The Best Winter Thermostat Settings for a Pacific Northwest Home

A few smart thermostat habits can trim your winter heating bill without leaving you cold — but there's one big exception if you heat with a heat pump. Here's what actually works in our climate.

The short version

• When you're home and awake: around 68°F is the sweet spot for comfort and cost.
• When you're asleep or away: lowering the temperature saves money — but only if you have a furnace (see the heat pump exception below).
• Every degree you lower the thermostat over a full heating season adds up to real savings.

Why 68°F

Sixty-eight degrees is comfortable for most people in normal indoor clothing and is a widely recommended balance point between comfort and cost. The higher you set it, the more you pay — each degree matters over a long, damp Northwest winter. If 68 feels cool, try a sweater and slippers before nudging the dial; small comfort changes are cheaper than degrees.

The setback trick (for furnaces)

If you heat with a gas or electric furnace, turning the temperature down while you sleep or when the house is empty saves money — the system simply isn't working as hard during those hours. Lowering it several degrees overnight and while you're at work, then bringing it back up when you're home, is a proven way to cut winter bills. A programmable or smart thermostat automates this so you never think about it.

The heat pump exception — this one matters

If you have a heat pump, do not use big temperature setbacks. Here's why: when a heat pump has to recover a large temperature drop, it often triggers its backup electric heat (sometimes called "auxiliary" or "emergency" heat), which is far less efficient than the heat pump itself. So the money you thought you saved by setting it way back gets eaten up — and then some — when the system fires up the backup heat to catch up.

For heat pumps, the better approach is to pick a comfortable temperature and mostly leave it there, or use only small setbacks (a degree or two). Many modern smart thermostats are "heat pump aware" and manage this for you.

A few more Northwest-specific tips

• Keep the fan on "Auto," not "On," so you're not circulating unheated air between cycles.
• Open blinds on south-facing windows during the day to capture free solar heat, then close them at night to hold warmth in.
• Don't crank the heat to warm up faster — a furnace or heat pump heats at the same rate regardless of how high you set the target. Setting it to 75 to "hurry" just overshoots and wastes energy.
• Change your air filter. A clogged filter makes your system work harder to hit the same temperature.

The bottom line

For furnace homes, set 68°F when you're around and set it back overnight and away. For heat pump homes, find a comfortable temperature and hold it steady. Either way, a smart thermostat takes the guesswork out — and if you're not sure which strategy fits your system, we're happy to help.

Questions about your system or thermostat? Contact us or call (360) 825-0800.