In a splendid survey of new technologies and new thinking about ways to save fossil fuel (Physics Today, November 2000, page 29), Arthur H. Rosenfeld, Tina M. Kaarsberg, and Joseph Romm included the building sector. However, they did not make the obvious (to me) suggestion that buildings be less heated in the winter, perhaps to 70°F instead of 72°F, and especially that they be less refrigerated in the summer, perhaps no colder than 78°F or 80°F.
In France, it is a rule of thumb that setting your thermostat 1°C higher in the winter leads to a 7% increase in your fuel bill (3.9% per degree Fahrenheit). The cost per degree of air-conditioning must be about the same. In winter, Americans might learn to put on a sweater instead of turning up the thermostat—that’s what I did when I moved to France.
