Which is more energy efficient?

Question

I have natural gas heat and we keep the thermostat set at 71 during the day but turn it down to 69 at nighttime to sleep. Is it more energy efficient to do this or should we just keep it at a consistent temperature 24-7?

Answer 1

it all depends on how long you keep it that low if you keep it low for 5 hours it would be more efficient than 2

Answer 2

The longer you keep it at a low temperature, the more energy efficient you're being.

Your house loses heat to the surrounding (colder) atmosphere.  The only thing preventing this is your insulation and heating system.  If you've got your thermostat turned up, your heating system will have to keep replacing the heat which you're losing to the outside.

If you turn the thermostat down when you don't need it as warm, you lose less heat to the outside.  Then when you turn the temperature back up, the heat is replaced in a short time frame, so less is lost to the outside.

This also applies to when you're not home during the day.  Personally I keep my thermostat at 58°F at night, 60°F during the day when not home (for the pets), and 62°F when home and awake.  If cold it's easy to put on a sweater.