***Official 2024 Weather Thread***

[nrg4isu]

I'm a giant nerd and get a summary text message at 10pm every night with the daily cost of water and electric. I set it up just so that if a number was significantly off of normal, I'd look into it more.

I can confirm, that moving the thermostat up/down for a day or 2 has very little cost/savings. It's like driving. If you speed like crazy for a short distance, there's little advantage. But if you set your cruise for a few mph higher for a 200 mile drive, you'll notice the difference.

Water however

 

[Die4Cy]

A nice 69 if people are in the house, 64 overnight, and 60 when we are out. I tried spending a night at my mom's house, she keeps it 74 daytime and 68 at night. It was too much.

 

[SEIOWA CLONE]

Keep it set at 70 both summer and winter, not to hot, not to cold.

 

[TBT]

Not surprising, but wife and I tried to fly out to Florida this morning and Allegiant cancelled all their flights out of DSM. Water tubes to refill/transfer waste froze over so transfer couldn't happen. Wife wanted everyone to hold their pee/poo and get moving, but alas.

 

[isufbcurt]

We have our furnace set at 65 during the day and 62 at night. But then the floor heat is also set at 66 all the time.

 

[awd4cy]

 

[NorthCyd]

We have our furnace set at 65 during the day and 62 at night. But then the floor heat is also set at 66 all the time.

Man this sounds amazing. If I could I would set the temp at 60 at night. I sleep so much better in the cold. I live in a house with my wife and 4 daughters who are always cold so I am SOL. I put it at 68 at night and I catch hell for that.

 

[alarson]

Cool to 71 in the summer, heat to 67 in the winter.

At night i have my ecobee only track my bedroom sensor, and have that set to 65

 

[BCClone]

A nice 69 if people are in the house, 64 overnight, and 60 when we are out. I tried spending a night at my mom's house, she keeps it 74 daytime and 68 at night. It was too much.

How many people do you like in the house with a nice 69?

 

[BCClone]

We have our furnace set at 65 during the day and 62 at night. But then the floor heat is also set at 66 all the time.

What it was when I grew up. Now it’s 71 when people are in the house and 66 at night and when people leave.

 

[CychiatricWard]

Set to 65 all winter long. Love a good blanket and cold weather sleeping!

 

[cmjh10]

I WISH.

Ours is set at 74 because she can't stand the cold. And it's boiler/radiant heat, so it doesn't go down at night and it's just too hot to sleep. Luckily its pretty efficient so its not really that expensive. Just too ****ing hot.

I woke up in a sweat a couple nights last week when I forgot to take the thermostat off of 68.

 

[twojman]

Summertime the temp is 74 on our house and winter it is anywhere from 64-66. Wear a long sleeve if you are cold!

 

[NoCreativity]

I'm not trying to be "that guy" but you are literally just tricking your furnaces thermostat into thinking your house temp is warmer than it is. And I know you know that already. But if you get a cheap Kill-a-watt plug off Amazon and check the energy usage of that space heater I think you'd be shocked what it costs you in electricity. A/C unit replacements are ridiculously expensive but furnaces are actually pretty cheap, I think you might have a pretty quick ROI on a replacement.

It's only for a couple days when it gets into the negatives. Just trying to extend its life through these cold snaps, it's not like I do that all winter.

 

[isufbcurt]

Man this sounds amazing. If I could I would set the temp at 60 at night. I sleep so much better in the cold. I live in a house with my wife and 4 daughters who are always cold so I am SOL. I put it at 68 at night and I catch hell for that.

My wife is the one who wants it set that low lol. Our bed room is an upstairs loft area so it gets really hot up there (insert dirty joke here) if we don't have the temp set lower.

 

[Clonehomer]

Get one of the portable ones that connects to your 12v outlet in the car, and then pump them up in the garage. Best $30 I ever spent.
You can get cheap 115 plug in for 50 bucks at harbour freight. They are cheap, I have to turn the tool knob off and let it air up or it will leak but the extra 2-3 minutes to air tires hear and there isn’t too big of a deal. Especially when the wife/kids will let them go a little too long.

I got a Ryobi 18V for the bikes. Works well for cars as well. Uses the same batteries as my trimmer and blower (and their tools if you have any of those)

 

[Clonehomer]

We set ours to 67 through the day, and 66 at night. But we do bump it up to 70 from 5am to 7am to make getting out of bed easier. It isn’t about saving money. It’s about comfort. I would be in shorts if we kept the house above 72.

 

[KnappShack]

I got a Ryobi 18V for the bikes. Works well for cars as well. Uses the same batteries as my trimmer and blower (and their tools if you have any of those)

We have a shop vac, house vac, air pump, inverter, and various tools that use the 18v battery.

Pretty slick.

 

[Pizzapitter]

Living in the NV mountains, at 7500, life w/o a wood burner is unheard of. We heat house only. Front and back porch - both enclosed, no heat whatsoever. Main house, just over 1000 sq. feet. Wood burner primary heat source, back up via electric baseboard heaters. High electrical bill? $80, during winter months.
Wood cutting permits - $25 (as much as one cuts).
4-6 cords gets us through our long winters (we've had snow, 12 months of the year).
Spent my first 30 years in Iowa. Don't recall anyone with a wood burner, though near everybody had a fireplace (pretty much btu worthless, compared to a wood burner).
Why don't Iowan's have wood burners, or for that matter, pellet stoves?

 

[ISUAgronomist]

Why don't Iowan's have wood burners, or for that matter, pellet stoves?

Access to wood at reasonable cost (forest harvest permit) would be a major reason.