Posted by Carol Hart on Mon, Nov 16, 2009 @ 10:51 AM
Picture this: its cold outside--really cold. You've been away at work all day and have slogged through the ubiquitous "wintry mix" during your long commute home. Because you're energy conscious, you've turned your home thermostat down to practially subzero temperatures. You feel like a walking popsicle, so as soon as you get home you turn the manual thermostat up to "nuke", even though you know it doesn't actually heat up your home any faster. It does make you feel warmer, though.
There is a better way. A programmable digital thermostat allows you to control the temperature of your home and optimize energy savings. And when a typical household spends upwards of $2000 on energy use--half of that for home heating and cooling--the savings can really add up.
How do they work? Energy Star qualified programmable thermostats are designed to be set at different temperatures for different periods of time. You can set your temperature at a comfortable level during the day, and have it automatically lower an hour or so before you typically go to bed. Then, program it to warm the house to a comfortable level shortly before you wake up. If you're gone for long perdiods of time during the day, have it automatically lower the temperature when you leave, and raise it so you have a toasty house when you make it home. A quality thermostat will enable you to provide different temperature and timing options for different days, so you can make adjustments for that Wednesday night Pilates class, or Saturday morning sleep-in. They also provide for "vacation" settings, where the temperature is way down for an extended time away. And the best feature may be the "set it and forget it" aspect--once its programmed, you really can just leave the heat alone.
How much can you save? Of course, that depends on your usage. But for every eight hours you lower the temperature one degree you lower the heating bill by 1%.
There may be no more ideal way to save money, save energy, and increase your comfort level than installing a digital thermostat.