How to Practice Energy Saving Thermostat Settings This Winter
The thermostat is vital to maintaining both comfort and energy efficiency in your home. However, it’s often easy to overlook this importance and set the thermostat incorrectly, and it will end up delivering the opposite of what you want: unpleasant temperatures and wasted energy.
Learning how to set your thermostat wisely isn’t that tough. You only need to understand the basics of the way a thermostat operates, how your home traps heat, and what temperatures are ideal to meet your comfort and energy conservation goals.
The thermostat is a switch, not a throttle
This is the big misunderstanding that most people have about thermostats. Setting the thermostat to a higher temperature does not make the heater produce more heat the same way that opening up a throttle makes an engine produce more power. The thermostat only controls whether the heating system turns on or off. At a higher setting, the thermostat will keep the heater running longer until it senses the temperature has been reached. You won’t get heat any faster with a thermostat pushed up to 90°F!
Your home loses heat faster when the temperature is higher
You don’t want to expend the extra energy to reach such high temperatures. Not only is it uncomfortably hot (you don’t want the house to be 90°F, no matter how cold it is outdoors), but it will result in a more rapid loss of heat to the outside. Placing the thermostat lower will help stabilize the temperature, lowering heat loss so the heater will not need to work as much.
Set the thermostat for 68°F during the day, with a 8°–10° setback at night
These settings are ideal for comfort and energy conservation. Make sure that you have a programmable thermostat that will allow you to control the setback temperature for the evening (or when no one is home). Sticking to these settings should result in saving up to 20% off your heating bills during winter.
Raleigh Heating & Air, Inc. is here for your heating needs in Clayton, NC this winter. We have the best people in the industry, and every co-worker here is inspired to elevate your experience.