[cquick]

in the summer we keep it at 78 in the daytime and 76 at night. in the winter we try not to turn on the heat.....but if it's below 72, we turn the furnace on to about 75 degrees in the daytime. We don't mind being cold at night.

[Vladimir]

The reason you feel cold with a heat pump whereas you were used to gas heat is that a heat pump gives you luke warm air. Gas heat gives you nice hot air for a shorter run time while a heat pump runs longer at luke warm air. Also in FL the heater does not run continuously like up north so you are not getting that nice hot gas air to warm you up.

[jblum315]

On a very chilly day like today I might turn the heat on at 72 for about an hour to take the chill off. The insulation is so good that the house will stay comfortable all day. I like it cool at night. I never put the AC lower than 72

[sunnyatlast]

Originally Posted by jnieman

What temperature do you keep your house at on a day like today? I tried the 74 like we had up North but that seems too cold. Not sure if it is because we had gas heat and here we have a heat pump? I nearly froze last night with the temp at 75.

Maybe the thermostat needs to be re-calibrated. I'd call the HVAC service group to have it checked for accuracy along with a seasonal checkup/tuneup.

Thermostat temperature calibration:
Thermostat Temperature Calibration | DoItYourself.com

[zcaveman]

Originally Posted by Spikearoni

Does anyone know approximately how much of a savings I can expect utilizing gas heat instead of electric in a 1500 square foot home in TV?

My house has a 1392 climate controlled area (Amarillo). Since I have gas I can only give you the gas numbers. In the non-cold months, my TECO bill is about $26 a month. In the cold months my bill is obviously higher. In 2012 it averaged $46 with a high month of $51. In 2013, it averaged $51 with a high of $74. In 2014, November was $43.

Now if you can get the numbers from a electric household, you can see the difference.

Z

[golf2140]

Originally Posted by Spikearoni

Does anyone know approximately how much of a savings I can expect utilizing gas heat instead of electric in a 1500 square foot home in TV?

I have found that our electric is cheaper. We went from a stick built gas to a block home. The block home is much larger, but cheaper with the heat pump.

[George Bieniaszek]

Usually heat at 70
AC 78-80

[Spikearoni]

Thank you so much

[Walter123]

I keep mine at room temperature.

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by jblum315

On a very chilly day like today I might turn the heat on at 72 for about an hour to take the chill off. The insulation is so good that the house will stay comfortable all day. I like it cool at night.

That is exactly what we do. And we're not around in the summer, so our humidistat makes the decisions.

Originally Posted by Walter123

I keep mine at room temperature.

Oh Walter.

[llaran]

Heat pumps act differently - google how the heat pump works for better info

[jnieman]

Over the last few days we have kept it at 75 which seems comfortable. In the summer we keep the A/C on 77 day and 78 at night.

This morning it was 71 when I woke up and I turned it on emergency heat for about 20 minutes then back to the heat pump set on 75. That warmed the house up toasty and I haven't heard the furnace on all day.

It was just 37 degrees outside this morning.

[tuccillo]

It depends on the price of a therm of natural gas, the price of a kwh of electricity, the efficiency of the gas furnace, and the efficiency of the heatpump. I am assuming you are talking about a heatpump when you say "electric". We can make a few assumptions:

1) $0.14 per kwh (assuming fees, fuel charges, taxes, etc.)
2) Heatpump efficiency of 3. This is the COP or the "leverage" that a heatpump provides.
3) 80% efficiciency gas furnace
4) Same ductwork is used.
5) I don't know what a therm of natural gas cost

Therefore, a heatpump will provide 10,236 BTUs per kwh or 73,114 BTUs per dollar.

A therm of of natural gas is 100,000 BTUs. Assuming an 80% efficiency gas furnace, if a therm of natural gas is less than $0.91 then a gas furnace would be cheaper to run than a heatpump. When looking at the price of natural gas, be sure to include all fees, taxes, etc. In other words, take the total bill and divide by the number of therms used.

I have ignored any differences in the cost to buy the equipment. A heatpump is an AC that can run in reverse and the incremental cost of a heatpump over an AC is pretty small. A more efficient gas furnace would change the numbers - there are 96% gas furnaces available. This is rough estimate.

Originally Posted by Spikearoni

Does anyone know approximately how much of a savings I can expect utilizing gas heat instead of electric in a 1500 square foot home in TV?

[jnieman]

We have a 1500 square foot home and our electric bill was $120 this month. That is the lowest it has been and usually runs around $150. The highest is during the hottest months at $179. We have a hot tub which costs $10 per month to run. Our home is all electric.

[Villages PL]

It's a waste of time to ask how others set their thermostat because everyone is different based on their percentage of body fat. Also, hypothyroidism may be a factor for some people.