We have the opposite problem here - the heat cranked up in the malls when we’re all shopping in winter boots and parkas.
We keep our house at around 68 all the time, too. We don’t have AC, so it is whatever temperature it is in summer. Once we insulate the attic properly, I think it will get cooler in here in summer. We don’t have super hot summers here, and we can head down to the basement in the few really hot days we get.
Yeah, every office I’ve been in is usually kept too fucking cold (though to be fair, it tends to be women who will be cold and men will feel fine, IME). The same goes for grocery stores year round. Trader Joes is particularly chilly around here.
Most other public/commercial spaces follow the moronic, energy-inefficient “set the temperature opposite the season!” method. Air conditioning will be absolutely FRIGID in the summer and then the heat will blast full force in the winter. Your interior temperature should not be colder in the summer than it is in the winter. :rolleyes:
I keep my house at 65 in (Michigan) winter - I’m gasping for air when it’s over 70!
I do remember houses in the U.S. being warmer in years past, though. On the other hand, growing up in Scotland in the 60s and early 70s, seems to me that people kept houses - and schools and commercial buildings - colder, and simply wore an extra layer or two. Or were more cold-resistant.
There’s “too” settings alright: too hot and too cold.
Our house is 68 in the winter, 78 in the summer. I am FUCKING FREEZING. I have negotiated a 1 degree increase to 69, and I keep blankets around. I swear when I get a job I’m cranking the thermostat first thing!
Our house is 68 for winter (off over night) and 78 for summer. Unlike ShelliBean though, I am not freezing; I am comfortable at that temperature. I would have it cooler in the summer if I could afford it.
That really bugs me; it should be the opposite. People dress for the season and room temperatures should take that into account. In the winter I’ll wear warm clothes, and then when I go into a store and it’s really warm I’ll start sweating. In the summer, I’ll wear shorts and a t-shirt because it’s hot outside, and I’ll be sweating, and then I’ll go into a cold store and freeze my ass off.
65 in the winter, 75 in the summer.
In the energy crisis days, 68F was urged in the winter, 76F(?) in the summer. Both are not burdensome for human habitation, but save a little bit of energy, and saving energy was the name of the game then. It was a brand-new concept.
Have you tried an electric blanket (cheap to buy and run!)? My house is 50-55F at night and I’m jes’ fine, under the covers.
I have been keeping a heating pad on the couch. I really should have already looked in to an electric blanket!! I am perpetuating the stereotype of the frozen girl in a house full of boys that don’t feel cold in freezing temps - my kids have learned “well now I have to put on a coat because Mom is cold”.
But I will see about picking one up - thanks for the suggestion! I am in AL and am perfectly fine during the summer here while everyone else is reaching for an oxygen tank. 
Huh, I didn’t realize 68 was standard. My thermostat is set to 55, but my thermometer says 58; I’m not sure which is correct. It’s too cold for me to comfortably lounge about naked, but I own clothes.
The temperature at work varies significantly, but I’m pretty sure it’s usually low 70s. Labcoat + glovebox + warm lab means I get kind of gross on warm* days.
*That’s warm inside, which has little to do with outside temperature.
The NIST standard is 20 °C. Most precision length standards will specify that they were measured at 20 °C.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_conditions_for_temperature_and_pressure
How about electric blanket on the couch and electric mattress pad on the bed? I haven’t tried one yet, but I’ve heard people who have them swear by them - it’s one of life’s great pleasures, to get into a warm bed in winter.
The bigger the building, the hotter it’ll be with no heating or cooling supplied.
For small buildings, it’s more energy-efficient for it to be just warm enough for the occupants to not squawk when it’s cold and just cool enough that you barely avoid condensation on the air handler’s coils when it’s hot.
For big buildings, it’s most energy efficient to let it be as hot as the occupants can tolerate almost all year round.
Ooooh that sounds toasty! I’ll definitely have to check that out! I had not considered a mattress pad and it sounds fabulous. Barring that I may start walking around with a lit torch and install holders on the wall… 
y’all are great - thanks for the suggestions!
Personally, I go with ambient or 60, whichever is warmer. I’ve never lived anywhere where AC is necessary: On the handful of days each year when it’s Just Too Damn Hot, you just stay late at the office, or go see a movie, or something.
Chemists, when we aren’t being lazy, will report the temp at which we performed reactions. It’s not unusual to just report “RT”, because +/- a few °C often doesn’t matter much. However, when I do see room temperature specified, 23 °C is pretty popular. That’s ~73 °F, a bit toasty for my tastes, but YMMV.
Yes gotpassword, it’s something we’ve been told we all want.
Before the Honeywell golden days were the olden days, when you were either scorched or raw. As someone who froze in the wintertime unless I was standing in front of a fireplace or Warm Morning heater I can attest that you adjusted your own “temperature requirements” by how far out you could stand to be in the room.
Spring and Fall were the only seasons that felt “right.”
Summer, you sweated and sat out on the porch.
I agree with the people who like having a slightly colder ‘normal’ temperature (which is what 68 degrees F seems to be) - it’s a lot easier to layer up when it’s chilly than it is to take off layers when it’s too hot, especially in office/business settings.
I also hate it when buildings crank up the heat in the middle of winter!