Should You Replace Your Thermostat?
Homeowners around the country and through the seasons each year seem to be on a constant mission to save money on their heating and cooling bills. The key to that, of course, is to consume less energy during the process without sacrificing comfort. People look at their furnaces, their air conditioners, their doors and windows, purchase everything from weather stripping to insulated windows, and more – all in an attempt to save energy and money. However, there is one component of an HVAC system that is too often overlooked that can save homeowners more money than almost anything else: the thermostat.
Thermostats can Save You Money
If you spend thousands of dollars each year on your energy bills, or if your furnace and air conditioning system continually run to keep you comfortable, you may want to consider taking a good look at your thermostat, even if you have already taken action to limit the amount you pay on utilities. Any thermostat that is outdated has the potential to be costing you a fortune, so it’s important that you replace a device that has been sitting on the wall for several years.
Most homeowners have already heard of programmable thermostats, but may not realize the significance they play in controlling the indoor climate without unnecessary expense. Programmable thermostats will automatically adjust to have your HVAC system run less often when no one is home, and more often when people are in the house. They can be programmed according to times of the day when heating and cooling is most needed and not needed, to the point where homeowners can set it and forget it. This eliminates wasted energy from running systems too much at an empty house, saving hundreds of dollars each year.
High-Tech Thermostats for Energy Savings
When all is said and done, energy savings equals money savings, and the thermostats of today are designed to deliver both. There are models today that are pretty high-tech, and these advanced gems have the potential to provide effortless comfort for homeowners. So, what are some features of these modern-day marvels that are saving people money?
- 1. Some of the new thermostat models can be controlled and adjusted via cell phone – and not just with an app! The Honeywell Lyric will use the location of a cell phone to determine how close you are to home, and when the phone comes within 10 miles of the home, it will start warming or cooling your home so that it’s at the perfect temperature when you get there! The Lyric also uses Smart Cues, which alert homeowners to air filter changes, when there is an extreme temperature change in the home, or when the HVAC system is acting out of the ordinary.
- 2. The Ecobee Smart Si is another popular high-tech thermostat that can mean big money savings for owners. This one is Wi-Fi enabled, and can be linked with a mobile app to monitor a home’s energy usage. Owners can monitor the temperatures of the home via their cell phones, computers, or tablets, which can reduce energy costs by up to 23%! The Ecobee Smart Si knows when systems should be running and when they should not be, and creates and uses an energy profile as well. This energy profile reads the outdoor temperature to determine the most efficient ways to keep a home comfortable. Ecobee comes with remote temperature sensors that can be placed in various rooms in your home – it can allow your system to heat/cool until the room that you are in is the temperature that you like, or it can take an average of all of the sensors so your home is the temperature you set it for, not just wherever the thermostat is located.”
- Honeywell also has another thermostat that is voice-activated, and it has an alert system that will notify owners of any oddities in function, when to change air filters, and the like. The thermostat also has a mobile device app, which can be used if an owner is not within voice range of the device to control the home’s climate.
Contact A-1 Guaranteed for Your New Thermostat
With so many features available in today’s high-tech thermostats, homeowners who still operate the old-fashioned, outdated manual models really are throwing money away and wasting much more energy than they need to be. A-1 Guaranteed can help you choose the best new thermostat for your home, your needs, and your budget, and we’ll install it for you and help you learn to use it. Contact us today and let us know what we can do to help you on your way to a more affordable, more energy-efficient HVAC and thermostat system!
