If you are finally replacing that old dial thermostat or even a bare-bones digital one, you are making the right move for your home. While smart technology may seem a bit excessive to some, a smarter thermostat is a solid investment. However, even if you don’t want a ton of features, there are a few that you should look for.
When choosing a smarter thermostat to heat your home, look for at least these:
- Wake Up Temperature – When everyone is out of their blankets, you will want your home set to a livable temperature. You can set your waking hours to auto-adjust to what your family’s needs are.
- Sleep Temperature – Setting your thermostat colder when you are sleeping is not just about saving money, it actually increases your comfort and quality of sleep as well. With an automatic setting, you don’t need to remember to set it.
- Empty Home Settings – Why have your home heated up to comfortable temperatures when no one is even there? Being able to lower the temperature for the hours you are not home will save a lot in energy costs.
In some thermostats, it will have a period of time where it actually learns these behaviors for your family and then auto-adjusts. However, you may be more interested in less smart, programmable models where you just set these hours yourself. If you desire no other features from your thermostat, you should still be looking for these big three in order to reap the energy efficiency benefits. You can be just as energy-efficient with old thermostats as well, but the issue is that we often forget to make the adjustment to it. A programmable thermostat at the very least does the adjustments for you, so why not take advantage of the new technology when you need to replace your old model?
Contact Cunningham Associates to learn more about the benefits of programmable thermostats.