How To Regulate Your Home Temperature for Efficiency

Written on: April 11, 2022

Smart and programmable thermostats help you save money

If you’re still using an old manual thermostat in your home, you could be needlessly adding to your energy costs.

Today’s programmable and smart thermostats are reasonably priced and can be found very easily in home improvement stores, on the Internet, or through AFC. They come with a number of benefits over older-style manual thermostats. The biggest advantage is how they can help you save on your heating and cooling costs.

You don’t have to second-guess whether or not you adjusted the thermostat prior to leaving your house for the day, as well as having to pay for any extra heating and cooling expenditures because you forgot. Coming home to a cold or hot and stuffy house is a thing of the past.

Programmable thermostats and smart thermostats allow you to adjust the temperature according to on your needs, as well as create different settings for weekdays, weekends, and holidays. It’s that simple!
Smart thermostats can also be monitored from anywhere you have access to a signal using your smartphone or tablet. Some even notify you if your home’s heating or cooling system needs repairs.

A manual thermostat’s settings may differ from the actual temperature by as much as 5°. This can have a big impact on your energy use and cost. Programmable and smart thermostats allow you to precisely control the temperature. You will be able to save both energy and money by not having to fiddle with the thermostat constantly in order to maintain the temperature you want.

Installing a programmable or smart thermostat is well worth the investment and you’ll be getting a return on that investment from the day you turn it on saving up to 10% on your heating and cooling expenses.

Thermostat setting tips

The following guidelines come from the U.S. Department of Energy and are designed for an optimum balance of comfort and savings. 

Warmer weather: 

• When you’re home and awake, program air conditioning to 78°F. 
• Turn your air conditioning setting 7 to 10° higher for when you’re asleep or away from home.

Colder weather:

• When you’re at home and awake, set the thermostat for 68°F. 
• Lower temperatures by 10° for the hours you’re asleep or out of the house.

Other tips:

• Set the temperature to drop or rise 30 minutes before leaving home every day. Set the thermostat to return to normal comfort levels 20-30 minutes before you arrive home. 
• Set your thermostat to the desired temperature 60 minutes before going to bed and return it to normal comfort levels 30 minutes before waking up.

AFC provides expert HVAC equipment service to keep your home’s heating and cooling systems running at their best possible energy efficiency. Contact us with questions, installation requests or service.