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Comment by jrace | Hacker News Reader

Personally,my homes heat and ac use us u changed whether or not I am home. There has been minimal savings (from my own small sample size) to reducing either while I am away, as when I would return the system would have to work longer to restore the desired temps.

So my situation it actually is a net benefit to work from home.

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I think that’s typical. I can drop my thermostat about 7 degrees F in the winter if I’m not home. Just have a window unit AC which I rarely use and don’t even put in some years.

But I’m probably about 40 miles RT to go into my closer office which I have basically not done for years. Sometimes go into the urban one to meet with customer which is about 2x the distance and 3x the time.

For most people commuting costs dwarf the costs of being home for the day—unless they move to a bigger and more expensive place.

> 7 degrees F

Typo? Pipes freeze and burst at that temperature.

Drop by not to. To about 55 degrees.

If you have a modern heat pump system, it's often more energy efficient to keep it at a steady temp. They become more efficient the less they have to work. This means if you're changing the temp while at work, there's a spike when you return where it has to work harder. The efficiency loss there is often worse than what was saved by changing the temps while you were away.

Same, most people keep their home in a narrow temperate range, especially if you have pets at home.

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