A Programmable Thermostat Is A Must-Have Feature: 2 Tips To Maximize Results

A programmable thermostat is a must-have tool in an energy-efficient home for controlling the heating and cooling system. When properly used, these thermostats reduce the amount of energy your household uses for heating and cooling while maintaining or improving your comfort level. Keep the following tips in mind to get the best results from your programmable thermostat.

Use the settings for savings

Use your programmable thermostat’s “set-points” to run your heating or cooling system at a reduced level when no one is home or when everyone is asleep.

For example, the programmable thermostat can be set to start your furnace to warm the house before your family begins its morning routine, so you wake up to a cozy home, and then return to a cooler level for an eight-hour stretch after everyone leaves. In the evening, the thermostat can have the furnace warm up the house before everyone returns from work or school. The temperature is again reduced after everyone has bedded down. In the morning, the cycle starts again.

Using set-point cycles keeps your home comfortable while saving energy. Set-points can be adjusted or overridden as needed to accommodate your family’s schedule.

Avoid incorrect readings

Install your programmable thermostat in a location where it can give accurate readings of room temperature. False, “ghost” readings can occur if the thermostat is placed in areas where it can be directly warmed or cooled. If the thermostat is warmed by exposure to direct sunlight, for example, the temperature reading will not accurately reflect the room’s actual temperature. The thermostat may then tell your heating or cooling equipment to cycle on when it’s not needed or leave it off when it is.

Keep programmable thermostats out of drafts and direct sunlight and away from doorways, skylights, windows and other sources of extra heat or coldness.

Home Comfort Experts is a family run heating and air conditioning business serving customers in Northern Indiana and Southern Michigan. Contact us today for information on programmable thermostats or for help finding and installing a model that will work best for your home.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about programmable thermostats and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.