Key Takeaways
- Lowering the night thermostat to 15 to 18 degrees Celsius and setting the thermostat on away mode when you’re out for the day can dramatically cut your winter energy bill.
- Implemented properly, the setback rule — turning your heat down 5 to 8 degrees Celsius for at least eight hours per day — slashes your heating bills without sacrificing comfort.
- Programmable and smart thermostats allow you to control the temperature more precisely, adjust it remotely, and set energy-saving schedules that suit your lifestyle.
- Sealing leaks, using natural sunlight, and dressing in layers take the concept one step further by making your home warmer and more efficient beyond the thermostat.
- Regular garden maintenance around each unit or ensure your home is well insulated to maximize your system’s efficiency and indoor comfort throughout winter.
- By monitoring your energy consumption and taking little, steady steps, you’ll end up with some real savings over time when it comes to your heating bills.
Your best thermostat setting to save energy in winter is 20°C during the day when you are home and 16°C at night or when away.
Turning down the heat just a few degrees can help reduce energy consumption and save money. Most experts and energy agencies concur with these figures for the majority of residences.
The following chapter discusses setting your thermostat for comfort and savings in various scenarios.
Optimal Winter Settings
Best Thermostat Setting in Winter Most recommend 20°C (68°F) during the day while people are home, then reducing it at night or when the house is empty. This strategy works in a lot of climates and households, but minor tweaks based on habits, local weather, and comfort levels can go a long way. Here’s my list of steps and rules to set the thermostat for both efficiency and comfort.
- Set the thermostat to 20°C (68°F) when home and awake during the day. It’s a very common energy saving setting.
- Turn it down to 16 to 18 degrees Celsius (60 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit) when you’re sleeping to maximize savings.
- Switch on away mode or lower the thermostat by 4 to 6 degrees Celsius (7 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit) if you’re gone for a few hours or more.
- Follow the setback rule by setting back the thermostat 6 to 8 degrees Celsius (10 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit) for a minimum of 8 hours a day. This usually translates to darkness and absence, cutting heating bills without compromising coziness.
1. Daytime Comfort
Keep the temperature consistent throughout the day at 20°C (68°F). This maintains a comfortable atmosphere for all around the house. Others discover that 19 to 21°C (67 to 70°F) works well, but they find that turning it up a degree or two, to 22°C (72°F), increases costs.
Turn your ceiling fans in reverse, so that warm air is dispersed instead of just rising. This can help the room feel warmer without having to turn up the thermostat. Space heaters in key living spaces can be helpful if you only use a few rooms, allowing you to lower the main thermostat.
On milder winter days, see if you can get by by dropping it just 1 or 2 degrees. It is easy to find the lowest comfy temperature for your home.
2. Nighttime Savings
Reduce your thermostat to 16–18°C (60-65°F) at night. This takes advantage of the natural drop in outdoor temperature and aids energy savings. Throwing on some blankets or wearing warm pajamas is much easier than heating the entire house.
Set your thermostat to drop automatically an hour before bedtime. Monitor your energy bill to see the savings and tweak as necessary.
3. Away Mode
Set away mode prior to departing for work, trips or vacations. Turn your heat down to the safe minimum, around 13°C (55°F), to prevent frozen pipes and save energy. If you have a smart thermostat, manage settings from your phone and adjust as plans change.
If you’re a frequent traveler, scheduling around these settings can translate into serious savings.
4. The Setback Rule
Verify your home’s insulation and heating system before you commit to deep setbacks. If your house has good heat retention, you can reduce it by 6 to 8 degrees Celsius (10 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit) for eight hours or more.
It is best to align your setback times with your family’s normal routines. In cold climates, don’t be too quick to turn down the heat. Tweak by 1 or 2 degrees until you find what fits your home.
Personalizing Your Settings
Customizing your thermostat settings saves energy and money and helps keep your space comfortable. We all have rooms with different needs in our homes. Rooms with big windows or poor insulation could require more warmth. Tiny rooms tend to retain heat on their own.
Inspect every room in your house for drafts or insulation voids. Seal leaks and insulate where needed. That keeps the heat where you need it, so the thermostat doesn’t have to work as hard. Heat goes further in open-plan homes but still may not get everywhere.
