Household Temps

My furnace is ducted in my basement. I've been tracking the temps in a few places in the house and wonder what more experienced guys think of the temps. Do they seem about right? Could I be doing something better? I'm warm and happy, just wondering if I could be doing better and using the heat more efficiently.

One set of data is from a thermometer on the entertainment center in my living room 15-20 feet from the thermostat. One set of data is from the basement about 8 feet from the furnace. The last set of data is from right over one of the registers in the master bath on the west side of the house right under a window. Thoughts? Questions?

It seems that at night...your basement temp rises as your temps at ent. center drop...
Is your blower on a limit switch or timer...?
Is there cold air returns also ??

if you are warm and happy that is all that matters...lok

... but I am curious about the correlation between your basement temperatures and your bathroom temperatures... as they seem to follow the same temperature patterns...
do you close the door down to your basement at night?...
I also can't help but wonder if there maybe something on your entertainment center that could actually influence the temperature you are getting slightly ( like a TV... or other device that may give up a little heat)
the bigger delta on the floor register temperatures makes total sense.... as it is under a window

that is a pretty interesting way to track your temperatures.... nice job

Well you didn't say at what temp your thermostat was set and if it was a constant setting over that period of time. Lot's of other variables too like outdoor temp and wind.

Rigar wrote:if you are warm and happy that is all that matters...lok

... but I am curious about the correlation between your basement temperatures and your bathroom temperatures... as they seem to follow the same temperature patterns...

Should have mentioned that the convection blower is on a limit switch. It cycles on and off as the furnace heats up and cools down.

Rigar wrote:do you close the door down to your basement at night?...

No.

Rigar wrote:I also can't help but wonder if there maybe something on your entertainment center that could actually influence the temperature you are getting slightly ( like a TV... or other device that may give up a little heat)

Sure is. That's from the wife and I watching TV in the evening. The heat comes from the TV and the receiver. The thermometer is right in front of the TV. Notice how that temp drops around 10 PM when we turned the TV off and went to bed.

Rigar wrote:the bigger delta on the floor register temperatures makes total sense.... as it is under a window
that is a pretty interesting way to track your temperatures.... nice job

Thanks. That thermometer is sitting right on top of the register in the bathroom, so it sees the biggest swings.

coalkirk wrote:Well you didn't say at what temp your thermostat was set and if it was a constant setting over that period of time. Lot's of other variables too like outdoor temp and wind.

The thermostat is set at 69 and there is a line on the graph for it. I've got outdoor temp for the same time period if you think it'll help.

64 000 $ question.....

Whre is the THERMOSTAT locted in respect to all of these other thermometers ??

Well it looks like you are doing pretty good to me, espeically if you are comfortable. Your temperature in the living area is staying pretty steady. Our thermostat is set at 69 degrees in the daytime. I'd like it a degree or two warmer but my wife does not. Nuff' said. At night I set it back to 68 degrees.

mdrelyea wrote: I'm warm and happy, just wondering if I could be doing better and using the heat more efficiently....
Thoughts? Questions?

My Thoughts....

Are you newly married?!?!?!?!?

Haven't you found out yet that it doesn't matter if you are warm and happy, it only matters how content your wife is!

You seam to have some nice hardware to interface between sensors and your computer.
I hate to admit it, but that kind of stuff scraches an itch I have.
Where online would I find a relatily simple interface like this?

Rigar wrote:64 000 $ question.....
Whre is the THERMOSTAT locted in respect to all of these other thermometers ??

About 15-20 feet from the living room entertainment center thermometer.

titleist1 wrote: My Thoughts....

Are you newly married?!?!?!?!?

Haven't you found out yet that it doesn't matter if you are warm and happy, it only matters how content your wife is!

Hahaha! Not newly married. 10 years of wedded bliss so far. She's happy. That was the first goal. Now, the next goal is to keep her happy and do it more efficiently. She just rolls her eyes at me when I do stuff like this. As long as she isn't cold and I don't spend a lot of money it's fair game!

Short Bus wrote:You seam to have some nice hardware to interface between sensors and your computer.
I hate to admit it, but that kind of stuff scraches an itch I have.
Where online would I find a relatily simple interface like this?

Scratches my itch too. Hard. The unit I use is similar to this one. You can find them cheaper and also more expensive.
They're all over the place on the web. Do a search on google for USB Weather Station. You'll find a million of them. I can track 4 different temps/humidities at once. I also track the rotations of the feed auger on my furnace so that I know how much coal I'm using.

mdrelyea wrote: She just rolls her eyes at me when I do stuff like this. As long as she isn't cold and I don't spend a lot of money it's fair game!

I get the eye rolling thing all the time....especially when anything coal related comes up.

She won't touch anything that has to do with the stove - not even the thermostat connected to the stoker - and if I mention I am going to get another load or stopping on my way home for some coal I get the sigh / head shake, but if the temp drops to 68 in the house I hear about it....

Can you retrieve data remotely, like on your cell phone while yer at work?