Coming home to a comfortable temperature in your home after a long day at work is a great experience, but keeping your cooling or heating system running at full blast all day in an empty house can waste a lot of energy and cost you a lot of money. The key to efficiency and comfort is knowing how to use your thermostat effectively. While a properly functioning programmable thermostat is the best tool for saving energy, you can still do a lot with an older, non-programmable unit just by raising and lowering temperatures when you’re not going to be around. A programmable model is still your best bet, however, by far.
Setting your thermostat at the right temperatures is most important during the extremes of Southwest Ohio’s summers and winters. There are four distinct times of day where programmed changes can maximize efficiency. These are:
- When you leave for work. During mild temperatures, you can turn your heating and cooling off altogether while away, but turning off your HVAC systems during more extreme weather is an energy-saving myth. Shifting your thermostat by about 5 degrees, up in summer and down in winter, is ideal.
- Half an hour before you get home. To prevent coming home to a house that’s too warm or cold, it’s important to give your heating and cooling system a chance to create a comfortable temperature before you arrive. It shouldn’t take too long for a well-maintained HVAC system to recover a 5 degree difference.
- When you go to bed. Blankets are a great way to keep warm during the winter, so lowering your thermostat at bedtime by 5 degrees is a workable option. Unfortunately, sleeping in a hot bed doesn’t have many remedies. If it’s cool enough outside, you can open some windows and turn off the air.
- When you wake up in the morning. Getting out of the shower when it’s cold inside is not pleasant. Program your thermostat to a comfortable temperature about 30 minutes before your normal wake up-time.
If you’d like more expert advice about heating, cooling or any other issue related to your indoor comfort, please contact us at Ace Hardware Home Services Inc. We’ve been proudly serving the Dayton and Springfield areas since 1978.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Dayton, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
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