People are always seeking ways to save on heating and cooling bills, and knowing the tricks of thermostat operation is an easy way to cut costs year round. What if you could save a significant amount each year on your heat and air conditioning bills with on simple thermostat operation? Of course, you would try it. By turning the thermostat back between 10° and 15° for a time span of eight hours each 24 hour period, you can save approximately 10% on energy bills.
Ten percent of yearly heating and cooling costs can be a significant amount of money that can be utilized in other areas of the budget or stored away to pad the savings account. One simple step once a day is all it takes. A programmable thermostat makes thermostat operation even easier.
Thermostat Operation is Easy with Programmable Thermostats
A programmable thermostat allows you to adjust the times you are using the heating and air conditioning and pre-set the schedule. For example, you may want to operate heating and cooling less during the times you are asleep or away from the home. By programming the thermostat to turn back during certain hours of the day and then back on for times when you are home and active in the house is a way to conserve energy and save money. All it takes is a few minutes of thermostat operation to preprogram the settings and the cost benefits continue year-round.
Programmable thermostats are convenient because you can store and repeat multiple daily settings (often 6 or more temperature settings each day). You can manually override the settings when you need to break away from the pre-programmed schedule and need the heating or cooling higher or lower at any given time.
Thermostat Operation for Winter Months
Setting the thermostat around at 68°F when awake during the coldest months of the year and then turning it down lower while sleeping or away from home is a way to save money on the winter energy bills. Turn it back 10°–15° for approximately 8 hours a day saves between 5% and 15% each year on the heating bill. This can end up being about 1% savings for each degree if the turn-back time span is 8 hours in length. If the home or building is in milder climates, the energy costs savings will likely be greater than than those in more drastic temperature climates.
Thermostat Operation for Summer Months
For the hottest months of the year, ideal thermostat operation is to follow a similar strategy as used during the winter months. Keep the air conditioner turned up and the house warmer when you are sleeping or way from the house, and keep the thermostat temperature to around 78°F when you are home and need the house to stay cool because you are active.
You can always conduct manual thermostat operation, but the programmable thermostat makes it easy and prevents the house reaching an uncomfortable temperature because you forgot to adjust. A high-quality, accurate programmable thermostat is also more likely to save you on energy costs because the pre-set temperatures and adjustments will be more exact.
