Comments on: Church Thermostat Wars: How to win them

By: Neil

Neil — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 19:01:31 +0000

Hi Tammie. I wonder where your thermostats are located. If they are in a sunny or warm location, they may turning off before the entire room/bldg is heated (this is the reverse problem I describe in the blog article where a cold draft constantly triggered the heat to come on). HVAC installers sometimes pay no attention to where they locate thermostats. Other problems: undersized furnace takes longer to heat a room; multi-speed fans preferred over single speed fans; poorly located or poor efficiency ductwork (a big problem as ductwork is often an afterthought); and of course, –energy loss through roof/windows/walls. Solution: have a professional energy audit done. In some locations, the utility company will do them for free.

Note: A Univ of Georgia summary of various research found that 68 to 70 degree Fahrenheit with good ventilation was the OPTIMAL temperature for classroom learning. Above or below that “psychomotor” (learning) functions begin to decline. Which is to say, “slightly cool is better than warm or cold.” http://www.coe.uga.edu/sdpl/researchabstracts/thermal.html

By: Tammie

Tammie — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 16:36:00 +0000

We live in SW Michigan so have cold winters. Our church is cinder block construction and we made the mistake of programming our thermostats too far back at night (to 60 degrees). The rooms didn’t warm up quickly enough in the day to be comfortable. We were advised by our HVAC guy to only go back to 65 degrees in the evening.

By: Neil

Neil — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 13:07:29 +0000

Hi Micah,
How low you can set your thermostat depends on several factors, including: how cold your winters are, and how well insulated your walls and pipes are. You should be able to set your thermostat to 60 degrees and be fine. However, if you have a poorly insulated bathroom, for example, the pipes underneath that floor could freeze if you live in a very cold climate. Best to check that out. Also, keeping closet and bathroom doors open in the closed off section of the building will allow some warm air to circulate. <>< Neil

By: Micah Panjada

Micah Panjada — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 21:15:19 +0000

Thanks for these tips, they were very informative. We always discuss how low to turn the thermostat in the winter time when the building is not in use. What do you suggest?

Thanks