A Programmable Thermostat is a Must

thermostat

When it comes to home cost, energy is one of the biggest concerns for every household. Whether it’s summer or winter, when the monthly bill comes around, we see the overwhelming cost of heating and cooling. Many have moved out of larger homes simply because they couldn’t afford the heating and cooling bills. You don’t have to put all of your belongings into a self storage unit and cram into a smaller home to avoid these high costs.

Thermostat is your solution

There is an easy solution with programmable thermostats. Your utility costs will be reduced to great affect by a simple update like this. Most newer homes come with these updated energy rated thermostat controls already built in, but millions of homes are still using outdated technology that’s incredibly inefficient and costs the average homeowner a small fortune every year.

A fix for  inefficiency

These greener❠systems have been pushed for years now, but people have been slow to adopt them. Part of this reason is because people don’t know how they differ from the older models. The idea behind them is simple: you can set your thermostat to automatically shut off or reduce the temperature while you’re not at home. Most people leave their air conditioning running while they’re away from home so they don’t have to walk into a furnace right when they get home. Then on the other hand, people wait to turn it on until they get home and then the thermostat works twice as hard to cool the house in order to make it comfortable. This is a very inefficient way to moderate the temperature of your home.

When you install one of these devices, you can set it to lower the energy output until about a half hour before you get home so that way you’re not wasting a lot of energy while no one’s there to use it. You don’t have to constantly obsess about your energy usage and you don’t have to worry about manually setting it all the time. This way your thermostat will kick on a half an hour before you wake up and then turn off as you’re leaving. This way you can reduce the energy you’re using and cut the cost of heating and cooling all year around.

Where do I get one?

You can buy one of these devices at any home improvement store and they’ll usually set you back somewhere between 25 and 100 dollars. This is if you’re installing it yourself. If you have someone else do it, it’s going to cost more. With one of these devices installed in your home you can save, depending on how you use it, hundreds of dollars every year. If you’re lowering the thermostat by several degrees, you’re going to save way more. By some estimates, if the average household lowers their heat by just one degree you can reduce the annual heading costs up to five percent.

The programmable thermostat doesn’t save you money just by being installed. You have to use them effectively and utilize their programming features. It’s not complicated at all, and you’ll know how to operate it by reading the very easy to understand manual that it comes with. So if you’re interested in reducing your energy costs, as well as your carbon footprint, then look into getting one of these highly useful tools for those frigid winters and unbearable summers.

photo by andybutkaj