How Should I Set My Thermostat for When I’m At Work?
For many hours a day you’re off at work, or maybe at school. Yet your HVAC system continues to run, with nobody home. This uses up a ton of energy and costs you money. You can significantly reduce this cost by setting the thermostat up or down when you leave for work and resetting it back to your desired temperature when you come home. But how much should the thermostat be adjusted?
Here’s what the Department of Energy suggests about thermostat settings:
You can save up to 10% a year on HVAC costs by just turning your thermostat down 7°-10°F for eight hours a day from its normal setting. The percentage of savings from setback is better for buildings in cooler climates than for those in more dynamic climates.
The lower the difference between the indoor and outdoor temperatures, the more affordable your total cooling bill should be. You can easily save energy through the winter by setting the thermostat to around 68°F while you’re awake and turning it down while you’re asleep or away from home. For summer, you can practice the same plan with central air conditioning by having your house warmer than normal when you are at work and setting the thermostat to a setting as high as you’re comfortable with when you are at home and want cooling and to provide humidity control if required.
You may have been told that doing these adjustments are not worth the effort because your comfort system has to work even harder to return to your favored temperature, undoing your savings, but the energy department dismisses that claim, particularly 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
Regardless of the benefits of adjusting your thermostat each time you leave for work, it’s very 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 shift to another temperature across your regular work hours. And with a smart thermostat, you can change the temperature (or the programming schedule) from anywhere. This is very helpful if you’ve neglected to change the setting before leaving for a trip.
Don’t Forget the Pets
If you have pets at home, think about their comfort as well. Cats and dogs with heavy fur won’t be as happy with high temperatures. And pets with short fur might not be comfortable with cold temperatures. The same goes for tropical birds, fish and reptiles. Since temperature tolerances vary significantly by breed and species, look them up for your pets.
Additional Advantages of Setting Your Thermostat for When You’re Away
- Carbon emissions – The harder you run your heating and cooling, the more carbon emissions you generate. Conserving energy reduces air pollution and greenhouse gasses.
- HVAC Longevity – Demanding too much from your HVAC system can reduce its life span and cause additional maintenance to be needed. It also means the air filter can clog up more quickly, making your indoor air quality worse.
If you have any questions about your air conditioner features, or if you are looking for HVAC repair or maintenance, get in touch with the professionals at Service Experts Heating, Air Conditioning & Plumbing, a big company with homegrown heart. We’re serious about making the world a comfortable place to live. Whether we’re keeping things warm, cooling things down or making the water run, we have a lot of pride in keeping our customers and communities cozy and content.
Experts — it’s in our name and central to our business. We work tirelessly to help each member of our staff become a skilled craftsman. We employ the best and provide education, opportunities and assistance, so everyone can learn, improve and be ready for every challenge in front of them.
Our united business strength and people make us special. With over 4,000 team members collaborating on making you comfortable, we can deliver and innovate more effectively than other companies. Our can-do, family attitude fuels our cooperation and helps us get the job done promptly, and right — the first time.
Our combination of company size and personal expertise means we can do more with the next big idea … which can come from anywhere and anyone. We are reinvigorating the industry by harnessing each team member’s greatest ideas. That means our teams and customers can rest easy knowing we’re moving, innovating, delivering, and in it for the long run, through the busiest times and beyond.
We are Service Experts Heating, Air Conditioning & Plumbing! Offering strength, knowledge and support through every season.