What are the ideal day & night temperatures?

[StevenXXXX]

I live in a very humid part of the U.S.

In the summertime, it can "average" 97 degrees with 92% humidity. Can you say "muggy".
In the wintertime, the humidity is less (only because of the cold) - but a "low" humidity here in the winter is 35% - 40%.

Right now at 10:50 A.M., it is 53 degrees with an outside humitity of 83% and an inside humidity of 45%
83% outside humidity is a little high for 53 degrees, but that is because rain is expected around 3:00 P.M. so the humidity is rising.

I have an automatice thermostat on a central A/C & Heating System.
The winter day temperature is kept at 70 degrees & the night temperature at 68 degrees.
The summer day temperature is kept at 72 degrees & the night temperature at 70 degrees.

The automatic thermostat switches to the day temperature at 8:00 A.M. & to the night temperature at 10:00 P.M.
If I go to bed earlier or if I get up earlier, I can "manually" raise or lower the temperature as needed. Then the temperature will revert to the pre-set temperatures at 8:00 A.M. & 10:00 P.M.

I do use a humidifier year round.
But, in the summer, I sometimes put small chips of ice in it to offset the mug factor.
In the winter, I run the heat on the humidifier at its lowest setting of 1 otherwise it will become too muggy.
And, I run the heat on the humidifier ONLy when it is really cold & the outside humidity is lower.

I do try to save energy when I can by raising the A/C temperature or lowering the heater temperature when I will be out of the house for 2 or more hours.

I would like to hear some of your opinions as to what you think the ideal day & night temperatures are in terms of comfort (NOT for maximum energy efficiency).

[trytryagain]

Its extremely dry here in New England, cold and snowy too lately. We don't use a humidifier, I hate humidity. Keep our daytime temp at 70 but at night I like to keep warm with my covers only and like the room air really cool so we turn down the thermostat to 62-64. In the summer If I had it my way the AC would be on 68 but hubby keeps it at 72 around the clock.

[roster]

I would like to hear some of your opinions as to what you think the ideal day & night temperatures are in terms of comfort (NOT for maximum energy efficiency).

Steve,

You started out talking about the all important humidity factor. When you consider ideal temperatures the relative humidity also has to be considered.

If you want to maintain a good temperature for your comfort here is how to do it. It sounds like you already have a hygrometer to measure the relative humidity inside your house. Take regular readings of R/H and convert them to dewpoint. Here is a free online dewpoint calculator - http://www.vaisala.com/humiditycalculat ... s%2frhcalc . All you have to do is input the temperature and R/H and set Fahrenheit or Centigrade and the dewpoint is calculated.

Keep a record of the dewpoints inside your house and maybe a note of how comfortable you felt. Use the "Human Perception" chart in this article, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dew_point , as a guide to how you might expect to feel at different dewpoints.

This chart also gives some good information about health and relative humidity:



I am afraid some people may tell you they are comfortable at 70F, others will say 70F is too cold, and still others will say 70F is too hot. The difference can be the climate (dewpoint) and/or personal perception.

BTW, I am in NC and rarely use a CPAP humidifier because it is rare for the R/H inside the house to drop much below 40%.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Edited to add:

This is maybe a little better description of perception of dewpoints than the chart in Wikipedia:

Dew points in the 50s: The air is very comfortable. Especially on the days when the air temperature is very high. Dew point values in the 50s, with air temperatures in the 90s is very comfortable.

Dew points in the lower 60s: You'll start to notice that it will feel a tad bit sticky. Not too bad- but you will notice a slight move out of your absolute comfort level. Folks with respiratory problems may experience a little difficulty breathing.

Dew points in the upper 60s: At this point, the air is becoming quite humid. You will definitely notice that is it sticky outside, and your body will respond. When the dewpoints approach the upper 60s, the humid air does not allow sweat to evaporate as quicky (sweating is a cooling mechanism for your body), and so it takes longer for you to cool off. People with respiratory problems could start to find breathing difficult.

