Setting back the thermostat

[Doug Mohr]

I don't think you can install a wood buring furnace inside your house anymore and still get insurance!  I always wondered why anyone would buy one of these "go outside a couple times a day and fill it" type furnaces until I heard that reason.   :rolleyes:

I think you are talking wood burning stoves. The new wood furnaces are sealed combustion, just like modern furnaces.

Doug

[gparris]

When I built my home about 2 years ago I decided to have the Carrier/Honeywell Perfect Climate System installed with "robotic attendant".
The system samples the outside air, eliminates window frostup/vapor and starts the heat in the morning to eliminate cold floors and all as you wake up.
At night, if the filtration system indicates insufficient colder air to pump and clean (first) from outside, it cools the air to the comfort level you desire for bedtime sleeping temperature.
If anything goes wrong, it calls you on your cell phone or any of three numbers you assign, or you can check the  house out remotely.
I leave my temps at 68 for wakeup, 62-65 during the day and 68 on the return marker, then 60 for nighttime...works great and saves me 40% in heating and cooling bills. Auto-ventilation along with heat recovery during the winter months and cooling above SEER of 12 during the summer months seem to do the trick.
The house always has fresh air with little discomfort...perfect climate.

[StarvingForHDTV]

with robot antendant.

What's this about someone having a personal robot working for them?  How do I get in on that?  Or are you just kidding?

[gparris]

All of us techno-folks go into hyperdrive whenever they hear or see the word "robot".  

No, HAL9000 does not exist in my home, not yet, at least.

There is programming in the HVAC's system that calls you when there are temperature discrepancies, bad readings, leaks or security concerns in the house and system.  :cool:

A "voice" calls you with the information and you respond accordingly.
"Robbie the Robot" he isn't, but for the money, worth it.

Actually, the system spec'd out a little less than you'd think, but the house was being built at the time so the venting and climate controls could be integrated easily.
 
I didn't want a 20th-century HVAC system for my home and glad I didn't considering the utility bills we are/will have coming.

:wave:

[Stanley Kritzik]

I think it's a fiction that turning a 'stat down more than, say, three degrees wastes energy, because of the heat-up energy cost.  Consider a cabin up north, with the 'stat turned off for the Winter.  Energy cost is zero.  Now, say you go up for a week out of the whole heating season.  It obviously costs less to heat the place and keep it warm for a week than to leave the heat on all the time.  One can run this exercise over and over again by shortening the low period of the 'stat, and I think it still results in cost savings by being aggressive with set back degrees.

Also, keep in mind that the set back usually happens at night -- the coldest time of the 24-hour daily cycle.  That's the time when it is the hardest to heat the home, 'cause the heat loss is greatest when the temperature differential is the largest.  (If the house was 60 and the outside air was also 60, there would be no heat flow away from the house, for example.)

So, I think the "cost to re-heat" argument is propaganda put out by energy sellers, and the best strategy is to be as aggressive as you can stand to be both regarding degrees of offset and number of hours or days.

Honeywell makes some great time-of-the-day and day-of-the-week stats that are sold by hardware stores, Home Depot, etc., and they are pretty easy to program.  I think the payback is good, at $50 to $100 per stat.

SK

[StarvingForHDTV]

Another way to save money is to make sure any light that is on for mulitple hours per day is a compact flourescent or something else which is very efficient.  This can really have a nice effect on the electric bill.  The initial cost is a little bit higher than other bulbs, but they pay for themselves very quickly.  I like the natural daylight compact flourescents best.  They make the white objects stay white.  Now I can't stand going to other places where whites are yellow.

A good place to buy specialty bulbs is:

http://www.lightbulbsdirect.com/page/001/CTGY/Compact+Fluorescent

[Doug Mohr]

I think it's a fiction that turning a 'stat down more than, say, three degrees wastes energy, because of the heat-up energy cost.  SK

You may be right, I have no studies, only what I read, saw, or heard (can't remember which at my age).

I think the best situation would be a hot water radient floor with a large heatsink material in the floor. No need to send warm air up into that cathedrial ceiling  

Doug

[picopir8]

Another way to save money is to make sure any light that is on for mulitple hours per day is a compact flourescent or something else which is very efficient.
QUOTE]

Some of the cheeper bulbs have a lag before they turn on or may start out dim then warm up.  I have nothing but compact flourescents in my house (except for my bathroom which has those big round bulbs and my dining room which has flame shaped bulbs) and I have a few of the cheepo flourescents.  I actually prefer the ones that start out dim for bedrooms and the hallway because you dont blind yourself when waking up in the middle of the night with a full bladder. The only other downfall is the inability to dim.  So now my x10 setup is limited to on/off.  Considering the long life and low energy consumption, they are hard to beat  But Ill probably never buy another compact flourescent again.  Thats because by the time the present ones burn out, LED bulbs will be just as popular.

[mhz40]

I think it's a fiction that turning a 'stat down more than, say, three degrees wastes energy, because of the heat-up energy cost.  Consider a cabin up north, with the 'stat turned off for the Winter.  Energy cost is zero.  Now, say you go up for a week out of the whole heating season.  It obviously costs less to heat the place and keep it warm for a week than to leave the heat on all the time.  One can run this exercise over and over again by shortening the low period of the 'stat, and I think it still results in cost savings by being aggressive with set back degrees.

Also, keep in mind that the set back usually happens at night -- the coldest time of the 24-hour daily cycle.  That's the time when it is the hardest to heat the home, 'cause the heat loss is greatest when the temperature differential is the largest.  (If the house was 60 and the outside air was also 60, there would be no heat flow away from the house, for example.)

So, I think the "cost to re-heat" argument is propaganda put out by energy sellers, and the best strategy is to be as aggressive as you can stand to be both regarding degrees of offset and number of hours or days.

Honeywell makes some great time-of-the-day and day-of-the-week stats that are sold by hardware stores, Home Depot, etc., and they are pretty easy to program.  I think the payback is good, at $50 to $100 per stat.

SK

True, but there is some point where fluctuating temperatures wildly twice each day in occupied homes loses some of the benefit.  Also the cold air issue lingers long after the home has warmed up.  Did you ever sit on a leather sofa five minutes after the furnace just finished brining the temperature up from 60 degrees?   :eek: