Utilities suggest keeping your thermostat at 68 degrees or lower during the day and 55 at night, if health allows.
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You’ve probably heard it before: When the cool weather starts creeping in, flip your thermostat from cool to heat and set your system to 68 degrees to keep electric costs at bay.
Is there any truth to the popular claim?
The Sacramento Bee consulted HVAC Service Manager Bradley Martinez with Huft Home Services, a Sacramento-based HVAC and installation company, to fact-check the age-old heating tip and understand how utilities like Sacramento Municipal Utility District and Pacific Gas and Electric landed on the “ideal” home temperature for non-summer months.
Here’s what we found:
Is it really cost effective to set my thermostat to 68 degrees?
“Yeah, it can be,” Martinez said. “Absolutely.”
The longer your equipment runs, the more wear and tear you could put on your system and the higher your electricity bills are going to be.
If you want to be comfortable and have the “most optimal energy efficiency,” Martinez said follow the recommendation from your utility company.
SMUD — which provides electric services to most of Sacramento County as well as portions of Placer and Yolo counties — advises customers to set their thermostats to 68 degrees during the day and 55 degrees at nighttime or when away from home. The recommendation is 78 degrees in the summertime. PG&E has the same advice.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, people can save up to 10% per year on heating and cooling expenses by dialing their thermostat back eight hours a day from its normal setting, between 7 and 10 degrees.
But it’s more nuanced than that.
Martinez said how quickly your home reaches your optimal temperature is based on several factors including its insulation and how it was built. Here are a couple of tips to get the most out of your heating system during the cooler months, according to SMUD:
- Clean your HVAC filters once a month during the coldest and warmest months
- Do not block air vents
- Replace old caulking and seal air leaks with weatherstripping around windows and doors
- Change out air handler filters regularly
“Really what we suggest for homeowners is run it at what’s comfortable for you…typically people are more concerned about being comfortable in their home,” Martinez said.
“But 68 degrees is a good standard.”
You will spend less on electricity if the temperatures inside both your home and outside are similar, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Brianna Taylor covers affordability on The Sacramento Bee’s service journalism desk as well as general news. Before joining The Bee in 2021, she reported in Missouri and Maryland. She grew up on the East Coast and is a graduate of Morgan State University.