Thermostat and weather

[Elta]

Question: How many months out of the year do you think your home can maintain itself in between 68 F (20C) and 80 (27C) without *intentional heating or cooling?



I am trying to keep it off as long as I can, but I can't take it any more. 80 is my limit.

This house is about 10 years old, typical track four bedroom suburban home. In Vegas, so it gets fairly hot and only dips a few points below freezing over night in the coldest months. There are at most 3 to 4 months where I can have the air and heating off.



So tell us, how many months, type of house where you live. Perhaps some innovative tips for keeping cool or warm?

 

[Valka D'Ur]

In this part of Canada, 2 months out of the year - July and August. Maybe. I discovered a few years ago that having no heat in May was nearly as cold as having no heat in October - pretty damn cold.

Tips on keeping warm: bundle up with warm clothes, have at least 3 cats who love to snuggle, and put a layer of newspaper inbetween the blankets. That traps your body heat and keeps everything toasty warm. Of course, everything not covered will be freezing...

Tips on keeping cool: I'm considering moving to Antarctica to keep the Emperor penguins company. Summer is too hot for me. No, I don't have air conditioning.

Nowadays, I'm in an apartment where the gas is included in the rent, so I don't stint myself on heat if it's needed. But over the past couple of months I've been gradually lowering the thermostat, since my windows face west and I get a lot of sunlight. Come summertime, this place is actually too hot even with windows open, the fan going, and the blinds down. I expect to spend a fair amount of time at the mall or library, in air-conditioned comfort.

 

[Tee Kay]

Melbourne's weather is notoriously unpredictable. I voted two months - March and November; and even in those months the temperature often drop to 13C and up to 35C.

 

[Synobun]

In this part of Canada, 2 months out of the year - July and August. Maybe. I discovered a few years ago that having no heat in May was nearly as cold as having no heat in October - pretty damn cold.

Tips on keeping warm: bundle up with warm clothes, have at least 3 cats who love to snuggle, and put a layer of newspaper inbetween the blankets. That traps your body heat and keeps everything toasty warm. Of course, everything not covered will be freezing...

Tips on keeping cool: I'm considering moving to Antarctica to keep the Emperor penguins company. Summer is too hot for me. No, I don't have air conditioning.

Nowadays, I'm in an apartment where the gas is included in the rent, so I don't stint myself on heat if it's needed. But over the past couple of months I've been gradually lowering the thermostat, since my windows face west and I get a lot of sunlight. Come summertime, this place is actually too hot even with windows open, the fan going, and the blinds down. I expect to spend a fair amount of time at the mall or library, in air-conditioned comfort.

Pretty much this. There is very little time in Canada where you can comfortably sit in your house without some form of heating or cooling. However since heating is so damn expensive (up to 800 dollars a month to fill the oil tank), there is not enough money to afford air conditioning during the summer as those months are really more for saving.

To cut down costs, the thermostat during the winter in my house has been at 18 the whole time, which, since I live in the basement, often makes the temperature in my room to hang around 14 or 15. Pretty chilly, but you get used to it.

 

[Tee Kay]

edit: never mind

 

[azzaman333]

Probably none. There's typically at least 1 day a month that'd screw it all up.

 

[really]

Where is the option for 0?

Here on the Atlantic coast of Ireland the average summer temperature is about 16C (61F) and the average winter temperature is about 6C (43F)

I rent a 25 year old apartment - the insulation and draft proofing is poor and so the heat would have to be on year round to maintain 20 (68) - 27 (80) degrees but that doesn't bother me as 20 (68) would probably be uncomfortably warm for me.

More recently built privately owned houses would probably be able to maintain 20C without heating most of the year through passive heating.

Cooling in the summer wouldn't be a problem because at 27C things would probably start melting around here (the tar on the roads definitely would be getting sticky at that temp)

Heating in the winter would be more difficult as on cold days the air temp might not rise above freezing and there would be very little sunlight at 53 degrees north to warm up the house.

My tip for keeping warm at night - heavy duvet, appropriate clothing and having someone warm to cuddle up to.

 

[Samez]

I voted seven.
Aircons are not very common around here even though it can get quite hot in the summer (>95F/35°C). During summer you simply shut the shutters during daytime to prevent the overheating of the rooms.
As the isolation is quite good in my 10 year old apartment heating is only necessary from November to March and if the outside temperature drops below ~41F/5°C

 

[Borachio]

Hmmm.

Probably drifting a bit here, but I remember a few years ago a bet between two Moscovites to see who could go through a winter in shirt sleeves. I never did hear what became of either of them. Notoriously robust people, Russians.

