January 06, 2012
Like most people, you are probably away from your home more than a couple hours each day.
While you are gone, your central heating and cooling system is still working just as hard, unless you have a programmable thermostat. Programmable thermostats save you money on your energy bills by keeping your home at an optimum temperature only when you are there.
A programmable thermostat allows you to set the temperature of your home based on your schedule. If you work from eight to five and go to bed around eleven, you are only awake in your home for about seven hours, why pay to heat or cool it for the other 17 hours too?
Many people realize the energy savings they can achieve by turning the thermostat down in the winter and up in the summer while they are away from home. Doing so means your heating and cooling system will work less and therefore cost less to run. But if you do so manually, when you come home you have to wait for your HVAC system to catch up.
With a programmable thermostat, you can program your habits into the thermostat itself and it will bring your home to a comfortable level by the time you get home. In the winter you can go to bed, have the thermostat set to drop a few degrees and still wake up to a warm home!
In the summer, set the thermostat to raise while you are at work or asleep and then to cool the home off again right before you get home or wake up. In this way a programmable thermostat allows you to save energy and money without sacrificing comfort.
In order to get the most energy savings out of your programmable thermostat, there are a few things to remember.
Program the thermostat to stay at its energy-savings level for long periods of time (up to eight hours).
When you go on vacation or are away from home for several days, don’t forget to adjust your programmable thermostat’s settings. Many have a vacation or “hold” mode for such occasions.
If your home has a zoned heating or cooling system, install a programmable thermostat in each zone for maximum comfort and savings.
Don’t forget to change the batteries. It’s a good idea to change them every year, or when the unit indicates the batteries need to be changed.
Remember, for every one degree you change your thermostat, you save about 2% on your energy bill. Fine-tune your settings to maximize your savings and comfort.
Programmable thermostats help you save money and decrease your energy bills while still keeping you comfortable.
Contact Cool Today and start saving with a programmable thermostat for your home.
Posted in: Buyer's Guide