5 Benefits To A Programmable Thermostat | It’s Time To Upgrade
Date: March 2, 2019
THE BENEFITS OF A PROGRAMMABLE THERMOSTAT ARE ENDLESS
First of all, what are programmable thermostats? In one quick sentence, I’d surmise them as the future of thermostats. The benefits of a programmable thermostat are lie in the fact that these thermostats are able to do 1 thing that the normal thermostat doesn’t do: these thermostats are programmable. But what does that mean? We’ll get into all of that in our listicle of the top 5 reasons to upgrade to a programmable thermostat today.
1. Saves Money
Any article you read on programmable thermostats will rank saving money as one of the top benefits of a programmable thermostat. These thermostats are programmable in that they will operate around your level of comfort, adjusting to turn down your HVAC system when you’re not home and pumping the pressure when you are to ensure you’re getting the optimized performance you’re looking for. There are various types of programmable thermostats. Most notably, the nest programmable thermostat is a smart product that since 2011, has saved up to 10-12% on heating bills and 15% on cooling bills. These smart programmable thermostats can pair with an app to give you an energy history report.
Really, smart programmable thermostats mold themselves around you. Turning down systems when you’re not home, in the middle of the night, and operates your home’s HVAC systems based on your preferences. There are a handful of ‘learning’ smart programmable thermostats that learn more about your day to operate as efficiently as possible.
But you don’t have to just buy the smart ones. There are a handful of programmable thermostats that are timed. The major benefit to smart devices is, of course, irregular schedules.
2. Zoning Your Heating and Cooling
Try as much as we might to get consistent heating and cooling in our homes, we will from time-to-time come across irregular second-floor and first-floor temperatures. This is where another key benefit of a programmable thermostat is hidden. Even if you live in a one-story home, if your home is able to provide zoned heating and cooling, programmable thermostats can offset your home to get more attention where you need there to be. This ensures standard air quality across your home so that you and guests won’t be subject to weird temperatures across the house. This allows you to get a consistent temperature output that you know is being optimized at the lowest cost possible for the greatest efficiency.
3. Ease Of Mind – Setting a Schedule
If saving money is of major importance for you (and let’s be real, is saving money not everyone’s priority?), programmable thermostats are for you. A benefit of a programmable thermostat is that they take all the hard work out of optimizing your home’s AC away from you. It’s the difference between using a calculator and doing math by hand. Sure, you can do it and you’ll get the answer a lot of the times (or relatively close to it), but a calculator is going to give you the right answer every time. In the same way, a smart programmable thermostat is going to work around your schedule and lifestyle to output the home efficiency that’ll work best for you. It works overnight as well so you don’t have to worry about going back and forth to save those few bucks. Even if you’re not the type to manually adjust your home every now-and-then, owning a programmable thermostat still provides the added benefit of knowing your home’s AC unit is being optimized at all times.
4. Energy Efficiency
It might not be the main reason you invested in a programmable thermostat but bragging rights never heart anyone, right? The EPA estimates that with the use of a programmable thermostat, you’re able to save anywhere between 10-30% on heating and electricity. While these figures lean more towards the 10% side, the savings are still highly significant. Of course, this means you save a lot on your heating bill, but also, you get the added benefit of contributing to energy use reduction!
5. Control All Day From Every Place
The added benefit of a smart thermostat is that they are highly integrated with other smart technology. While a lot of learning thermostats are able to recognize your day-to-day schedule, we may from time-to-time take a family vacation or a small day trip where our schedule takes us out of the house. When going on these trips, turning down the thermostat is one of the last things on our minds. Instead of leaving the thermostat as is and paying for an unused day’s worth of AC, you can simply go into the app when convenient for you and control your thermostat there.
All-in-all
Americans spend over $22 billion annually on air conditioning. AC accounts for over 70% of the electricity bill over the summer for, particularly warmer states. And on the spectrum, we’d probably put Arizona on the warmer side. With smart programmable thermostats being able to pay for themselves in less than 2 years, it’s only a matter of when you are ready for one in your home. Whether you reside in a multi-level home or apartment, or if you own a commercial building or vacation homes, or the likes, programmable thermostats could be the device you didn’t know you needed!
The Install
While the installation of a programmable thermostat may be daunting, the process itself doesn’t have to be! As a few DIY pointers, ensure that your HVAC system is turned completely off and that you follow all directions to a T. There are a few guides out there and for the most part, experienced HVAC DIY-ers are able to install different programmable thermostats — although the smart products may be trickier to handle and may require an HVAC professional. But don’t fear! Reach out and our comfort heroes can help you save the day (and some money)!