Heating and cooling your house represent almost half of the energy that an average home consumes, this according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Therefore, climate control inevitably ends up taking a significant slice of households’ budgets. This is why we need to find ways to optimize the performance and efficiency of our thermostat. As a result, we should see a significant improvement in our energy use habits without having to sacrifice the comfort of our home.
The best way to start taking advantage of our thermostat is by adjusting its settings depending on the season and time of the day. Setting up our thermostat to 68 degrees in winter months and 78 degrees in summer months during waking hours is a great way to optimize the performance and efficiency of our thermostat. Also, we can save up to 10% on our yearly energy bills if we adjust the thermostat by 10 to 15 degrees for 8 hours every day.
Taking advantage of technology is another excellent way of ensuring the optimal performance of a thermostat. For some, smart thermostats might not sound like an actual need, and that is perfectly understandable. However, the benefits that smart gadgets like these are way too many to not consider them. Programmable thermostats can be controlled remotely, they can be scheduled to adjust your home’s climate according to your particular routines, and they are quite user-friendly.
Regular maintenance to our heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems is an essential part of ensuring they are properly working, maximizing their efficiency and therefore reducing the overall energy use they may cause. Thus, it is important that we take the time to change the filters of our AC and heating units at least every three months, or as often as the manufacturer recommends. Also, we should have a professional technician check and tune-up our equipment at least once a year.
For those who do not consider themselves to be quite tech-savvy, the best way to make sure our thermostat and HVAC systems are properly working is by consulting with a professional. If we are not sure of how to properly set, adjust, and operate our smart thermostat, we shouldn’t hesitate and have an expert help us with this. Also, if we recently moved to a house with a thermostat that we are struggling with programming, contacting an energy efficiency expert is ideal.