[Frank]

Yes - please do. The large part of the roof faces south (magnetic south, but close enough for solar thermal panels) and this is one reason to redo the roof next year. The north side, however, is mossy and only gets a small amount of sun in early a.m./late-p.m. in the summer . Metal would last for many, many years...

[EdF]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Anonymous', 'R')evi,

I think that metal roofs not only last longer, but perform the functions you point out quite well (especially allowing snow to slide off). I need to re-shingle next year and am considering metal although my better-half isn't sure that she'll like the pitter-patter. (We have a saltbox with large roof area over the bedrooms.)

[WisJim]

It can be advantageous to have snow remain on a roof, if it is strong enough, as snow can add to the insulation value of the roof structure. Of course, the weight of the snow can become a problem in some parts of the world.

I lived in a rental farmhouse many years ago, that had a standing seam metal roof, and we never noticed any additional rain or hail noise due to the roof. It was above an insulated attic--but not particularly well insulate, as this was the early 1970s--and a modern "pole barn" style metal roofing is a bit differnt when installed.

[frankthetank]

WisJim~I have some of that snow insulation on my roof from the snow today! Hope it keeps the heat in tonight.

If i can get my Hunter Programmable Thermostat to work I'll program my heat to go down to the 40's @ night and 60ish during day. When I get a wood burner installed, then i'll just leave it @ a set temp.

How important is wall insulation? I might be a little thin in the walls! But don't really feel like ripping siding off to insulate.

[strider3700]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Frank', 'Y')es - please do. The large part of the roof faces south (magnetic south, but close enough for solar thermal panels) and this is one reason to redo the roof next year. The north side, however, is mossy and only gets a small amount of sun in early a.m./late-p.m. in the summer . Metal would last for many, many years...

[And_over]

Okay, I got this list of thermostats from the energy star website.
Apparently these help reduce energy use and therby energy costs.

http://www.energystar.gov/ia/products/p ... d_list.pdf

[Waterthrush]

Yes, but ... all they do is duplicate the human hand dialing the thermostat up or down. The "programmable" here merely means a timer.

My house generally heats up pretty quickly when I get home from work and turn up the heat.

So, yes, they might be handy, but they don't do anything you can't do by turning the thermostat up or down yourself.

[lutherquick]

I think the most patriotic thing we can do is to burn as much energy, all together, right NOW.
I leave the air-conditioning on, all day. I try to make as many unnecessary trips as possible.
Why?

If we all did this, then peak would come sooner, and this will make the down side of the curve soft.
The reason is, if you can make blackouts and brownouts NOW, then laws will change earlier, tax incentives, change in perception for things like telecommuting and so forth.

Enjoy the energy now while you can.

[strider3700]

I found that my programmable T-stat did wonders in balancing out the overly hot overly cold issues I had the winter before when I hand dialed each baseboard heater. The end result was more comfort and a lower power bill.

[gg3]

If you get programmable units, it's also useful to have oldschool dial thermostats right next to them, and a toggle switch to go back and forth between the two.

Reason is, making any adjustments on a programmable thermostat can be a frustrating nightmare that could make you want to put your first through the wall. God!, how I hate this "step-step-step-step-over-to-the-next-and-step-step-step-save-step-step-step-save" crap. User interfaces that only a guy who dreams in binary would love. (Tonight I was programming a phone switch in a place that had a programmable thermostat. All I wanted to do was switch on the damn air conditioning but it took a good 15 minutes of frustrating BS to do it. And the irony is not lost on me one bit, that my job is to program things that are multiple orders of magnitude more complex!)

So when you just want to change a setting briefly, e.g. come home and it's hot, want to quickly cool the place down, or vice versa, you can do that with the oldschool rotary-dial thermostat. Then after you've cooled down or warmed up a bit, flip the switch to go back to the programmable, whose settings you never need to change.

[Frank]

It's not THAT hard to push a couple of buttons! We have two different type of programmable t-stats in our house and both types have "override" buttons to raise or lower the setpoint. Nominal setpoint in our bathroom is 67*- F. When my wife gets a shower she hits the "up" button a few times and she's happy. If she forgets to turn it down the system will reset itself at the next time interval.

