Best Temperature to Set Your Thermostat in Winter (Heat Pump Owners, Read This First)

The best temperature to set thermostat in winter is 68 degrees while you are up and about. That is the figure nearly every energy guide lands on. The advice that follows it, to drop the thermostat 10 degrees overnight, is written for furnaces and it backfires on a heat pump. If you are not sure which you have, our heating services in Auburn page explains the difference.

Key Takeaways

• 68 degrees when home and awake is the standard recommendation for both system types.
• Heat pumps want a steady setting. Deep setbacks trigger expensive electric backup heat on recovery.
• Gas furnace owners can set back freely. The classic 7 to 10 degree overnight drop works fine for you.
• Never go below 55 degrees, even in an empty house, and mind the damp.
• One degree is worth roughly one percent on the heating bill over an eight hour setback.

Best Temperature to Set Thermostat in Winter: The Short Answer

First, Work Out What You Actually Have

The best temperature to set thermostat in winter depends on this, and plenty of homeowners genuinely do not know which they have.

• You have a heat pump if the outdoor unit runs in winter, your thermostat has an AUX or EM HEAT indicator, and you heat with electricity.
• You have a gas furnace if there is a gas meter, a flue or vent pipe from the indoor unit, and the outdoor unit sits idle all winter.
• You may have both. A dual fuel system pairs a heat pump with a gas furnace as backup. Treat it as a heat pump for thermostat purposes.

Why the 10 Degree Setback Advice Backfires on a Heat Pump

A gas furnace has one output. It is either on at full heat or off, so recovering from a big overnight drop costs the same per unit of heat as maintaining temperature would have. Setting back genuinely saves money.

A heat pump works differently. It moves heat slowly and efficiently, and it has a second, far more expensive heat source bolted on for when it cannot keep up: electric resistance strips, usually labelled AUX. Ask a heat pump to climb four or five degrees quickly in the morning and it cannot do it alone, so the strips come on. You then pay resistance heat prices for the recovery you were trying to save on.

Department of Energy guidance for air source heat pump owners is direct about this. It advises that heat pumps are efficient with a steady thermostat setting, that abrupt changes of 3 degrees or more during unoccupied hours should be avoided, and that setbacks typically only save energy when the absence lasts more than a day. It also notes that auxiliary strip heat is costly and inefficient, and that frequent use is worth having checked. You can read the full DOE heat pump guidance.

Setback Guidance That Fits the Northwest

Regional guidance from the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance is more specific, and it is written for homes like ours. It warns that recovery from a deep setback causes a heat pump’s efficiency to plummet, and that full power recovery can leave the compressor and the backup heat running at the same time.

Its tiered recommendation is the clearest rule available:

That is the opposite of what most thermostat apps suggest out of the box. If you have a smart thermostat that learned an aggressive schedule, it is worth flattening it. Full detail sits in the Northwest heat pump guidance.

If you do want it cooler at night

Move it gradually. Drop a degree or two in the evening and bring it back a degree or two in the morning, rather than making one large jump. Variable capacity systems handle gentle changes without calling for backup heat.

If You Have a Gas Furnace

The best temperature to set thermostat in winter is the same 68 degrees here, and the standard setback advice works. Set 68 degrees when you are home and awake, and drop 7 to 10 degrees for the eight hours you are asleep or out. Over an eight hour setback, roughly one percent of the heating bill is saved for each degree.

A programmable or smart thermostat is worth having because it does this without anyone remembering. ENERGY STAR maintains guidance on home heating and cooling if you are choosing one.

The Lowest You Should Ever Set It

Fifty five degrees is the floor, and that is for an empty house. Below that you risk pipes in unheated crawlspaces and exterior walls, which is a far more expensive problem than a month of heating.

There is a second reason specific to this climate. A cold house in a wet winter is a condensing house. Drop the indoor temperature far enough and moisture starts collecting on cold surfaces, behind furniture and in corners of exterior walls. That is how mold gets started. If you are heading away for a fortnight in January, 58 degrees with the fan set to circulate is safer than 50 degrees and a sealed house.

Things That Matter More Than One Degree

1. Change the filter. A restricted filter makes a heat pump call for backup heat in mild weather. This is the single most common cause of a surprise winter bill.
2. Check whether AUX is running. If your thermostat shows auxiliary heat when it is 45 degrees outside, something is wrong.
3. Close the crawlspace vents you can reach and make sure duct insulation is intact.
4. Stop heating rooms through leaking ducts. A disconnected run in the crawlspace wastes more than any thermostat setting will save.
5. Get the annual service done before December, not after the first cold night when everyone else is calling.

Seeing auxiliary heat in mild weather, or a bill that does not match your habits? Call Air Pro Solutions at (253) 397-7220 and book heat pump tune ups before the cold sets in.

Winter Thermostat Questions We Get Asked

Is 72 a good temperature for heat in the winter?

It is comfortable but not efficient. Each degree above 68 adds noticeably to the bill over a season. If 68 feels cold to you, look at draughts, humidity and airflow before turning the dial up. Many homes that feel cold at 70 have an air movement problem rather than a temperature problem.

What is the healthiest temperature to keep your house in the winter?

Between 68 and 70 degrees for most healthy adults, with a floor around 64 overnight. Older adults, infants and anyone unwell generally need the warmer end of that range. In a damp climate, keeping the house consistently warm also helps control condensation and mold.

Why does my house feel cold at 73?

Usually air movement or humidity. Draughts from windows and doors, cold exterior walls and low indoor humidity all make a room feel colder than the thermostat says. A thermostat on an exterior wall or near a draught also reads wrong, so the house never actually reaches the number shown.

Is 74 a good temperature to save money on electricity?

No. In winter, 74 is well above the efficient range and will cost noticeably more than 68 over a season. If you have a heat pump, holding a high setpoint also increases the chance of the auxiliary strips running, which is the expensive way to heat a house.

What runs up your electric bill the most?

In an electrically heated home here, it is almost always heating, and specifically auxiliary resistance heat. Water heating comes next. A heat pump running normally is efficient. The same heat pump leaning on its backup strips because of a dirty filter or a deep setback is not.

Setting Yours for a Puget Sound Winter

The best temperature to set thermostat in winter is 68 degrees, and the right setback depends entirely on what is heating your house. Furnace owners should set back. Heat pump owners should mostly leave it alone and save the setbacks for genuine absences.

If your bill last winter did not match what you expected, that is worth investigating rather than adjusting around. Call Air Pro Solutions Heating, Cooling & Electrical at (253) 397-7220 to have your system and thermostat settings checked together, or talk to a technician about what your system should be doing. We also cover furnace repair in Auburn and work across south King County as a Renton HVAC contractor.