So at work today, the discussion of household heating and gas/electricity bills came up (entering winter Down Under), and I commented that we have our central heating set to 14 Celsius (approx 57 Freedoms) overnight, and off during the day/evening. We find that 14 is quite comfortable under a fluffy doona/duvet. I was warmly mocked (well natured), and informed that something closer to 24C (75F) is appropriate, day and night.
Surely not… right?
I live offgrid in a campervan and do not have HVAC in the normal sense. I follow mild weather, aiming for daily highs of 65-70deg F. Because I camp in arid regions this usually means overnight lows of 35-45F. I try to avoid overnight freezes for comfort and to protect my water system.
My roof vent is set to 65F (comes on then and tries to hold that temp). The LiFePO4 battery bank is warmed to 50F. At night I use an electric blanket and dogbuddy to stay warm if needed.
what you’re doing is what I want to do - do you have any suggestions for links to/communities on lemmy or other federated platforms? liked vandwellers back on reddit a lot but cant find something similar here.
my rig is a 1987 Ford/Grumman Kabmaster, it’s been in the shop for a while now.
18C . We live in a condo building that is well insulated so setting it any lower wouldn’t help. I agree, it’s preferable to sleep when it’s cooler. 24C in winter is insane - if you’re cold just put on a jersey or a fleece.
If I set my winter evening thermostat to 14C my wife would have my head on a spike in the front lawn. Police be damned.
We keep it at 22C as a compromise during the day and 19 at night (since we sleep better in the cold).
24 seems insane to me, that is way beyond uncomfortably warm. At night I’m pretty sure that’s just unhealthy.
I tend to keep temperature around 16-18 degrees celsius in the winter during the day, never had a thermostat that allowed setting a target temp so it fluctuates. 16 is alright with double or thick socks and a sweater even when i sit around at my pc. At night I just turn off the heat and open the window, it gets cold but it’s comfortable in a blanket.
In the winter, I’ll accept 23C anything colder and I catch a cold.
That’s not how colds work. Cold weather can reduce the immune system, but it doesn’t cause colds. You still need to be exposed to a virus to catch a cold. Also, it’s not like colder weather guarantees your body can’t fight off a cold.
It’s much easier (and cheaper) to heat a small space (a person wearing a sweater) versus heating an entire room.
Tell that to my body. From my own personal experience when the temperature drops below 23C I get a cold, simple as that and temperature has been the only fluctuating variable. So while the cold may not be the direct cause it’s a big enough influence for me that I’d rather not take my chances.