Manual t-stats can work fine if you actually use them and your heating/cooling system responds quickly. We use ours to turn on the heat an hour before anyone wakes up in the winter then they shut down the heat 30 minutes before we leave the house. I figure they're worth 15-20% in heating savings.

[gg3]

The one that I was dealing with on that client's site had *no* override buttons, everything had to be either done via time/schedule, and override required some obscure sequence I only managed to hit by accident.

Clearly that one was an example of a crappy user interface, and the one you have is better. Clearly-labeled "manual override" buttons with an automatic "return to schedule" would be fine.

This is not techno-ignorance on my part. As I said, my job description is to design and program things that are multiple orders of magnitude more complex, and. There are probably a few hundred thousand variables in a PBX database, one of these days I'll see about counting them:-). In any case, there is never a good excuse for a bad user interface.

[Frank]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('gg3', 'T')he one that I was dealing with on that client's site had *no* override buttons, everything had to be either done via time/schedule, and override required some obscure sequence I only managed to hit by accident.

Clearly that one was an example of a crappy user interface, and the one you have is better. Clearly-labeled "manual override" buttons with an automatic "return to schedule" would be fine.

This is not techno-ignorance on my part. As I said, my job description is to design and program things that are multiple orders of magnitude more complex, and. There are probably a few hundred thousand variables in a PBX database, one of these days I'll see about counting them:-). In any case, there is never a good excuse for a bad user interface.

[Pops]

We have a programmable, but it is still in the box.

I took the thermometer part out of the t-stat cover.

We usually turn on the central air only when the house gets really sticky in the afternoon and then just long enough to dry things out, then turn it off – it runs maybe an hour a day on the worst days.

In the winter we only turn on the heat when we’ve stoked the stove so full we pop a sweat or it’s gonna be very cold overnight and then only to the minimum setting. When those burners kick in it sounds like a Saturn V rocket!

The most valuable tactic in my opinion is simply close off some rooms and not condition them – in winter the upstairs gets pretty cool.

[dbarberic]

Why have a thermostat at all? I only have my wires hanging out of my wall and I twist together the right colors when ever I want something to happen.

[Pops]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dbarberic', 'W')hy have a thermostat at all? I only have my wires hanging out of my wall and I twist together the right colors when ever I want something to happen.

[dbarberic]

Does anyone know what the optimum thermostat temperatures are for heating and cooling with an automatic programmable thermostat?

For example, one reference for optimal energy savings indicates that you should not have more than an 8 degree deferential between you’re at home setting and your away setting. The logic is that more than an 8 degree swing uses more energy to catch up (cool or heat) when the programming turns from “away” to “home”. Other documentation indicates that a 10 degree difference is OK. Does anyone have any thoughts, or can point to research that indicates the optimal temperature differential?

Also, does anyone know of references or research to heating/cooling temperature levels that are optimal for conserving energy use, while maintaining some level of comfort?

For reference I’m using the following temperature settings (in degrees) for my Northeast Ohio house:

Heating
At Home: 68
Away: 60

Cooling:
At Home: 75
Away: 83

I’m just tinkering to see if I can get some more efficiency out of my climate control system.

[diemos]

If your primary concern is energy conservation, then the optimum setting is "OFF".

If your primary concern is comfort, then the optimum setting is whatever you want.

If you are concerned about both then the best setting is somewhere between those two.

[NeoPeasant]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dbarberic', ' ')
For example, one reference for optimal energy savings indicates that you should not have more than an 8 degree deferential between you’re at home setting and your away setting. The logic is that more than an 8 degree swing uses more energy to catch up (cool or heat) when the programming turns from “away” to “home”.

[dinopello]

Here in the east, a big component of comfort is the humidity. Low 80's (F) can be pretty comfortable if the humidty is low enough and 75 with high humidity can feel pretty icky.

I think there must be thermostats that also take into account humidity to control the unit? Like a comfort index rather than temperature. Anyone know of such a thing that can be used with an existing central AC?