At the other extreme, I think anything above 50C and your brain begins to cook, slowly .

Has anyone noticed any change in their cognitive functions due to heat? Or cold?

edit: I don't know about the actual temp figures, but I try not to turn the heating on 5 or 6 months a year. Air conditioning doesn't agree with me at all. I'd rather melt, or lie in a cold bath. Sleeping on a hot night can be a problem, though.

 

[rugbyLEAGUEfan]

Probably none. There's typically at least 1 day a month that'd screw it all up.

Definitely this assuming daylight hours . During December and January I would guess that 27 to 35 Celsius is very consistent .

 

[Cutlass]

7. Though it can get pretty variable. May through October will rarely have the heat on, but it can happen that you get odd days and weeks that you need at least some heat. But then many days in November and April, and even some in March, you don't need heat. Typically I don't air condition more than 1-2 weeks a year in July and August. I live in an apartment that's pretty drafty if I don't plastic up the windows in the winter, but maintains temp pretty well other than that.

 

[Arwon]

I voted 5 months. It honestly may be closer to four.

We've got good brick walls here, but Canberra's climate doesn't really fit those defined minimums and maximums.

A normal Australian summer will routinely get well over 30 so that's 3 months there where you'll be using air conditioning or a fan a lot to keep to 27 or below. Occasionally you get a La Niña year where it's much milder - I barely needed cooling this year.

A Canberran winter drops to freezing or below on about half the nights from mid May to maybe September. In the deep winter of of June to August you'll get a lot of day that don't climb much past 12 degrees. Even with the heat retention of brick, I'd say there's about 4 to 6 months of the year when you'd need heating to get anywhere near 20 degrees. We apparently average nearly 100 frosts a year. The saving grace of a Canberra winter is it's still sunny most days.

So really it's only October, November, March and April which are reliably nice and mild, defined by that temperature range. Even then you'll get spells of unseasonable warmth and coolness. I'm pretty sure it's snowed in November before.

 

[Synobun]

At the other extreme, I think anything above 50C and your brain begins to cook, slowly .

Has anyone noticed any change in their cognitive functions due to heat? Or cold?

With my medical issues, any temperature above 26 and any temperature below -5 begin to negatively impact my function. The heat is worse, though. At times it feels as though my innards are on fire.

 

[classical_hero]

I voted six months since for much of spring and autumn we don't need to cool the house and only when it get very cold in winter, which is not very often, so on average it would be about six. But really during winter we should just put more clothes on, but most Australians are too lazy to do that, plus it does not get too cold here anyway, but it is cold by our standards.

 

[Elta]

Probably none. There's typically at least 1 day a month that'd screw it all up.

Well a month doesn't need to be an all or nothing thing, just a rough estimation of how many days you can keep it off.

I voted 5 months. It honestly may be closer to four.

We've got good brick walls here, but Canberra's climate doesn't really fit those defined minimums and maximums.

I don't mean that the weather stays in those min maxes, just that the inside of the house does. - Although I think you gathered that from your post, I just want to be as clear as possible.

 

[Lillefix]

Not this month I think since I don't have any heat on and the temperature is around 18 degrees celsius(and it doesn't get any warmer in May than it has been the last couple of days). So two maybe three months. Southwestern Norway.

 

[Leoreth]

Air conditioning is a sin so that's out of the question. And last winter, despite some cold nights, I only had to use the heater less than 10 times. My flat is that well isolated.

 

[duckstab]

Zero. There are going to be days, particularly in spring and fall, where the outdoor ambient temperature doesn't vary enough outside of that range to drag the indoor temperature outside the comfort zone. But I can't think of a single 30-day stretch where that would be the case. And my house is probably above average in terms of energy efficiency.

Air conditioning is a sin so that's out of the question. And last winter, despite some cold nights, I only had to use the heater less than 10 times. My flat is that well isolated.

A quote I have seen attributed to Phil Sheridan is, "if I owned both Hell and Texas, I would live in Hell, and rent out Texas." Air conditioning is a blessing, not a sin

 

[luiz]

Temperatures in Rio are generally mild between early May and early September, but some days in that period still require air conditioning. Outside of that period I turn the air conditioning on pretty much every day.

 

[Farm Boy]

68 - 80F is a pretty narrow window. Maybe 2 months if I'm lucky in Northern Illinois, but they won't be solid months in a block. I usually let the temperature drift between ~58-90F. Saves a fortune on heating and cooling. Can only air condition one room anyhow and my wife will camp in there. I get by with light clothing and fans during the summer. Sucks for a week or so and then you get used to it.