# Electronic home thermostats. Whats the best temp to set it at? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 10, 2003, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electronic-home-thermostats-whats-the-best-temp-to-set-it-at/147751 "2003-01-10T15:33:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electronic-home-thermostats-whats-the-best-temp-to-set-it-at/147751/41 "2003-01-10T22:25:06Z")
I’m not about to whip out the calculator to address this issue, since it’s more about common sense (IMO) than anything else. Can we all agree that, if you leave the house for a few hours, it _makes sense_ to allow the set-point temperature to drop? And that by doing so you’re saving money? While I’m at it, I’d like to throw in a few 2nd and 3rd order variables that might come into play: 1. The longer a furnace runs, the hotter its combustion chamber gets. This increases its efficiency. Therefore, the larger the controller’s hysteresis (i.e. bandwidth) is at steady-state, the more efficient it becomes. 2. The R-value of insulation is often a function of temperature & RH, thus the heat loss may be a function of not only the temperature differential, but the absolute temperature. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electronic-home-thermostats-whats-the-best-temp-to-set-it-at/147751/42 "2003-01-10T22:27:06Z")
**Sailor** , [this site](http://www.mc-power.com/hometips.html) provides at least some corroboration: > [@](#): > > Do not set back your heat pump thermostat, unless you have an “intelligent recovery” programmable model. The resistance heat will come on when you turn it back up, resulting in much higher energy consumption. Currently the only models that are “intelligent recovery” are the Honeywell Chronotherm III and Chronotherm IV The fact that they point out two thermostat models that prevent the problem adds a little believability. > [@](#): > > I just purchased a new Honeywell programmable thermostat that I think is excellent. I bought one of those from Honeywell about four years ago. Mine **lies** to us. If it’s within a degree of the set temperature, it changes its readout to claim that’s what the temperature actually is. You can see this (if yours does the same thing) by changing the set temperature up or down a degree, and see if the room temperature changes right away. On top of this, it also seems to read a degree or two warmer than other thermometers in the same room. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electronic-home-thermostats-whats-the-best-temp-to-set-it-at/147751/43 "2003-01-10T23:03:47Z")
**ZenBeam** Thanks for the info. There may be idiosyncrasies with certain energy sources (e.g. heat pumps) which may require the homeowner to keep the temperature above a threshold in order to obtain high efficiency, but I believe **Sailor’s** comments are still valid in a general sense. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electronic-home-thermostats-whats-the-best-temp-to-set-it-at/147751/44 "2003-01-10T23:12:53Z")
ZenBeam, yes, I understand the point but I believe such a system should only be correctly installed with the right type of thermostat and so, the answer is still that you save energy by setting back the temperature setting. Crafter\_Man, your two points are irrelevant for all practical purposes. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electronic-home-thermostats-whats-the-best-temp-to-set-it-at/147751/45 "2003-01-10T23:19:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sailor \* > \*\ ***Anthracite** , I can’t see how you interpret **toadspittle** ’s post as referring to you. He did a search and posted the link. I hate doing searches because the server is so slow and the search function pretty bad so, I think his post was a positive contribution and I do not think it referred to you in any way. \*\* Well I was hoping I misinterpreted it, which is why I was asking. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electronic-home-thermostats-whats-the-best-temp-to-set-it-at/147751.md?page=2)