What's the ideal temperature of a home?

Ok.. There is a difference between being at home and camping. When you are camping you wear sweaters, more socks and blankets. When I'm at home, I'm not camping. I want to do normal things without thinking about being cold. If I want to wear a sweater and insulated pants I should consider living in a tent and not a house. If you're so close as to not be able to afford the heating bill then you are basically camping anyway. Set your temp to a comfortable temperature, which varies from 65 to 72. You should not be turning your thermostat up to get to the recommended lowest temperature of 68. Remember the ads that say turn your thermostat down to 68 in the winter. Well, if you need to turn yours up to get to that, you are living in a house that is just too cold.

I feel the numbers here are too warm... I have no heat and windows open in the winter, and in the warmer months (March-November) I keep the AC set to 60F, which is already uncomfortably warm to me, I dress 24/7 year round in T-shirt and Shorts even when I'm outside and it is below 32F outside.

Based on personal research & deductive reasoning -- taking into consideration metabolism, blood pressure, etc. -- I advice my patients to stay on the lower side and decrease it from there. To explain: if you currently do 70F, try 67F for the next month, then 65F, then 64F, then 63F. If you already do 63F, you can either stay there or you may want to check how you'd do at 60F and decide for yourself. That was for the cold season. As to the warm season, you do NOT want to be lower than 63F.

Ideal Temp: 70 - 72 F
Ideal Humid: 40 - 60 %

We keep our programmable thermostat at 68 degrees during winter days. But at night time, we lower it to 62. We have forced air heating and it gets too dry at night. I just like it cool and sleeping under warm blankets.
If I feel a chill during the day, I wear a down vest OR it is a warning that I'm sitting too long! Dressing warmer does make a difference not only in my bills, but also my health.
Thanks for bringing this up
Donna

Wow, all you guys are wimps...60 degrees in the Winter is warm enough, however, we have a gas fireplace that kicks out some serious heat & warms the greatroom area up to about 63-64 & the heat generates up the stairs as well. If it's too warm the air drys up & it's really uncomfortable. We just add a sweater/sweatpants when we're home. Much healthier...never get sick. Kids adjust...my Father kept our thermostat at mid-sixties too & that was in the sixties. We rarely got sick & he was an engineer so that was smart...wasn't it??

I guess I enjoy living on the warmer side but my ideal temperature ranges from 76-80... anything cooler than that and I start putting on the layers!

Hi Anonymous,
I agree that there is no happy medium when it comes to different people in one household. Thank you for sharing your experience but I think in reality, the level of comfort is up to the person.

Missie

I'm a new home owner. The home was built in 1979 but has been insulated nicely and is equipped with all around double pane windows and also a new ac/furnace unit for efficiency. I moved in in January 2011 during the dead of winter. I kept the thermostat at 55 and was comfortable in sweat pants and snuggling in a quilt when lounging. This summer, I've kept the thermostat at 78 and have been comfortable but have new ceiling fans in every room. I guess there is no happy one temp fits all. It depends on home efficiency, air flow, climate/humidity, and household. Happy thoughts!