Best Thermostat Settings for a Texas Winter
Last updated: October 18, 2026 · 6 min read
There is a genuine tension every cold week in Texas: keep the house warm enough to be comfortable, but not so warm that the heating bill turns ugly. Where you land the dial is how you settle it — and here there is one important local twist, because the right approach depends on whether you heat with a heat pump or with plain electric-resistance heat.
The short answer
The U.S. Department of Energy commonly suggests about 68°F when you are home and awake in winter, and lower while you are asleep or away — every degree you drop trims a little heating energy. The big Texas caveat: if you have a heat pump, deep setbacks can backfire, because a fast catch-up fires up its expensive backup resistance heat. So use small, gradual setbacks (or a heat-pump-aware smart thermostat) with a heat pump; normal setbacks are fine with resistance heat.
Where the 68°F Number Comes From
The 68-degree figure is the Department of Energy's long-standing suggestion for a winter setpoint when you are home and awake, with the advice to let it fall further while you sleep or leave the house. It is not a Texas law of physics — it is a balance point between comfort and cost. The logic is the same one that governs summer, just flipped: the smaller the gap between your indoor temperature and the cold air outside, the less heat leaks out and the less your system has to run. Holding 68 instead of 72 means fewer kilowatt-hours burned to keep the house warm, and every one of those is billed at your effective rate — around 14 cents per kilowatt-hour for the energy portion on a typical Texas plan.
| When | A common starting point |
|---|---|
| Home and awake | Around 68°F |
| Asleep | A few degrees lower |
| Away for hours | Lower still (keep the setback small with a heat pump) |
The Heat Pump Catch: Why Deep Setbacks Backfire
Here is where the standard advice needs a Texas asterisk. The usual money-saving move is a deep overnight or away-hours setback — let the house cool into the low 60s, then warm it back up. That works beautifully with resistance heat. But with a heat pump it can quietly backfire. When you ask a heat pump to jump several degrees quickly, it often cannot recover fast enough on its own, so it switches on its auxiliary electric-resistance heat to catch up — the most expensive way it can make warmth. Run that scenario every morning and the aux heat can erase the savings the setback was supposed to create. The fix is not to abandon setbacks but to keep them small and gradual with a heat pump, or to use a heat-pump-aware smart thermostat that eases the temperature back up slowly instead of demanding a sudden catch-up. For why that backup heat is so costly, see our guide on heat pump versus resistance heat.
Deep setbacks can backfire on a heat pump
With plain resistance heat, turning the thermostat way down while you are asleep or out saves money cleanly. With a heat pump, a big setback often triggers the expensive auxiliary resistance heat on the way back up, wiping out the savings. If you are not sure which system you have, keep setbacks small and gradual to be safe.
How Much a Setback Really Saves
So how much is a degree worth? Honestly, it depends — on your home, your system, and how cold it is outside — so be wary of anyone quoting a precise number. The reliable rule of direction is that every degree lower means a bit less heating energy, because the system runs less to hold a smaller temperature gap. The Department of Energy frames turning the thermostat back for a stretch of hours a day, while you sleep or are away, as one of the simplest ways to trim heating costs over a season. Just keep the heat-pump caveat in mind: on a heat pump, how you come back up matters as much as how far down you went.
Free Heat: Sun, Layers, and Ceiling Fans
Some of the cheapest warmth in a Texas winter costs nothing at all. Sunlight is the obvious one: open blinds and curtains on south-facing windows during the day to let the sun help heat the room, then close them at night to hold that warmth in and block the chill radiating off cold glass. Layers matter more than people admit — a sweater and a throw blanket can make 66 feel as good as 70, which is real money over a winter. And your ceiling fans are not just for summer: set them to run on low in the clockwise direction and they gently push the warm air that collects near the ceiling back down into the room, so you feel comfortable at a slightly lower setpoint. None of these touch your rate, but every one of them lets you hold a lower, cheaper thermostat setting without feeling it.
Setting a Number You Can Live With
In the end, the best setting is the lowest one your household can genuinely be comfortable at — and comfort is not something to apologize for. If 68 feels fine with a sweater, hold 68 and pocket the savings. If someone in the house needs it a touch warmer, meet them there and claw the cost back with sunlight, fans, and a well-sealed home rather than a miserable thermostat war. The one Texas-specific discipline worth keeping is the heat-pump rule: small, gradual setbacks, not deep swings. Do that and the thermostat becomes a lever you control rather than a mystery driving the bill. For the wider picture on trimming winter usage, see our guide on how to lower a Texas electricity bill, and for why a cold month spikes in the first place, why your Texas bill runs high in winter.
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Compare Plans Free →Common Questions
What temperature should I set my heat to in a Texas winter?
The U.S. Department of Energy commonly suggests about 68 degrees Fahrenheit when you are home and awake in winter, and setting it lower while you are asleep or out of the house. That is a guideline for balancing comfort and cost, not a hard rule. Many Texans sit a degree or two either side of it and use layers, sunlight, and ceiling fans to feel comfortable at a lower setting.
Should I turn the heat down at night with a heat pump?
A small setback is fine, but a deep one can backfire. When you drop a heat pump several degrees overnight and then ask it to warm the house quickly in the morning, it often fires up its expensive auxiliary resistance heat to catch up, wiping out what the setback saved. With a heat pump, use small, gradual changes or a heat-pump-aware smart thermostat. With plain electric-resistance heat, normal nighttime setbacks work fine.
How much does each degree save on heating?
It depends on your home, your system, and the weather, so there is no exact figure. As a rough rule of thumb, every degree you lower the thermostat trims a little heating energy, because the system runs less to hold a smaller gap with the cold outside. Over a full winter those small percentages add up, which is why the Department of Energy frames setting the thermostat back as one of the simplest ways to cut heating costs.
Do smart thermostats work with heat pumps?
Yes, but you want one that is built to handle heat pumps. A heat-pump-aware smart thermostat manages the backup resistance heat intelligently and can recover the temperature gradually so it does not trigger that expensive aux heat unnecessarily. A basic thermostat that is not set up for a heat pump can actually cost you money by calling for aux heat on every recovery. Check that the model lists heat pump or auxiliary heat support.