What's an acceptable indoor temperature?

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

My parents set the house to 62/63 F or so when I grew up, but I think we all agree it's on the low side. I see they prefer 63-64 now at times. I personally like 65 with a max at 68.

/rant time

I'm someone with very low heat tolerance, so I don't like the heat up very high. At home I get around with a t-shirt and occasionally if I feel cold, I'll put on a sweater or a track jacket. Nothing too heavy.

I have no problem cranking up the heat in my car when I first get in, but I'll tone it down after it gets warm.

I was up in the mountains to snowboard this weekend with some people I don't know well, but their first instinct at a cabin is to crank the heat all the way up. By the time I returned the thermostat read 82. Everyone seemed ok. I changed into shorts. The same thing happened in the car. I swear people turned up the heat past 80, and kept blasting it. I stripped from my snowboard jacket off and rolled up my sleeves. I was dying.

I understand that when its cold outside, people like to crank up the heat initially, but after your body gets acclimated, why keep it so high? Do companies run heaters to heat their buildings past 75? No. There's like a general average temperature large buildings keep temperatures at to satisfy everyone. It also gets extremely dry once you start pushing your heater past 70. Furthermore, once oyu enter 70s outside, that's when people are in t-shirts. At 80s, you see a good number in shorts. Is that what you expect people to do in the car when you blast your heater? Change into shorts?

/end rant

Edit: Sorry, I meant winter. I'm from northern CA where it's not very cold, but an unheated house will probably sit in the mid 50s right now.

As for summer, I typically set the AC for 77 after I get back. It's just to get some air circulating. I'll typically open up the windows a little later and let the house cool down with outside air afterward. Sometimes if its stuffy in the summer and even if its only 76-77 (yes my house stays very cool in general even in the summer), I'll set the AC for 1 degree lower than it is currently just to get the air circulating and some cool air in for 10 minutes... makes a huge difference.

 

[Zeze]

I have high heat tolerance, but can't stand my feet, hands, and body being fucking cold.

When I go into sauna, I'm usually the last person to get out (even fall asleep enjoying it). I <3 heat.

 

[JulesMaximus]

During winter I set our thermostat to 69 in the house and 72 for A/C during summer.

80 is freaking ridiculous hot. When we go out to the desert in the summertime to my In-Laws house we usually keep the A/C set to 76-77 degrees and go from the pool to the house. Outside it will be well into the 100s so 76 feels cold.

 

[master7045]

I agree 100%. My wife turns the heat up to 75 sometimes, it drives me nuts. I am comfortable at 65, but we usually take our fight to the thermostat and set it between 68 and 70 F.

 

[Fritzo]

I like 68, 62 when sleeping.

My wife is on blood pressure meds, so anything above 62 makes her sweat. Therefore when it's 5F outside, we all freeze while she wears shorts.

 

[etrigan420]

Low 70's is my comfort zone.

The wife is starting "mental pause" though, so I just keep a sweatshirt on the back of the computer chair...:whiste:

 

[JTsyo]

Sometimes the temperature in the building breaks into the mid 80s. Then productivity drops as we all gather around to complain. 73-78F is comfortable in t-shirt. Below that an extra layer is all that''s needed. At home I keep it around 74 for the kids.

 

[AstroManLuca]

People are idiots and think that turning the thermostat up extra high will somehow heat the house faster. They also think it makes sense to set your thermostat higher in the winter than in the summer.

 

[randomrogue]

It's snowing outside and 64F inside. I'm in a t-shirt and boxers so it's probably slightly too high.

 

[calvinbiss]

Winter - 65 to sleep, 67 when in the house
Summer - 76 to sleep, 78 when in the house

Also, we use a down comforter on the bed in winter, and a light cotton comforter in the summer.

South Texas

 

[the DRIZZLE]

People are idiots and think that turning the thermostat up extra high will somehow heat the house faster. They also think it makes sense to set your thermostat higher in the winter than in the summer.

