I was made aware of a US department of energy recommendation about setting thermostat at 78F for summer from discussions on this recommendation on LinkedIn. Apparently this recommendation has been around for many years, and was brought up recently on how to reduce expense on electricity for summer.
There are plenty of mockeries about this recommendation.
I don't set my thermostat according to government guidelines. Incidentally I do set my air conditioners at 78F during summer when I am home, set my heater at 68F for winter for last 20 years and continue to do so, which are exactly what were recommended. We were among the most energy efficient households in a 1000 household subdivision.
We reached these numbers from general common sense practice of wearing less when it is hot, and wearing more when it is cold, as well as consideration of being comfortable for any season.
Thermostat is usually set too low in most commercial/public establishments in summer
In offices, the thermostat is set so low, more than half of the employees have to put on jackets, long sleeve shirt while going to work in polo shirts, short sleeve shirt.
In supermarkets, not necessarily high end stores, the thermostat is set so low, e.g. Walmart, it is cold for almost everyone, who wear shorts and T shirts.
In airplanes, especially international flights, the temperature is set so low, airlines prepare blankets for passengers!
In hotels, they still have heavy quilts in summer, and consequently low temperature for thermostat.
In schools, in universities, on buses, or trains . . .
What a waste of energy!
Set thermostat 2-3 degrees Celsius higher in summer, so we don't need to put on jackets in offices, we can be comfortably shopping in supermarket, airlines don't need to prepare blankets for customer, . . . several billion kWh of electricity is saved.
Low thermostat setting in commercial/public establishments make it hard to set home thermostat properly. When people get used to low thermostat setting at work/school, they consider that setting and the feel cold in summer is normal, and they do the same at home! More waste of energy, more expense on energy without making life more comfortable.
How to set thermostat properly at home
The thermostat should set be at a temperature that when you watch TV, or read a book for 30 minutes or longer without feeling cold/chilly, otherwise it is too low. Considering our body temperature is about 98.6F (37C), 72-78F (22-25C) should be a good range. For those with high metabolism, the temperature may need to set lower.
One issue we had was that when kids came from school, they complained that it was hot at home because they did not feel the cold they felt at schools. What we did was to let them have popsicles, frozen fruit or shower first when they got home.
Wear shorts instead of long pants
Cover ourselves at sleep with bed sheets instead of blankets or quilts in summer
Setting thermostat a few degrees higher in summer compared to common practice now, is an easy way to save energy, lower CO2 emission.
Note
1. In Singapore, we set thermostat at 25C during days at home, and we turn off ACs at nights.
2. my previous blogs on global warming related topic
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