With every changing season, the way you use your furnace and air conditioner changes with it. Hot summers may mean you use your air conditioner more than usual. A cold autumn means you’ll switch back and forth between furnace and air conditioning, over and over again.
But one thing is for sure – how much you pay for heating and cooling each year never goes down. Compare what you paid each September, November, March, or July several years in a row. Fuel prices continue to rise. You equipment ages. Added up, that ensures your bills continue to rise.
You might not be able to control fuel prices or how your equipment ages, but you can work to control how efficiently the heating and cooling system operates.
When you buy a smart thermostat and install it in place of your traditional thermostat, it enables you to control your heating and cooling in a more efficient way.
It starts by allowing you to program in the savings. Start with your schedule. When do you rise in the morning? When do you leave for work or school? When do you return home? When do you go to bed? By using the programmable feature, you can ensure that your home is always comfortable when you’re in it, saving money when you’re away or asleep.
Did you know that for each degree you adjust the thermostat, it equals about two percent in energy savings? That can add up to several hundred dollars over the course of a year. That also means you can pay for your purchase when you buy a smart thermostat easily within the first couple of years.
Are you ready to buy a smart thermostat for your home? Here are a couple of tips to keep in mind.
Buy something you’ll use
Smart thermostats will only work and help save you money if you use it. If the technology isn’t something you’ll use the way it’s intended, look for a different thermostat. You should also ensure it works well with the systems you have in place. A heat pump may require different equipment than a gas-forced furnace and air conditioner.
Buy something that matches your lifestyle
A smart thermostat is designed to be programmable and to keep the temperatures in your home comfortable when you’re home, while lowering it to save money while you’re away. To do that, you’ll want something programmable based on the way you live. Do you have predictable patterns seven days of the week? Up at the same time, to bed at the same time, no matter what day it is? Or are you a little less predictable, and have flexible schedules and hours all seven days? Be sure to buy a smart thermostat that can give you what you need while not investing in too much technology that costs more and will sit unused because you simply don’t need it.
Need help in making your final selection? If you find it all a little overwhelming, give us a call. As a part of your seasonal maintenance visit, we can make a few suggestions and help you find the right programmable thermostat for your life.