For plenty of hours a day you’re off at work, or maybe at school. Yet your comfort system keeps working, with nobody home. This uses up a ton of energy and costs you money. You can dramatically reduce this cost by adjusting the thermostat up or down before you head to work and resetting it back to your favored temperature when you come home. But how much should you adjust the temperature?
Here’s what the Department of Energy has to say about thermostat adjustments:
You can save around 10% a year on heating and cooling by simply setting your thermostat down 7°-10°F for eight hours a day compared to its normal setting. The percentage of savings from setback is greater for buildings in milder climates than for those in more severe climates.
The smaller the variation between the indoor and outdoor temperatures, the more affordable your complete cooling bill can be. You can effectively save energy during the winter by setting the thermostat to around 68°F while you're awake and adjusting it down while you're asleep or away from home. During the summer, you can follow the same approach with central air conditioning by keeping your house warmer than normal when you are at work and tweaking the thermostat to a setting as high as you're comfortable with when you return and want cooling and to secure humidity control if necessary.
You may have been told that doing these adjustments aren’t worth it because your HVAC has to work extra hard to get back to your preferred temperature, using up your savings, but the energy department puts that notion to rest, namely for heaters: “A common misconception associated with thermostats is that a furnace works harder than normal to warm the space back to a comfortable temperature after the thermostat has been set back, resulting in little or no savings. In fact, as soon as your house drops below its normal temperature, it will lose energy to the surrounding environment more slowly.”
Programmable and Smart Thermostats
Even with the benefits of changing your thermostat any time you go to work, it’s easy to miss in the rush of getting ready and on your way. This is one benefit of programmable and smart thermostats. You can instruct your thermostat to automatically change to another temperature through your average work hours. And with a smart thermostat, you can increase or decrease the temperature (or the programming schedule) from anywhere. This is especially helpful if you’ve forgotten to change the setting before going on a long trip.
Remember the Pets
If you own pets, think about their comfort as well. Cats and dogs with heavy fur won’t be comfy with high temperatures. And pets with less fur might not be happy with cold temperatures. The same is true of tropical birds, fish and reptiles. Considering temperature preferences differ significantly by breed and species, so it helps to verify the ideal temperature range for your pets.
More Perks of Setting Your Thermostat for When You’re Away
- Carbon emissions - The harder you operate your heating and air conditioning, the more carbon emissions you generate. Conserving energy decreases air pollution and greenhouse gasses.
- HVAC Longevity - Overworking your HVAC system can reduce its longevity and cause additional maintenance to be required. It also means the air filter will clog up faster, making your air less clean.
If you have any ideas about your air conditioner features, or if you require HVAC repair or maintenance, contact the specialists at Orangutan Home Services, a big company with homegrown heart. We’re passionate about making the world a comfortable place to live. Whether we’re warming, cooling or making the water flow, we take great pride in keeping our customers and communities cozy and contented.
Experts — it’s in the name and core to our business. We work hard to help each team member become a skilled craftsman. We work with the best and supply training, opportunities and support, so everyone can learn, improve and be prepared for any challenge in front of them.
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Our combination of company size and individual expertise means we can do more with the next amazing idea … which can come from anywhere and anyone. We are reinventing the industry by utilizing each team member’s most popular ideas. That means our teams and customers can rest easy knowing we’re moving, innovating, delivering, and in it for the long term, through the busiest times and beyond.
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