It’s easy to overlook the importance of the thermostat in a home and use it in a careless manner: pushing it up high when it’s cold outside, then turning it back down when it gets too hot, then repeating the process over and over. This is extremely wasteful of energy and won’t result in your family enjoying any better comfort. We have some tips on how to program your thermostat during the winter so that you’ll optimize energy use without throwing away a cozy indoor environment.
Recommended Thermostat Settings
The U.S. Department of Energy suggests that you keep the thermostat set at a steady 68°F during the day when people are awake and at home. You may wish to adjust this up a few degrees if there are elderly people or infants living in your house—anyone who has special heating needs. Otherwise, this temperature is a comfortable one for most residents, and it will slow the amount of heat loss to the outside. Remember, the higher the indoor temperature, the faster heat escapes to the outdoors, which is one of the reasons that you shouldn’t press the thermostat up to the highest setting possible.
You should program a setback temperature for the thermostat for times when people are asleep or when no one is home. A good setback temperature is 58°–60°F. This 8° to 10° drop will contribute significantly to lowering your seasonal heating bills, sometimes cutting them by as much as 20%.
Is It Time to Upgrade Your Thermostat?
If you read the above advice and thought, “But I don’t have a programmable thermostat!” then now is definitely the time to consider replacing the old thermostat with an advanced model. New technology has developed Wi-Fi enabled thermostats as well as “smart” thermostats that develop their own energy-saving programs based on a homeowners’ history of temperature settings. Call our technicians today to learn more about your options for thermostat installation.