What Temperature Should I Set My Thermostat?

Alright, listen up. We’re finally going to get to the bottom of things and answer the million dollar question: What Temperature Should I Set My Thermostat? Because, face it, you’d like to be comfortable without your energy bill calling to mind a phone number for the national debt hotline. You know, that age-old struggle between your comfy zone and your wallet’s happy place.

So, here’s the thing: for the best balance of energy savings and comfort, the conventional wisdom, from the likes of Carrier and the U.S. Department of Energy, tells us to turn the thermostat down to 68°F (20°C) in the winter and up to 78°F (26°C) in the summer. But, hey, that’s where it starts. We’ll dig into how you can tweak that for your own vibe.

Anticipating Chilly Weather: Your Trusty Thermostat Temperature Settings

This is a not a case of some inflexible rule; it’s a case of being smart. People are usually in one of two camps: the set it and forget it school, and the those who use their thermostat like a DJ mixer folks. The goal? Strike a balance in between — no sweating, shivering or crying of your bank account.

Best Thermostat Settings for Winter: Your Cozy, Cost-Saving Zone

You know how it goes: The cold sets in, and your first thought is always, “Just how hot can I make this apartment?” But hold up. Here’s the winning play: When you’re at home and awake, 68°F (20°C) for most folks. Why 68°F? It is simple: this temperature is a good, solid balance. It provides just enough warmth to keep the chill at bay without sending your heating system into overdrive. It’s just warm enough or, if you like, it’s the perfect even middle ground — not continually needing to be bundled up nor stuffy. Your heat doesn’t need to get up on beast mode so less wear and tear and uh huh, lower bills. It’s about looking intelligent, not just warm.

Best Thermostat Temperature for Summer: Turn Up the Cold Settings to Avoid Blowing Your Budget

When summer heats up, staying cool is top of the list. The summer home temperature sweet spot for your thermostat, when you’re home, is 78°F (26°C). I know, I know. Some of you are saying, “78? Are you mad?” But hear me out. For each degree above 72°F you set it, you cut 3% from your cooling bill. That’s not chump change. Even better, a warmer indoor temperature slows the assault of heat trying to sneak into your home, so your air conditioner doesn’t have to work as hard. It’s the equivalent of putting your AC on cruise control instead of redlining that mother.

And a pro tip: Don’t attempt to cool the indoors as quickly as possible by turning down the thermostat real low. It’s a complete myth that it lets you cool faster. All you’ll be doing is jacking up your bill for absolutely no reason, and probably turning your living room into an icebox in the process. Just dial it in to 78°F and leave it alone to work its magic. Patience, padawan.

The Savings Playbook: Tuning Up for Life’s Rhythms

Your home doesn’t have to be at a single fixed temperature. Life changes, and so should your thermostat. Changing settings for different times of day can result in tremendous savings.

Nighttime Temperature Tactics: Sleep Mode On

While drifting off to sleep, your body temperature decreases as part of its natural cool-down process. So, why bother paying to keep the cold or heat up when you are under the covers?

• Winter Savings: Turn your thermostat down by 7 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit for eight hours a day and you’ll reduce your annual heating bill by as much as 10%. Imagine getting a discount for going to bed! So if it’s 68°F and you’re cooling down during the day, try 58-61°F overnight. Some even suggest a cooler range of 60-67°F for the best sleep since it allows your body’s internal temperature to do its thing. Nobody wants fitful sleep, correct?
• Summer Savings: You can also raise the temp a few degrees at night in the summer without losing comfort. You may not need the AC blasting as much because your body cools itself down anyway to go to sleep.

Gone But Not Forgotten: Temperature While You’re Gone

Going out of your house completely empty but still having it heated or cooled to maximum comfort? That’s just burning money.

• Summer Away: When you go out, turn up your thermostat. Increasing it by 7 degrees (so, to about 85°F) when no one’s home is smart, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. This can reduce your energy bills by as much as 10%.
• Winter Away: Conversely, reduce your thermostat in winter while you’re away. As at night, a 7 to 10 degree setback for eight hours during the day can reap some serious heating cost savings.

And here’s one of those common misconceptions, a real “bro-science” myth: that it’s less expensive to keep your house at a constant temperature, since it requires more energy to “recover” when you make an adjustment. That’s just not true. Returning it when you’re out or sleeping definitely saves energy. Sure, your system is having to work harder to recover for a short time, but it runs dramatically less, which can add up to significant savings. It’s a no-brainer.

Who’s Home? Customizing Your Temperature (for Everyone and Everything)

There is no one-size-fits-all for your best temperature. It has to be flexible depending on who (or what) is living inside of it.

Your Best Sleep: Chilling for Z’s

For a good night’s sleep, try to be around 60 to 67°F (15.6 to 19.4°C). WebMD notes that your body temperature falls when you sleep and that, maintaining the room too warm or cold may interfere with your internal thermostat and hinder your sleep. Everybody is different, obviously. My friend insulates like his bedroom is a meat locker, and I like it cool, just not arctic. Discover what works for your body.

