How to Use Your Thermostat to Reduce Your Energy Consumption
Utility bills can get pretty high, especially in the height of the summer or winter when your home has to work harder to stay at a comfortable temperature. HVAC systems have gotten more efficient over the years, but they still consume a lot of energy. In fact, in many homes, HVAC systems account for about half of a home’s overall energy consumption. If you’d like to cut down on your energy usage, taking a look at how you use your HVAC systems is a good first step. Then, be strategic with how you use your thermostat. You might also consider upgrading your thermostat so that your home can be more energy efficient.
Make the Right Adjustments
To save money on your utility bills, you don’t necessarily need to make drastic changes. Even little adjustments can make a difference.
When you’re away from home, you don’t need to keep your home as warm in the winter or as cool in the summer. As long as temperatures in your home don’t get too extreme, everything should be fine. When you get home, you can simply put on an extra sweater in the winter or turn on a few extra fans in the summer before the temperature gets back to a more comfortable level.
If you’re away for the day in the winter, consider setting your thermostat to around 60 or 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Your home might be a little chillier than you’re used to, but your pipes won’t freeze at these temperatures. In the summer, consider setting the thermostat to around 75 or 80 degrees when you’re gone for the day. If you make an adjustment of seven to 10 degrees for about eight hours, the U.S. Department of Energy says that you could save as much as 10% on your heating and cooling costs.
If you plan on spending a few days or more away from home, think about making some bigger adjustments. In this case, you might set your thermostat at 55 to 60 degrees in the winter and 80 to 85 degrees in the summer. This way, you won’t be wasting energy when you’re not home.
Different Types of Thermostats
Several different kinds of thermostats are available. With a non-programmable thermostat, you can manually set a certain temperature and change it whenever you’d like. These thermostats certainly work well, but there are more advanced models that can do an even better job.
Programmable thermostats offer a key advantage. They can remember temperature settings for different times of the day. If you’d like to turn the thermostat up or down before you go to work each day, that’s not a problem at all. Likewise, you’ll be able to set the thermostat to make an adjustment around the time when you get home from work. If you’d like to make another adjustment when you go to bed, the thermostat can remember that, too. Many programmable thermostats have weekend and weekday settings, offering more customization opportunities.
Smart thermostats take things to another level and can do so much more. They can communicate with smartphones and tablets, as long as they have compatible apps loaded on them. If you’ve forgotten to make an adjustment before you left on vacation, for example, just open up the app, and make that change. If you’ve remembered that you’re going to be home a little earlier than expected, it’s simple to make an adjustment so that your home will be comfortable upon your return. Some models can even be controlled with voice commands, and they can be programmed to remember various settings as well.
Having more control over your thermostat allows you to make the changes necessary to save energy. For many people, convenience is so important, and that’s why a more advanced thermostat could be a wise investment.
Ask Us for Assistance
At Jeffries Heating & Air + Plumbing, we can take care of a thermostat replacement for you if you live in the Somerset area. In addition, we can handle an installation, tune-up, or repair of a heater or air conditioner. We also offer services related to indoor air quality systems, air ducts, drains, and water heaters. At our family-owned business, keeping customers satisfied is our main goal. We always work hard on their behalf, and we look forward to helping you in any way we can. Call Jeffries Heating & Air + Plumbing to let us know how we can assist you!
