Getting the Most Out of Your Programmable Thermostat

Did you know that according to the Energy Information Administration, about 42% of home energy costs go to heating and cooling? Knowing how to properly use your programmable thermostat allows you to take control of your home’s temperature settings during periods where your home is empty and saving you from unnecessary heating or cooling costs.

Programmable thermostats can include options that will also allow you to zone your home; effectively dividing it into separate sections, so you can choose which portion of your home is heated or cooled. Diverting your systems airflow from unoccupied rooms allows you to heat or cool the parts of the house you spend the most time in much more efficiently.

Simple measures can also save you money. By turning your temperature up a few degrees in the summer (around 78) or down a few in the winter (68 degrees), you can save even more without a loss of comfort.

Tips to Getting the Most Out of Your Programmable Thermostat:

• Make sure you program it to shut down the heat or air-conditioning automatically when you leave for work, and to turn it back on 20 to 30 minutes before you expect to return.
• Setting back the thermostat for ideally 8 hours will produce higher energy savings over the course of a cooling or heating season.
• You’ll also want to program the thermostat about an hour after you go to bed and return to “awake” mode about 30 minutes before your alarm goes off in the morning. It’s also important to program different settings for weekdays and weekends when your schedule changes.
• Some programmable thermostats have a “Vacation or Away” setting that lets you choose single energy-saving setting for the duration of your absence.
• If your schedule changes you can easily override the next programmed setting, and avoid having to reprogram the device. Just choose the “hold” feature, but use it sparingly. Every time you override a setting, you could lose possible energy savings.
• When selecting a programmable thermostat choose a device with adaptive recovery technology to boost comfort and savings. This type of thermostat continuously calculates the time frame the comfort system requires to bring the home back up to the preset temperature, using just enough energy to do so. As a result, the home is always comfortably heated by the time the next scheduled setting begins.
• If your thermostat is battery operated in some cases, don’t forget to change the batteries throughout the year. Some thermostats have a battery-change reminder feature, where the display panel shows a light indicating that the batteries are nearing the end of their useful life. You can also set a calendar reminder to alert you to when the batteries require changing.

Be sure to ask our trained technicians during your next service call how a programmable thermostat could help alleviate some of your home energy costs. Call us today at 512-837-2917 to find out more about the different types of programmable thermostats that can help you save money.