How to Program Your Thermostat For Optimal Performance?

The ideal temperature for your home’s heating and cooling system should provide comfort and convenience. Thermostat settings for both energy savings and comfort are important to every Northern California homeowner. Adjusting the thermostat temperature is an easy way of managing the indoor temperature. This should be done according to your preferences, habits, and the temperature outside.

Thermostat Settings for Summer

It is recommended that you set the home’s cooling system to 78 degrees Fahrenheit during the summer months. This is when you are at home. You should consider raising the temperature to 88 degrees if you are going to be away for four hours or more.

You can save an estimated 6 to 8% on your home energy bill for every higher degree that you set the thermostat above 78 degrees in the summer. You can ultimately save money by keeping the temperature slightly higher. It’s vital to remember that indoor humidity plays a major role in comfort.

Thermostat Settings for Winter

You can save a lot of money by keeping the thermostat settings at 68 degrees during the daytime in winter months. Turing your thermostat lower by 10 to 15 degrees for a minimum of 8 hours a day can help you reduce your energy bills by 5 to 15% every year as per a report by Energy.gov. You can also consider lowering the thermostat temperature at night when everyone is in bed. Many find it more comfortable to sleep in a cooler environment with winter blankets for regulating warmth.

Consider Programmable Thermostat

You can schedule and change your thermostat settings from anywhere by getting a smart or programmable thermostat. Most programmable thermostats automatically adjust the temperature in a house multiple times a day. You can always override the automatic settings manually if you don’t want to interrupt the weekly or daily programming.

Programmable thermostats offer ease of use. You can set the temperature as per the temperature outside while you away at work or asleep. For instance, you can raise the cooling temperature on a typical work day during the summer months. In winters, you can lower the temperature at nights if you don’t mind sleeping in a cool house. You can set the thermostat to automatically go a few degrees lower an hour before you are ready to sleep at night.

You can program the thermostat to increase the temperature by a few degrees, two hours before you are scheduled to wake up. This way you can wake up to a nice and toasty warm house. There are certain smart thermostats that come with artificial intelligence. These can predict your preferences and lifestyle habits and learn from it.

For instance, smart thermostats can be programmed to adjust the temperature up or down by 5 to 8 degrees depending on the season and the outside temperature.

Energy Star offers the following benefits and tips regarding programmable thermostats:

• Install the thermostat away from cooling and heating registers and appliances. This includes doorways, lighting, skylights, fireplaces, and windows. You should not install the thermostat in areas that are drafty or receive direct sunlight.
• It is recommended that you keep the thermostat at energy-saving temperatures.
• If you are going away for a few days you should set the thermostat to a constant energy-saving temperature.