It can make sense to set the thermostat higher in the winter than in the summer because you feel the wet bulb temperature not the dry bulb and heat tends to decrease the relative humidity. Of course normally you wear more clothes in the winter so it evens out.

 

[Modelworks]

People are idiots and think that turning the thermostat up extra high will somehow heat the house faster.

It does heat the house quicker on systems that have a heat pump for heat. On those thermostats there are two sensors for heat, one is for when the temperature is within a few degrees of the room temp, the second is for when the temperature is too many degrees from the desired temp. When the temperature difference is too far apart the thermostat triggers electric heating strips as well as the heat pump outside. The electric heat strips put out heated air much hotter than the heat pump can and stays on until the difference between the set temp and room temp is close enough for the heat pump to take over completely. If it didn't do that then you would spend hours waiting for the heat pump to heat a cold home.

 

[TecHNooB]

During the winter, the heat is set to 60 in my house, but the thermometer in the kitchen reads 48

 

[cyclistca]

0 degrees kelvin

 

[soulcougher73]

We have our house at 70 right now, but depending where in the house you are it can be cold or warm. Stupid split levels lol. I would probably prefer 73-75 range. I dont want to have to bundle up inside my house like i do when i go outside in the winter.

 

[FoBoT]

67F

 

[zinfamous]

23 C

 

[GotIssues]

Winter:
64 when we are gone/sleeping, 69 when we are there and awake.
Summer:
78 when we are gone, 72 when we are there or sleeping (I can't sleep if it's hotter)

My wife constantly complains how cold she is, both seasons. I tell her to put a sweatshirt on.

 

[NuclearNed]

we keep our house between 68 & 70 - 68 at night, 70 daytime

Something I've noticed is that a lot of people with money keep their homes too warm for me. I played poker at a guy's house this Friday - it was like a furnace inside, easily 75+ degrees. A few minutes into the game, I found myself rolling up my sleeves. A few minutes later, I unbuttoned my shirt and untucked it (white t-shirt underneath). Shortly after that, I was stripped down to the t-shirt, but it didn't help - still sweating profusely. I was considering taking off my pants when the host finally turned on a ceiling fan and offered to open a window.

 

[lxskllr]

82F in the winter would make me angry. I'm not especially pleased with that temp in the summer. I haven't turned on my central heat yet. I've been using fires exclusively, and it's stayed around 50F up to 55F after the fire's gone for awhile. When I use central heat, I set it to 56F, and could tolerate up to 68F in the house of some cold-natured weirdo.

 

[coldmeat]

I keep the thermostat in my room at about 19 or 20c (66-68F) during the day.

We don't run the heat in the kitchen/living room usually. I'm not sure how cold it is in there but I know the thermostat clicks on at 10c (the minimum) if I turn the heat on. I can usually see my breath really well when I'm cooking.

At my parents' my dad goes nuts with the heat/ac. ~16C during the summer, ~25/26c during the winter. (thats 60f summer, 78f winter). It got kind of annoying when I was living there waking up soaked in sweat in the middle of the night in january, or having to wear socks so my feet don't freeze because the vent was under my desk during the summer.

 

[Raizinman]

Winter = Setback thermostat. During the day when we are not home, it goes to 68 degrees, and then by the time we get home, 74. At night it drops back to 71.

Summer = Setback thermostat. During the day we we are not home, it goes to 76 degrees, and then by the time we get home, 70.

 

[MiniDoom]

winter 66-67
summer 77-78

 

[Modelworks]

Something I've noticed is that a lot of people with money keep their homes too warm for me.

Don't go to an elderly persons home in winter, you will feel like you walked into the gates of hell. I remember going to my grandmas home, she was 89 at the time and had a 5 brick gas heater in a 12x12 room on about med-high and asked us 'aren't you cold, turn that heater up for me' . It had to be 90F in that room but to her it was still cold.

 

[surfsatwerk]

Feh all you fancylads with your thermostats and your shelter against the wind and rain. My calloused hide and a coat made from the skin of my father is all the protection I need.