Are you away from your home more than a couple hours each day? If so, you are a prime candidate to save money on your monthly energy bills with a programmable thermostat. Why are you spending money to keep your home at a comfortable temperature even when you aren’t home?
What are programmable thermostats?
A programmable thermostat allows you to set the temperature on your thermostat 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 seven hours, why pay to heat or cool it for the other 17 hours too?
How does it help me save?
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 when you come home you have to wait for your HVAC system to heat up or a warm home you have to wait to cool off.
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.
Maximize your savings
In order to get the most energy savings out of your programmable thermostat, there are a few things to remember.
- Time - Program the thermostat to stay at its energy-savings level for long periods of time (up to eight hours).
- Adjust - 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.
- Zone - If your home has a zoned heating or cooling system, install a programmable thermostat in each zone for maximum comfort and savings.
- Maintain - 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.
- Fine-Tune - Fine-tune your settings to maximize your savings and comfort. Remember, in the summer don’t move the thermostat more than 3 degrees warmer as the recovery time will waste your savings. In the winter you can change it 5-7 degrees for maximum efficiency.
Programmable thermostats help you save money, decrease your energy bills and remain comfortable.
Schedule a service with Pippin Brothers today to start saving with a programmable thermostat for your home.