Little Humans: How to Keep Infants and Toddlers Comfy

Babies are small, whole living beings, and what makes them comfortable is important. It’s a little bit of a guessing game depending on the tot, but in general, try to keep their rooms between 65 and 74°F (18.3 and 23.3°C). Don’t let it get below 65°F or past 74°F Pay attention to how they are acting; when or if they seem too warm or too cool; what they are wearing; what kind of mood they’re in. They can’t share with you what the weather’s going to be like, so you’re their own private meteorologist.

Four-Legged Friends: Pets and Your Thermostat

Good news for most pet owners: If you’re holding within those energy-saving temperatures of 64 to 78 degrees Fahrenheit (17.8 to 25.6 degrees Celsius), your furry friends are probably doing just fine. Most common pets have their own natural defenses for dealing with small changes in temperature — panting for heat, a built-in fur coat for cold. But if you have some exotic pets, like tropical amphibians or fish, you need to be a little more careful. You don’t want the temperature too low, and if your general setting doesn’t cut it for them, a heat lamp might help.

Green Thumbs Up: Happy Houseplants

Even your leafy compatriots have likes and dislikes! Most houseplants prefer a comfortable range, somewhere between 60 to 75°F (15.6 to 23.9°C). “Don’t let the temperatures get below 50 degrees (10 degrees Celsius) or above 85 degrees (29.4 degrees Celsius) and you should be fine,” the pros at House Plants Expert said. It’s a matter of that plant-life balance.

You Do You: Personal Comfort and Health

When all is said and done, nothing matters more than your comfort. We’re all wired differently. What’s ideal for me may have you reaching for a parka or standing in front of the refrigerator. If there are little kids, older individuals or people with particular health issues in your household, you may want to consider their comfort and well-being when considering your settings. Also, consider humidity. 78°F with high humidity can make it feel like 88°F, so you may want to set your thermostat a bit lower to feel comfortable. This is where that programmable or smart thermostat can be your best wingman in striking that balance between comfort and saving some coin.

It’s All About Location: Where Your Thermostat Should Be

You might have the fanciest thermostat around, but if it’s in the wrong place, it’s just fancy wall art. Location matters for accurate readings — and, you guessed it, for energy savings too.

The Prime Real Estate: Perfect Placement for Your Thermostat

Your thermostat is the brain of your home’s climate system. You want it placed where it can get a true sense of your home’s temperature. The ideal spot? An interior wall, hopefully somewhere relatively in the middle of the house. Why? This will make sure it’s averaging the temperature of your living space overall, not just a random corner. Also, think about which rooms you use the most. There’s where you want the temperature to be even more spot-on.

Danger Zones: Places to Avoid

Position your thermostat in a bad location, and you can end up with what we refer to as “ghost readings” — it believes your home is warmer or cooler than it actually is and the result can be wasted energy. Stay away from these places like a bad stock:

• Direct sunlight: If the sun is shining directly on in, your thermostat will think it’s hotter in your home than it really is and your AC will work too hard.
• Over air vents: This is as comparable as sticking a thermometer in the freezer—only the air is blowing, not the temperature of the room.
• The kitchen: All that heating with the stove and oven can throw readings off, which makes your system work harder (and drain your wallet) more than it has to.
• Hallways: These are typically the in-between spaces, not areas where you dwell. They’re not the actual temperature of your main living areas.
• By doors or windows: Drafts from outside can trick your thermostat into unnecessary heating or cooling cycles.

By avoiding these trouble areas, your thermostat will be right on target, and you’ll stay nice and comfy— and local heating, cooling and home-expense providers will be grinning.

Tech Talk: Saving in the Smart Home with Modern Thermostats

We’re already living in the future, no? So why do you continue to manually adjust your thermostat like it’s 1999? Today’s smart thermostats are the crossover cheat codes of energy efficiency: They keep you comfortable while allowing you to save money.

Pro Power: Schedule everything from the couch

Programmable thermostats are the gateway drug for smart climate control. You can create schedules that specify different temperatures at different times of day and days of the week. What this means: You can program it to “turn down” the heat when you leave for work and then bump the heat up before you walk in at the end of the day. Same for summer – let it creep up while you’re out, and kick in the cool just before you come through that door. The catch is, of course, to stick to the schedule; continuous fiddling with it negates the savings.

This Is the Ultimate Cheat Code for Your Thermostat

Here is where it’s really good. Smart thermostats act as our own little climate assistant. They frequently connect to Wi-Fi®, so you can see and adjust them from your phone, tablet or computer. So, you’re crawling home in traffic, but you can start the AC, and you’ll walk into a comfy-cool home.

