Low temperatures fell to five degrees Monday and Tuesday night and caused a lot of burst plumbing pipes in the greater Huntsville area. Monday morning we called every one of our tenant customers and asked them to keep the water dripping from all faucets in all bathrooms and the kitchen to keep the plumbing from freezing and breaking, and to keep the heat no higher than 65 degrees or you will not be able to pay the bill. For each degree above 68 degrees on the thermostat, it costs an extra 4 percent on the heating cost for the typical heat pump used in the Huntsville area. That would mean an extra 24 percent cost to go from 68 degrees to 74 degrees!

http://www.wmbfnews.com/story/24396239/heating-company-gives-tips-for-cost-efficient-home-heating

We only had three with frozen plumbing pipes, and those were repaired quickly. Other realty companies had many plumbing breaks and lots of property damage from the cold. Thanks to all our customer tenants for helping us keep the property in good working order.

In regard to turning the heat down, one reason is to keep the heating system from failing. Very few systems are created to run in a near constant state, which is what keeping a central heating system running set at 70 degrees or more will do in this severe cold. Turning the setting down means the heating system can cycle on and off and keep it from failure from running constantly. We had no heating system failures that we know of from the cold.

It will save our tenant customers a lot of money to turn the heat down at night.

http://www.wsmv.com/story/24377031/tips-to-save-on-electric-costs-in-cold-temperatures