens some nights.
As far as summer goes, as American tourists know well, we don't do air conditioning here.. We just open a window when we want to cool down and it works a treat. On those rare days that we wish we did have AC it will be getting as much attention on the UK News as 4" of snow does in winter!
... I couldn't stand being in a 21C centrally heated room, I would suffocate and melt... But stove heat is different, it really is.
When the stove's on, the boiler is off - and the temp is around 18 C in the hallway, dropping down to around 16C/60F in the bedrooms (we never have central heating on in the bedroom at any time and have the window open at least a crack every night of the year.... can't sleep without fresh air). Living room temp with the stove on is maybe 21/70 when the stove is at the top of its cycle, and falls away to 18 close to reload time.
I could make it hotter, but that's cosy for us. Like someone else said here, I like to wear woollens in the winter and summer clothes in the summer and enjoy experiencing the change from one to another.. although at 21C the woollens are off for a while.
I am also conditioned by the old wives' tale (which I think may have some truth in it) that you're more likely to catch colds if your house is too warm in winter.
Y'all have to bear in mind with everything I've said tho, that I'm in scotland, where the average low temp in the winter is above freezing and the newscasters talk as if it's Armageddon when it falls to -10 / +15 F in the glens some nights.
As far as summer goes, as American tourists know well, we don't do air conditioning here.. We just open a window when we want to cool down and it works a treat. On those rare days that we wish we did have AC it will be getting as much attention on the UK News as 4" of snow does in winter!
... I couldn't stand being in a 21C centrally heated room, I would suffocate and melt... But stove heat is different, it really is.
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