In multi-story homes, warm air tends to rise, so upper floors are warmer than the lower ones. Consider the way heat flows in your home and adjust your thermostat to generate balanced warmth.
Your Home
Monitor your schedule and customize your thermostat for optimal utilization. For instance, make it 20°C (68°F) while you’re home and reduce it when away or sleeping. If you have zoning systems, use them.
With zoning, you can heat just the rooms you use — think living spaces during the day and bedrooms at night. This can add up to genuine energy savings. Have both you and your family members take the pledge to turn down the heat each time you leave the room or go to bed.
Little things — such as reducing the thermostat by just 1 or 2 degrees — accumulate. Personal comfort matters. Other folks do eat better with cooler rooms, with the ideal range being 15-19°C (60-67°F) for sleeping. Tinker until you find what works best for you.
It might require some trial and error to find the right setting.
Your Habits
Here’s how to look at local weather. Winter temps can turn quick, so monitor local forecasts. Personalizing your thermostat settings is important. For example, if a cold front is on its way, schedule your thermostat to warm up a bit ahead of it.
Humidity influences how warm a room feels. If the air is dry, it could actually feel colder, even at the same temperature. Change the thermostat or use a humidifier to make yourself comfortable.
Personalize Your Settings – Program your thermostat to fit your routine, reducing heat when you’re not home or asleep. It helps steer clear of waste and lowers energy bills.
Your Climate
Manual thermostats require you to adjust the temperature. Digital models provide greater precision. Programmable thermostats enable you to customize heating patterns that suit your living habits.
Smart thermostats take this to the next level by learning your habits and adjusting settings for you, while even connecting to the weather. Other models monitor your consumption and suggest how to reduce it.
Tech keeps evolving, so it’s worth looking for new features that could assist you in managing your heating more efficiently.
Thermostat Technology
Thermostat technology has been a crucial part of the home heating experience, at least in the winter. We look at the different types of thermostats available and how their different levels of control affect your comfort and your energy bills. Manual, programmable, and smart thermostats all possess different characteristics that impact your ability to save energy.
Manual
Manual thermostats are simple, rarely consistent enough to save the most energy. These devices are manually controlled, allowing indoor temperatures to fluctuate when unattended. Since heating and cooling represent roughly 52% of the typical family’s energy expenses, small temperature adjustments are significant.
Turning your thermostat up 1 or 2 degrees can make a difference in controlling energy consumption. For example, dropping your setting by 7 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit, roughly 4 to 6 degrees Celsius, for eight hours a day can save you up to 10% on your heating bill. That means about 1% savings for each degree.
For manual models, weather or occupancy shifts require quick action. If the home is unoccupied for a few hours, leaving the heat on is inefficient. Forgetting to set back the thermostat before you leave can cost you, but remembering to do it can produce real savings. Each degree you reduce can save you around 3% on your heating bill.
Programmable
Programmable thermostats allow users to define heating schedules that match their daily habits. For instance, set the heat to fall at night or when the house is vacant and then increase just before arrival. This control eases the pain of adhering to the suggested 68°F (20°C) limit for winter heating while remaining cozy.
Many of them have vacation modes. This setting saves your home at a lower temperature while you’re away, reducing wasteful heating with no guesswork. Energy-saving cycles can be scheduled for both weekdays and weekends, reflecting different occupancy patterns.
As habits evolve or seasons shift, it’s smart to review and adjust these settings. This keeps the programmed schedule aligned with present needs, avoids energy waste, and controls costs.
Smart
Smart thermostats build on programmability by introducing remote control and automation. Several models allow you to make adjustments from a phone app, which comes in handy if plans suddenly change. They commonly offer energy reports, informing users where savings originate and aiding in usage tracking.
Smart thermostats can connect with other smart home devices, such as sensors or voice assistants, for more precise control over energy use. Certain varieties learn your schedule and adjust temperatures automatically, so you don’t even have to worry about it.
Bumping your setting up three to four degrees Fahrenheit when fans are on can still keep you comfortable and increase savings even more.
Savings Impact
It’s amazing how a little nudge on your thermostat settings can really save some money in the winter. For instance, turning the thermostat back when you’re not there or at night results in less energy waste. A degree here and there can add up to as much as 3 percent off your bill.
