In a 2010 online survey conducted at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 89% of the respondents rarely or never programmed their programmable thermostat to a set weekday or weekend schedule. If you’re part of this demographic, you’re missing out on several key benefits, such as improved HVAC performance and energy savings.
In this blog, heating contractor Air Pro Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc. shares some tips and best practices for getting the most out of your programmable thermostat.
Know Your Thermostat
Whether you’re planning on buying a new programmable thermostat or already have one installed, you should be familiar with the type you have or plan on buying. There are four types of programmable thermostats:
1-Week Programming — This is the simplest type of programmable thermostat. It can be programmed to run a 24-hour cycle, regardless of the day.
5-2 Programming — You can program this type to run one cycle for five consecutive days (weekdays) and a different one for two consecutive days (weekends). This works best if your family follows the same schedule for Saturdays and Sundays.
5-1-1 Programming — This is similar to 5-2 programming, except that you can program different cycles for Saturdays and Sundays.
7-Day Programming — This type of programmable thermostat allows for seven different cycles, and therefore offers the most in terms of flexibility.
Once you know the thermostat type, you can program it accordingly. You’ll need one program for the months of heating and one for the cooling season.
Don’t Stick to Factory Settings
Heating and air conditioner replacement contractors choose HVAC systems according to the individual house’s heating and cooling requirements, making every home unique. Your programmable thermostat requires individualized settings, too. Program your thermostat based on your family’s wake and sleep times, as well as the times you leave for work and school.
The Department of Energy suggests setting your home/awake settings to 68 degrees in the winter, then set your away/asleep settings 10 degrees lower. In summer, set the air conditioning to 78 degrees when you’re home, and raise it by up to 10 degrees when you’re away. HVAC systems actually consume more energy when you manually shut them off and turn them back on, so by programming your HVAC system to reduce its output when you’re not using it you’ll be saving energy and helping reduce wear.
Air Pro Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc. is your leading provider of air conditioning repair and replacement services. Give us a call at (703) 255-0624 or fill out our contact form to schedule an appointment.
Air conditioning and heating contractor Air Pro Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc. shares tips on getting the most out of your programmable thermostat in this post.
