Among the reasons to have a programmable thermostat in your home, saving energy is the top one, followed closely by convenience. Used properly, a programmable thermostat can cut into your monthly cooling and heating costs by as much as 20 percent. The added convenience of not having to worry about adjusting the thermostat all the time is no small benefit itself.
While programmable thermostats come in many different styles and levels of advancement, they all share the ability to allow the homeowner to program temperature changes every day. This means you can preset what the temperature will be when you’re home, and then program energy-saving setbacks when you expect to be away or asleep. There’s no reason to keep the home at a comfortable temperature if there’s nobody around to enjoy it. And overnight, especially in the winter, most people prefer the heat to be set back several degrees.
With a programmable thermostat, you can anticipate when you expect to return from work or school, or to wake up from a night’s sleep, and set the temperature to return to your comfort level shortly before you arrive home or awaken. This way, you don’t have that uncomfortable half hour or so while the temperature is struggling to return to your comfort level.
Consistently setting the temperature back when you’re not home, or are sleeping, can add up to big savings over time. If you’re trying to do this with a manual thermostat, you’ll probably forget to adjust the thermostat up or down to save energy. However, it is important to make sure energy-saving setbacks last at least seven or eight hours, and to avoid overriding your programming too often. This will quickly defeat the purpose of your programmable thermostat.
As for convenience, you have enough to worry about every day without trying to remember to adjust the thermostat all the time.
Let’s see – energy savings and convenience. Aren’t these good reasons to have a programmable thermostat? For help choosing a programmable thermostat for your The Woodlands area home, please contact us at Bradbury Brothers Heating & Air Conditioning.
