4. Turning Down the Heat - Is It Worthwhile?
Turning Down the Heat - Is It Worthwhile? We’ve heard people say that it does no good to turn your heat down at night because it takes more energy to bring the house back up to temperature in the morning than you save by turning the heat down. One person even quoted her heating contractor making this assertion. It’s simply not true, and a couple of basic laws of physics can explain why. The first law, usually called “The Law of Conservation of Energy,” states that the energy going into a system (in this case, your house) equals the energy coming out of that system. The total amount of heat put out by your heating system equals the total heat lost through the envelope. You heat the house, and eventually that exact same amount of heat escapes! The second law relates to how heat flows from warmer to colder regions. The heat flows at a rate that depends on the temperature difference between those regions. For example if you keep your indoor temperature at 70°F and it...