I'm so glad I had solar panels installed in early 2016. I haven't paid a cent since except for last year, when I paid $288 at true up because we charged my wife's EV for the year prior. The system has already paid for itself at these robbery rates.
We keep our house at 75 during the summers & 70 during winters.

Damn, I'm a real outlier on this board in terms of home HVAC requirements.

The highest I ever set the central a/c is 76, and that is only when I am not home. When I get home from work (I work in unairconditioned aircraft hangers here in TexASS), I immediately drop the temp to 74 or 73 and then in the late evening 68 if it's hot out and 64-65 if it is only warm out.

I sleep year round in bedroom temp of 50 -51 degrees (sometimes a little lower in the one to two months of "winter" here), which I'm able to achieve with a 2-ton mini-split controlled with an aftermarket control unit that overrides the split's built in controller. I also have an 8000BTU window unit, with additional controller, in the same room to help with cooling when it is above 90 late at night - that got used quite a bit this summer which has been exceptionally burn-ass. I bump the central a/c back up to 74 while sleeping as no need to supercool the entire house then.

I don't run the furnace unless my house gets well below 60 degrees and never raise the thermostat above 60 for heat. If I lived in a climate that was consistently cold, where I could acclimate to it, I would not need to heat the house much above 50 and feel very comfortable.

I guess it is a good thing that I fly solo and have complete control over indoor temps as it might be difficult to find someone willing to tolerate my apparently unique needs. :D

And yep, I spend a lot on electricity (usage data shows I consistently use 30% more electricity than other homes in the area) and very little on natural gas for the furnace.

We run 72/73 with the geothermal. The estimated cost is $40 per summer at that temp. Our ground water is 48*. Our heating bill runs a bit more.

I would love to have a geothermal setup!

I found a pic of RT online!

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f1/fc...2131a8036f.jpg

Geez, I would die in some of your homes. I want a max of 68 while sleeping (lower if I can get it) and 72 during the day. I have really thought about going to one of those ice hotels. Sounds like heaven

It is a violation of forum rules to post a pic of a member without his or her consent, bub! :D

I find your affinity for a cold house extra interesting considering your work is usually in a hot environment. I would think the fact that you're in a hot environment during the day would mean that you'd be acclimated to that environment and so you'd want your home environment closer to your work environment. Most folks are prefer a more uniform environment. Obviously, as with all things, there are outliers.

^^^

I chuckle at myself for the same reason.

Later I'm going to look up my recent KwH consumpion numbers as based on memory from the past three months' bills, I use about four times as much electricity as a few of the guys here, which makes sense when I see what their cooling requirements are compared to my own. I know that I almost never use less than 1000 KwH, even in the coolest months here, and typically more than 1200, which is an amount that gives me a small rebate on cost. My place is a little over 1800 sqft.

Our place is ~1450-1500sqft and 100year old wood frame, pier and beam, and as air tight and insulated as a sieve. Our smallest electric bill since we moved in was $147 and 1027kw. Our largest bill (depth of winter) was $418 and 3346kw. Our largest summertime bill was $364 and 2642kw.

Steve. That 3,346 kW costing you $418 would run you $1,682 here. I think people should look down the line and generally plan to insulate themselves as best they can from a major hikes in power costs in the future.

Holy Moly!

Central AC set at 77° while home, 79° when out. Heat set at 71° day and 68° at night.

I have solar, $152 per month plus $19 electric co. connection. I push more into the grid than I use.

Nest thermostat, I will not let them "control" mine.

74 or 75 depending on humidity during the summer months. Cools down at night here so the a/c doesn't run after 10 pm.
Heat 70 deg F during occupied hours, 67 during setback times.

I cannot understand people setting the AC for a lower temperature than they would set for heating in the winter months.

If I have to buy any electricity from the grid the price is locked at what it was in 2017 when the panels were installed. About 10.5¢ a kwh.

Let us not forget Temperature Differential on a HVAC system.

I had a smart thermostat at our old place. I was able to control it via an app from a PC on our network. I did not let it "phone home," and I did not consent to them controlling my thermostat. Screw that.

2500 sq ft house We don't have central air but we have two through-the-wall units - an 18000 BTU unit downstairs and an 8000 BTU unit upstairs. We ran them a total of maybe 10 days this summer. Temp was set to 78.

In winter, we set daytime at 70F and nighttime at 63F.