Thermostat settings

[sauergeek]

The AC at work[1] has public-access thermostats. As I've been thinking about my own carbon footprint lately, I've been paying attention to what those thermostats are set to. They all seem to be set rather cold -- mostly in the 71-73[2] range, but on a few occasions, I've seen as low as 68. I try to keep the one near me at 75, but occasionally

Comments

[jered]

Central, programmable stats:
2nd floor: 85 away, 74 home
1st floor: 74 daytime (for the dogs), 85 nighttime (the're upstairs with us)
Basement: 74 always, barely runs, for dehumidification

This is mostly for cost rather than carbon footprint. While I still do it, I've been thoroughly convinced that any individual conservation, recycling, etc efforts are bullshit things to make use feel better about ourselves rather than make any difference toward the environment. Until there are business regulations, nothing makes a difference since you account for the tiniest fraction of consumption.

We need to stop inconveniencing ourselves for the sake of appearances, because it just avoids ever having the conversations on things that could actually make a difference.

[sauergeek]

Individual conservation is indeed only a tiny fraction of consumption, but it is the only tiny fraction that you have full control over. Yet I think there are benefits to individual conservation besides the feel-good and that microscopic fraction

[sauergeek]

I've been thoroughly convinced that any individual conservation, recycling, etc efforts are bullshit

The more I think about this, the more I disagree with it. One of your examples, recycling, is a significant part of that disagreement. Recycling is one of the great conservation success stories. It went from largely nonexistent to immensely supported (and subscribed to) at multiple levels of society. While there are some communities that still have no recycling options -- not even a recycling center where you can take your recyclables -- most if not all big cities, and an awful lot of smaller cities and towns, offer comprehensive curbside recycling.

Individual recycling is, as you point out, a tiny fraction. However, those tiny fractions add up. The EPA reports the US having a 34.3% recycling rate; that's a whole lot of tiny fractions stuck together into something much bigger

[sauergeek]

I'd not actually run across someone with the habit of setting the AC colder than the heat, though I had expected they existed. I am baffled why someone would do that.

[xeger]

I do not have central AC, which mean that the (single) window AC is set to either 69 or 70, which keeps the rest of the house around 76 or 77.

Blinds generally stay drawn during the day, to reduce incoming heat -- and windows/fans get opened if it's cool enough (and dry enough).

[kazmat]

Central air: 75F when I'm home, system off when I'm not (where "not" means traveling, since when I'm not traveling, I'm home 24x7). I've had my AC on for the sum total of a week and half this year. In the winter, oil heat set at 60F when home and 45F when not (to keep the pipes from freezing). If I'm gone for more than a couple weeks, I'll drain the pipes and shut off the water, too. Unsurprisingly, I show up as extremely efficient to my electric company.

[mindways]

We have room-ish AC: ductless minisplits. One big one for the dining room/living room on the 1st floor, room-specific ones for our workrooms, bedroom, and guestroom. If we turn them all on, the effect resembles central AC, carrying over to most of the house (save the sunporch).

All units are off by default. When turned on, they tend to get set in the 75-78 range. (Once I set mine to 80 during a heat wave.) Occasionally I'll set the downstairs one as low as 72 if I'm having a lot of people in the dining room playing games; AFAICT, "72 at unit" == "75-76 at people".

One of the many lovely things about minisplits is that they don't use up windows, so even in rooms with only one window when the weather cools off we can just open the window instead.