Have you heard? You can save 10%-30% off your heating and cooling bill with a programmable thermostat! That could add up to big savings over the course of a year. So what’s the problem? The problem is that’s not generally what actually ends up happening.
So why? Why do so many families not experience that level of savings when they have a programmable thermostat in place?
Well it just so happens that nearly half of US households that have a programmable thermostat installed in their home don’t even use it. Brilliant right! (Oh wait, I just realized I’m in that group.) And a number of others don’t use it correctly. Now I have to ad that we personally almost never use our heater to heat the house. First because we live in a very mild California climate and second we have alternative sources of heat that we use in the winter. And to be totally honest where our house sits on our property we have a ton of natural shade so our house doesn’t get near as hot even in summers.
It occurred to me though that when we do use our air conditioner we do not use it efficiently. There was a programmable thermostat installed in this home when we bought this house. But that meant that it didn’t come with a manual and I have never bothered to download one from the internet to figure out how to use it properly. It would seem fairly self-explanatory and yet every time I think I actually have it figured out I walk in the door and it is on and kicked down to a temperature I didn’t program in the first place.
American’s are also wasting tons of electricity every single year heating and cooling spaces that do not need to be heated or cooled or not adjusting the temperature when we are away or sleeping.
So if you really want to maximize your energy savings be sure to close vents in rooms that you do not use regularly. Keep doors closed to those rooms. Bother to use your blinds and drapes as heat begins to rise. Change your filter or put an air filter whistle in place and be sure to look once a year or so for leaks and drafts in your home. You would be amazed what an $8 piece of weather stripping could do for you.
And (talking to myself here) spend the 3 minutes doing a Google search for your thermostats manual to ensure that you are actually programming it correctly in the first place.
And if you don’t have a programmable thermostat here is one that is over 50% off
now on Amazon.
So now it’s your turn to weigh in. Do you actually use your programmable thermostat? Leave a comment below.
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