Monitoring your utility bills month to month allows you to observe the dollar effects of these modifications. In the long run, energy efficient thermostats and heaters can repay their investment. The initial investment can be significant, but the benefits pay off over time and are particularly valuable in states with brutal winters.
The Savings Impact
Winter energy savings is about more than adjusting the thermostat to the right number. How you operate your home, how you apply heat, and what you do to retain warmth all contribute to your bill and your consumption. Most sources, including the US Department of Energy, say setting your thermostat at 20°C (68°F) during the day when you’re home strikes a balance between comfort and savings.
By reducing it by 3 to 5°C (around 7 to 10°F) at night or when you’re out for more than eight hours, you can reduce your heating bill by up to 10 percent annually. A difference of only 1 to 2°C can make a real impact without feeling uncomfortable.
Homes lose heat through leaks and drafts; therefore, sealing gaps around windows and doors is a priority. Weather-strip and caulk for quick fixes to prevent cold air from sneaking in. For colder homes, double glazing or plastic film kits can go a long way to making windows less of a leaky vulnerability.
This reduces the burden on your heating system to heat rooms to the appropriate temperature, saves energy, and reduces bills. If you find yourself chilly near doors or windows, start by sealing these locations first for fast savings impact.
Sunlight is an unpaid heater. Open curtains and blinds on sunny days to capture warmth, particularly on south-facing windows. This can heat up your house a few degrees, which makes your heater run less. On cold nights, close your curtains to prevent heat from seeping through the glass.
Thermal curtains and thick drapes retain warmth more. Easy actions such as these could be sufficient to allow you to turn the thermostat down a few hours daily.
Depending less on the heater and more on your attire will do the trick. By layering sweaters and socks and wrapping up in blankets, you’ll be cozy and warm at that much lower room temperature. If used safely, space heaters or heated blankets can focus the warmth where you need it without having to dial up the temperature for the entire house.
Home winterization is more than a single solution. Insulate attics, walls, and floors to retain the heat. Have vents cleared and working properly. Frequent inspections and minor renovations, such as adopting smart thermostats that learn your routine, can aid in conserving energy.
Programming your thermostat to fit your schedule, rather than leaving it on a single setting, provides the optimal balance of comfort and savings.
Beyond The Thermostat
Energy saving in winter isn’t just about selecting the right thermostat setting. The only real savings come from taking a hard look at heat loss around your house and smart habits. Heating accounts for nearly 50% of a home’s energy consumption, so even minor efforts add up to genuine savings in the long run.
Sealing Leaks
Gaps and cracks around doors, windows, and walls tend to be the culprits of heat loss in winter. A thorough examination of your house, inside and out, identifies these trouble areas. Even minor cracks can allow cold air entry and drive your heat to compete.
To prevent this, use weatherstripping around door frames and windows where you detect drafts coming in. Caulk is good for sealing non-moving gaps, such as where the wall meets the window frame. It’s a good idea to check these seals often, especially before winter begins.
Weatherstripping wears down with time, and caulk can crack or peel. If you notice drafts or rising energy bills, it may be time to replace old seals. For larger or hidden leaks, hiring a professional to do an energy assessment can be worth the cost. They use special tools to find leaks you might miss and can suggest ways to fix them for the best energy savings.
Using Sunlight
Sunshine is free heat. Open curtains and blinds when the sun is shining to bring warmth into your rooms, particularly on south-facing windows. This can have a big impact in helping your rooms feel cozier without adjusting the thermostat.
At night, shut curtains or blinds to conserve warmth and help reduce drafts. Arrange your furniture to maximize the sun’s rays. For instance, set chairs or sofas in sun-drenched locations during frost-filled months of the year.
Watch the weather. On cloudy days or when the sun is low, consider keeping window coverings closed to retain warmth.
Layering Up
Dressing in layers is a quick and easy way to stay warm. Make everyone at home sport sweaters, socks, or thermal shirts. Heavier blankets and throws in communal spaces mean you can keep the thermostat lower and still feel warm and comforting.
Rugs on naked floors add insulation, too. Rooms feel warmer simply to walk in. If you combine layers with a slightly lower thermostat, you’ll save energy and nobody will be cold.
