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As you go about your day at home, you might change the thermostat settings more than once to balance your comfort with saving money. But what if you were able to leave all that fine-tuning to a digital system and achieve your goals with little to no effort on your part? Well, if that sounds like a fantastic plan, you’ll love to see what a programmable thermostat has to offer. And you’ll likely delight in learning that new home builders are installing these smart devices more often than not. Here’s what you need to know.
How Do Programmable Thermostats Work?
When you have a programmable thermostat hooked up, you can tell it to alter the temp settings for the heat or air conditioning at specific times throughout the day. Then, it will kick the heating and cooling on as instructed to perfect the temperature in your home.
Do you like it chilly at night, but warm all day? You can do that. Or you can have it turn down the thermostat when you’re not home and kick it on full blast an hour before you’re set to return. You can also change it up season by season to keep your home comfortable while minimizing what you pay for energy.
No matter what settings you want, you can input your preferences right on the interface or through an app on your smartphone. If you have an app-linked device, you can even make changes while you’re away from home.
Benefits of Using Smart Thermostats
With a smart programmable thermostat installed, you get to enjoy all the following benefits.
Save Energy
You can save a lot of energy using a programmable thermostat. You just need to set it to 68 degrees all day, and then have it automatically turn down to around 66 degrees at night. Then, before you get up in the morning, it can bring the temperature up to 68 again to help you wake up right. You’ll likely notice your home’s energy usage decreasing, helping minimize your household’s carbon footprint.
Keep Bills Low
By using your smart thermostat to keep your home at 68 degrees or so all day and even lower at night, you can enjoy saving up to 10% per year on your energy bill. If you pay an average of $2,400 per year on energy, you’ll likely see a savings of around $240 just from setting your thermostat at the right level.
Stay Comfy
When you dial in your temperature settings around the clock using a programmable thermostat, you get to stay comfy without having to make manual adjustments. You’ll know that your heating and air conditioning systems will kick on at just the right moment to bring your livings space to your ideal temp. You may even wake up feeling more rested than ever before as the lower nighttime temperatures improve your sleep quality.
Protect Pipes
If you’re away from your home for days at a time in the winter months, you may worry about the heat turning off and allowing your pipes to freeze. Thankfully, with an app-connected smart thermostat on hand, you can check that your heater is running day and night.
With all these benefits in mind, it just makes sense to only use a programmable thermostat in your home.
Tips for Using Your Programmable Thermostat
When using a programmable thermostat, you’ll want to set a precise temperature for at least four separate times.
Preferably, set up a temperature for when you:
- Wake up each morning
- Leave the house for the day
- Return home after work or school
- Go to bed at night
By doing so, you can enjoy all the benefits of having a smart thermostat on your side. You may need to try out different temperatures to best balance your energy bills and comfort. But rest assured that it’s well worth the time and effort in doing so.