But it gets even better:

• Learning Features: A few smart thermostats get to know how you like things and schedule themselves to minimize energy usage based on the personalized settings you programmed. They learn when you come back and forth, so they adapt themselves.
• Integration: They can integrate with other smart home systems, allowing you to control your entire living envrioment. Ponder for a moment — lights, security, climate, all in concert.
• Performance Alerts: Some models send you live alerts about your system’s performance and energy usage, to keep you in the loop if something’s not quite right.
• Humidity Control: A lot of smart thermostats can monitor and aid in controlling humidity levels too, something we talked about that makes a big difference in comfort.

I’m talking about systems like the Carrier SmartHome App or Trane ComfortLink™ II XL1050. These are not just gadgets; they are investments that return pleasures and savings.

Next Level Savings: Even More Smart Moves

Outside your thermostat, there are other plays you can make to double down on comfort and savings.

Don’t Be a Thermostat Gambler: Never Over-Set This rule is straightforward.

We did mention this, but it’s worth repeating. No, you can’t “trick” your system into cooling or heating way faster than it’s designed to by jacking the thermostat way up or down, either. It doesn’t work that way. All you’re doing is making it run longer, waste energy, and cost you more money. Just dial in the temperature you want, and let the system do its work. It’s as if we were trying to get a car to go faster by pressing the accelerator to the floor when the car is already moving as fast as it can. Pointless.

Hold It Together: HVAC Maintenance is Currency

Your HVAC system is a workhorse, and it, like your car, requires routine checkups. Energy Star advises a once-a-year checkup for your air conditioning, preferably in spring before the year’s first heat wave, when technicians can more easily fit you in.

Here is why maintenance is the answer:

• Clean Filters: When filters are dirty and obstructed, AC units work harder, consuming extra power and generating less cool air. Get in the habit of cleaning or replacing them, at least once a month or as necessary.
• System Upgrades: Your systems may be energy hogs if they’re old. More recent Energy Star-qualified systems with high SEER (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating) and EER (Energy Efficiency Rating) ratings could be 15 percent more efficient than older models. These innovations provide objects like 2-stage cooling and variable-speed fans with consistent cooling and improved humidity control. Yes, it’s more expensive upfront, but in the long run the savings and comfort? Priceless.

Fan It Out: Team Up with Fans

Your fans are the unsung heroes when it comes to combating high energy bills. They don’t cool the air, exactly; they do move the air, which can help make it feel cooler with the wind chill. This translate into the ability to raise your thermostat two-four degrees without feeling less comfortable. It’s a straight shot to savings!

• Ceiling fans: During the summer time, you should be enjoying ceiling fans running with their blades in a counter-clockwise direction. This drives air down, making that cooling effect. Just remember to turn them off when you leave the room — they cool people, not rooms.

Block the Bling: Cover the windows

Direct sunlight can turn your home into an oven. Your windows are the biggest offenders when it comes to heat gain in the warmer months and heat loss during the cold season.

• Keep curtains and blinds closed during the day to keep the sun’s heat at bay.
• Blackout shades, or curtains with white-plastic backings, work like bouncers for the sun — they can cut solar heat gain by 33 to 60 percent. (And also a simple, effective move.)

Hot Spots: Appliances and Leaks

This might not immediately occur to you, but your standard household appliances are also secret heat machines.

• Reduce heat from appliances: Your oven, stovetop and dryer blast a ton of heat. Foods that require heat If you’re making things that need to be heated, try to avoid using ovens and stovetops during the hottest time of the day, or plan to cook someplace else — how about on the grill on the back deck?
• Seal air leaks: This is huge. Cracks and gaps around windows, doors, light fixtures and electrical outlets, and even baseboards, are akin to open invitations for hot air in summer and cold in winter. Check for drafts. Weatherstripping and caulking can be used to seal these leaks which can help improve home comfort and also help the HVAC system work more efficiently. This isn’t just about saving money, it simply makes your house feel more comfortable, more consistently, with fewer cold spots or drafts.

FAQ: Your Quick-Fire Questions Answered

We’ve covered a lot, but here are some rapid-fire answers to common thermostat questions:

Conclusion: Your Home, Your Rules (with Smart Tips)

Like, look, setting your thermostat isn’t a hard science or anything; it’s a mix of comfort, smart energy usage and listening to your own body. You know we all have the go-to settings: 68 degrees for winter, 78 in summer. And we’ve addressed the power moves: lowering the temp while you snooze or are out, investing in a smart thermostat, taking care of maintenance on your heating, ventilation and air conditioning system and making small tweaks around the house.

If you’ve made all the tweaks and you just can’t quite hit that sweet spot, or if your system just feels off, it’s time to bring in an expert. Just give your local Carrier or Trane HVAC expert a call and they can inspect your system to ensure everything’s in smooth, efficient working order.

It’s finally about making your home a great place for you to be, but not stressing about that bill. Now go forth and conquer your thermostat accompanied by What Temperature Should I Set My Thermostat.