Cost Effectiveness for heating your house. Oven versus Heating oil

[Peelee]

"Below freezing" isn't really cold though.

Today, December 16, it was 71ºF. Yesterday I think it was around 68º.

"Below freezing" is terrifyingly cold to me.

[Erloas]

Hmm, that seems unusual. Where do you live? Every thermostat in my and my friends homes can TECHNICALLY* be programmed from 40 - 90.

*Realistically you'd never use the extremes unless the home was going to be empty for an extended time, so setting heat at 40 and cooling at 90. You could try the reverse but the cost is probably prohibitive.

But I just checked my Nest thermostat and even on it I can program the 40 - 90 range. And I did check it both ways, so I could tell it in the summer to go for 40.... (I suspect the air would just never turn off).

I was mostly going off of memory. My window AC unit doesn't have that large of a range, I don't think it goes below 62, and haven't tried to go up too much on it, because setting it over about 80 wouldn't make any sense. Also thinking about in cars, because when it comes to adjusting the temperature it is done a lot more often in cars.
So yeah, I was off on that part.

But the main point I was getting at is that if people are going to be occupying the space (not just storage, keeping from freezing while unoccupied, etc) and have the means to heat or cool it, there is a relatively small band temperatures they'll be setting it to. And that 30F, just below freezing, isn't that cold because you're not that far away from that comfortable band and the amount of construction and energy to get to it comfortable isn't anything special.
I also think that even people that are used to warm climates and would be very uncomfortable in the cold, would not think they're in danger of dying at those temperatures.
The temperature and effective wind-chill to risk of exposure isn't linear.
Granted, it also isn't universal, so not everyone will be affected the same way, but 30F isn't considered a risky temperature.

[Douglas]

I also think that even people that are used to warm climates and would be very uncomfortable in the cold, would not think they're in danger of dying at those temperatures.
The temperature and effective wind-chill to risk of exposure isn't linear.
Granted, it also isn't universal, so not everyone will be affected the same way, but 30F isn't considered a risky temperature.

...

What level of insulating clothing, etc., and what duration are you talking about, here?

[factotum]

Today, December 16, it was 71ºF. Yesterday I think it was around 68º.

"Below freezing" is terrifyingly cold to me.

It's currently 1°C outside my house. We don't get temperatures up in the 70°F range until the height of summer!

[snowblizz]

Hmm, that seems unusual. Where do you live? Every thermostat in my and my friends homes can TECHNICALLY* be programmed from 40 - 90.

*Realistically you'd never use the extremes unless the home was going to be empty for an extended time, so setting heat at 40 and cooling at 90. You could try the reverse but the cost is probably prohibitive.

But I just checked my Nest thermostat and even on it I can program the 40 - 90 range. And I did check it both ways, so I could tell it in the summer to go for 40.... (I suspect the air would just never turn off).

Just because it's got the numbers don't mean you can change them though.

My apartment (built 2014) has a range of like 15-30, but as the contractor told us even if you crank it up to 30 it will never get that warm because the buildings central heating system (conencted the city heatingsystem) chokes you out anyway well before that. Similarly you can never turn the heat completely off, in both cases in the apartment building it's partly to protect the rest of the building and I guess save on costs if some nutjob tries to run it on max.

At my parents the old dial style has 10-30 or some such but you're always limited by what the boiler system provides anyway.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

It's currently 1°C outside my house. We don't get temperatures up in the 70°F range until the height of summer!

It giet oan!

(Sorry, but as a person from the Netherlands I'm required to say that whenever temperatures get near freezing. It means there's going to be an eleven city ice skating race. They have been getting steadily less common since the sixties or so, going on 23 years since the last one at this point, so it's vitally important that we start saying "it giet oan" earlier and earlier at the slightest hint of cold weather.)

[Lord Torath]

Today, December 16, it was 71ºF. Yesterday I think it was around 68º.

"Below freezing" is terrifyingly cold to me.

It's a warm and toasty 15 degrees outside my window just now. And that's Fahrenheit, not Celsius. And when I say "warm and toasty" I mean DANG that's cold!

[Peelee]

Spoiler: Check out these numbers

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Now, to be fair, it is unseasonably warm; usually winter goes into the 50s or 40s or, during the absolute worst parts, 30s and maaaaaaaybe 20s. Those are thankfully uncommon, and usually only overnight. But still, everyone prepares like it's the apocalypse.

Also, fun fact, y'all get to see James Spann, our weather guy! For the last 30-odd years you could tell how bad the weather is by his state of undress. Fully clothed, it's fine. Jacket off? Bad weather but that's it. Sleeves rolled up? Buckle down. No tie? Storm shelter, now. If he reaches for the top button on his shirt, may the gods have mercy on your soul.