Did you know that even turning your thermostat down 1 or 2 degrees Celsius can reduce heating bills by approximately 1 percent per degree? Over time, these little changes count.
Rethinking Comfort
It’s tempting to believe that higher thermostat settings lead to increased comfort, but that’s not necessarily the case. Maintaining a consistent temperature, rather than constantly adjusting it up and down, makes your system operate more efficiently.
Programmable thermostats or smart thermostats can do this for you by tailoring your home’s heat schedule to your routine. Discussing energy consumption with your family or housemates gets everyone on board and appreciative of the impact of minor adjustments.
Tell them that turning the thermostat down 7 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit for only 8 hours a day can save as much as 10 percent on their heating bills. Advocating this type of energy consciousness can go a long way toward balancing comfort with cost throughout the entire winter season.
The Comfort Myth
Too many of us believe that when it comes to saving energy in the winter, we must sacrifice comfort at home. This concept, called the comfort myth, causes us to think that turning the thermostat down is always cold or uncomfortable. Studies don’t support the notion that energy saving equates discomfort. Our contemporary homes and furnaces allow us to be both warm and productive.
A minor adjustment to your thermostat habits can significantly impact energy consumption without leaving you chilly. Research shows that if you lower your thermostat 7 to 10 degrees (approximately 4 to 6 Celsius) for only 8 hours a day, you could save as much as 10% a year on heating and cooling. For the majority of residences, this translates into turning it down when you’re sleeping or at work.
Even if you turn it down only 4 degrees, you’ll still experience significant savings over time. For instance, if you heat to 20°C (68°F) while at home and lower it to 16°C (60°F) overnight or when out, it’s different enough to keep the house warm for most people but significantly reduces heating consumption.
It’s a widespread myth that turning up the thermostat will heat a place faster. Most heating and cooling systems operate at a constant rate, regardless of the setting. Turning your thermostat up or down does not accelerate it. Instead, it can squander energy by overheating or overcooling the space.
For cooling, 26C (78F) is most efficient. AC can only cool a home 8 to 12°C (15 to 20°F) below outside temperature. Turning the setting below this usually does nothing but increase expenses.
Programmable thermostats help shatter the comfort myth by simplifying the task of programming a schedule that aligns with your daily routine. These devices can adapt the temperature for you, so your house is warm when you want it and economical when you don’t.
For example, if you want the heat to drop at night and to rise again before you wake, you don’t have to remember to switch the settings daily, and you conserve energy without feeling chilled.
Conclusion
It’s amazing how smart heating brings real savings. For most homes, adjusting the thermostat to 20°C during the day and lowering it at night or while you’re away works. Little things like using heavier curtains or sealing drafts accumulate quickly. Newer thermostats simplify scheduling and adherence. There is no need to choose between comfort or savings; both can coexist with the proper setup. Every house is different so just test a few and see what feels best. Proven results appear on your next bill. Want more tips or want to share what’s working for you? Scroll down to jump into the discussion and snag even more practical tips.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best thermostat setting in winter to save energy?
So my best winter thermostat setting to save energy is actually right around 20 when home and awake. Reduce it to 16°C when sleeping or out. This minimizes heating expenses without sacrificing comfort.
Can lowering my thermostat really save energy?
Yes, turning your thermostat down a mere 1°C can save you approximately 5% to 10% on your heating bill. These small steps make a big difference in the amount of energy you use and pay for!
Is it better to keep the thermostat at a constant temperature?
No, a schedule keyed to your routine saves more energy. Set it lower while you’re asleep or away instead of keeping it constant.
How does a smart thermostat help save energy in winter?
A smart thermostat can adjust temperatures automatically based on your routine and preferences. It minimizes excess heating, which translates to efficient energy use and less expensive bills.
Will lowering the thermostat make my home uncomfortable?
Most people are comfortable at about 20°C when awake and at home. Just throw on a few extra layers or grab a good blanket and you will be nice and toasty warm without spending any additional energy.
What else can I do to save energy besides changing the thermostat setting?
Seal windows and doors, use thicker curtains, and maintain your heating system. These measures reduce heat loss and allow your home to stay warmer with less energy.
Can frequent thermostat adjustments damage my heating system?
No, today’s heating systems are made for frequent changes. Adjusting the temperature during the day will not hurt your system and can improve efficiency.