What’s the Best Temperature To Set Your Thermostat in Winter?

One of the best things about living in Florida is the mild winters. Many people move from other parts of the country to Florida to escape the snow, chilly winds, and occasional storms that characterize winter elsewhere. However, some winter nights can hit the low 40s even with the glorious weather.

On those days, you’ll want to use your furnace to make your home more comfortable, but you don’t want to rack up a hefty heating bill. What's the best temperature to set your thermostat in winter?

As the top choice for HVAC services in Ocala, FL, we can tell you that there’s no "best" temperature to set your thermostat throughout the winter. Savvy homeowners use different temperature settings based on whether they are at home, away, sleeping, or something else. Also, the widely recommended temperature settings for the rest of the country may be impractical here in Florida.

We’ll cover all the details you need to know in this post to help you make the right decisions this coming winter and beyond.

What’s the Best Temperature To Set Thermostat in Winter When You Are Home?

Working out the right temperature to set your thermostat during the winter is not always straightforward. Set it too high, and you’ll accumulate higher bills. Set it too low, and you may need to wear multiple layers to stay comfortable indoors — which, let’s face it, is far from comfortable.



So, what should you do? The first thing you should keep in mind is that the temperature difference between your indoor and outdoor air determines how hard your heating system has to work to keep you warm. The lower the difference, the lesser the amount of energy required. So, you should set your thermostat such that the temperature indoors will not be too far off the temperatures outside.

According to the Department of Energy, the ideal temperature to set your thermostat in the winter is 68 degrees. For people in Florida, this temperature setting will mean a difference of no more than 25-30 degrees compared to the outside temperatures. Therefore, the furnace or heat pump system won’t need to work too hard to keep your home warm.

What’s the Best Temperature To Set Thermostat in Winter When You Are Away?

Are you going to be away for a while over the winter? You don’t have to worry about heating your home. You can shut off your heating system until you return.

Many advisories recommend leaving the heating at around 60 degrees to keep your pipes from freezing. However, winter in Florida doesn’t come with freezing temperatures. It’s highly unlikely that you will come home to frozen pipes or frozen water in your toilet bowl.

The only time it makes sense to leave your heating running is if you’re leaving pets behind. You’ll want to keep the heating running at 60-64 degrees to ensure your pets are comfortable in your absence.

Similarly, you’ll need to leave the heating running if you have houseplants. Sharp temperature changes can affect them as most plants need temperatures of around 60 degrees to grow and stay healthy.

If you don’t have pets or houseplants, you shouldn’t ask, "What’s the best temperature to set the thermostat in winter?" while you’re away. You can turn off your heating for some significant energy savings.

This advice also works if you’re just headed out for the day. It makes sense for people in colder areas to leave their heating running while at work in the winter because the heating system won’t have to work too hard over a short period to restore comfortable indoor temperatures when they return.

However, as someone living in Florida, the gap between the outdoor and indoor temperatures will never get that wide.

What’s the Best Temperature To Set the Thermostat in Winter While Sleeping?

Quality sleep is crucial to our overall well-being. Therefore, you want to set your thermostat to ensure your body will not be jolted into waking up due to temperature-related discomfort.

The best room temperature for quality sleep is around 65 degrees. Your core temperature will drop just enough to support healthy sleep at this temperature range. This approach will also save you money throughout the winter months.

If you set the temperatures higher than this, you may wake up in discomfort from sweating. Conversely, if you set the thermostat a lot lower than this recommended range, you’ll wake up to throw on more layers.

How To Remember the Ideal Temperature Ranges

Now you know the ideal temperature ranges to set your thermostat during the winter, you have to ensure you’re sticking with it. Unfortunately, making the trip to the thermostat to manually enter the values is no fun.

Therefore, most people set a specific temperature and leave it that way until winter passes. Some don’t bother turning off their HVAC when they are at work. Thus, they pay more than they should on their energy bill.

Enter smart thermostats. A modern smart thermostat can save you the stress of remembering the ideal temperature to set at what time. They learn from your usage habits over time and adjust your temperatures automatically based on your past behavior. Most of them also support over-the-air control as they are Wi-Fi enabled. So, when you forget to turn off your heating before leaving home, you can pull out your smartphone and turn it off from anywhere in the world.

Smart thermostats can also provide you with real-time information on your energy usage.

Other Ways To Improve Your HVAC System’s Efficiency in the Winter

If you’re asking, “What's the best temperature to set a thermostat in winter?” because you want more energy savings then you should know that the temperature settings are only one of many things you can do to keep your energy bills down this period.

It’s indeed possible to accumulate an even higher heating bill if you’re only bothered about temperature settings while ignoring other factors that influence your HVAC system’s efficiency.

Some of the things you can do to improve your HVAC system’s efficiency include the following:

• Request maintenance. Clogged filters, leaking heat exchangers, damaged burners, and other such issues can make your heating system work harder. An HVAC technician can evaluate your unit and complete fixes to make it more prepared to meet your needs.
• Improve insulation. Do you have leaky air ducts or poor insulation around your home? You’re losing conditioned air all year. The result is higher energy bills each month, regardless of the weather outside.
• Adopt eco-friendly habits. Wearing PJs or other comfortable clothes will allow you to adjust your thermostat a couple of degrees. Similarly, shorter showers, keeping the curtains drawn, or buying an electric blanket can all help lower your bill.

Get Further Guidance From Your Local Experts

Are you still asking, “What's the best temperature to set the thermostat in winter?” The experienced team at Fast Air Repair can provide the guidance you need. 

We know that HVAC needs vary from one homeowner to another. For example, you can’t afford to make temperature changes on a whim if you have young children or senior citizens living in your home.

Our highly experienced technicians will carefully evaluate your needs and recommend a more custom approach to heating. We are also the team to depend on when you need fast relief from all common heating problems.

Call Fast Air Repair in Ocala, FL, today at (352) 290-7968 to schedule a consultation and learn more.