Dew points in the 70s: This is oppressive. This is when we start hearing the terms- "soupy," and "sultry." Combined with warm air temperatures, we start seeing dangerous conditions, which pose probelms such as heat exhaustion and heat stroke for those outside in the heat and humidity.

Dew points in the 80s: Lock yourself indoors.

[Julie]

The darn thing doesn't work with a Mac, but I'm not going online either just to get it as I never go online with my Wins - no virus protection there because I only use it for offline stuff like Cpap reports .

[dave01978]

avast offers free virus software, and is actually really good as well.

[trytryagain]

avg free anti virus is great too. No problems in years using the free version.

[Hawthorne]

Yes, there are several free virus programs you can get online for your Windows OP. It may or may not be what you want to do but, if you do have Windows good virus protection can cost you "0".

[secret agent girl]

.

[Mimmie]

60

[Big S]

Outside in Dayton Oh, it is not ideal. The temperature is 20 deg F at 80% relative humidity and a dew point of 16 deg F. With the forced air furnace running a considerable amount, there should be a decent exchange of air by infiltration and exfiltration so I'm sure I'm drying out the air some more as I heat it and add energy to it. In the bedroom, I limit the flow and try to keep the temperature between 60 and 65 deg F at 45% relative humidity giving a dew point of 43.2. This sounds worse than it is because flannel sheets and a good comforter do a lot for snugability. Finally, inside my mask it is a reasonable 73 deg F of late, with relative humidity of 80% and a dew point of 65.5 according to the calculation suggested by Roster, which means I think, the hose doesn't have to heat very much tonight because the temperature right outside the hose is only a half degree F below the dew point inside the hose. Since the dew point is somewhat low in the bedroom, I know the moisture level is also low and the pap humidifier will have to do a little work to raise it. Cool, just the way I like it.

[idamtnboy]

Our house is very tight and very well insulated. We have an energy recovery ventilator that runs 20 min every 2 hrs so we have regular air exchange with outside air. We keep the house at 74°F day & night, year round. The humidity stays around the 30 to 40% range all the time. I run my H5i humidifier on automatic set to 80°F. I'm comfortable day and night.

[Big S]

idamtnboy writes:

I'm comfortable day and night.

That's what I'm talking about, inside and outside the mask, year round!

[So Well]

idamtnboy
Posts: 243
Joined: Mon Nov 01, 2010 3:12 pm
Location: Idaho
Gender: Male
Our house is very tight and very well insulated. We have an energy recovery ventilator that runs 20 min every 2 hrs so we have regular air exchange with outside air. We keep the house at 74°F day & night, year round. The humidity stays around the 30 to 40% range all the time. I run my H5i humidifier on automatic set to 80°F. I'm comfortable day and night.

Let me wish a fine good morning to all Idahoans - excellent patriotic citizens who believe in individual rights and responsibilities and keeping the overreaching nanny federal government at bay. I believe your state legislature is voting on nullification of Obamacare today and I believe they will be successful in casting off the chains of the Federal government.

Idaho GOP gets ready to nullify health care reform

By JOHN MILLER
The Associated Press
Thursday, January 20, 2011; 11:48 PM

After leading the nation last year in passing a law to sue the federal government over the health care overhaul, Idaho's Legislature now plans to declare President Barack Obama's signature bill null and void.

Lawmakers in six other states - Maine, Montana, Oregon, Nebraska, Texas and Wyoming - are also mulling "nullification" bills, which contend states, not the U.S. Supreme Court, are the ultimate arbiter of when Congress and the president run amok.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 05860.html

[idamtnboy]

Let me wish a fine good morning to all Idahoans - excellent patriotic citizens who believe in individual rights and responsibilities and keeping the overreaching nanny federal government at bay.

There are some of us who, although not wanting to cast all the legislators as "completely off their rockers", are convinced that a many of them are on rockers with badly broken runners!!!