Why Smart Thermostats Are Worth It

If you’re looking for a way to spend less money and energy in your home, it may be a wise investment to research getting a smart thermostat. These gadgets can do everything from monitor when you leave the house, so that it doesn’t waste electricity heating or cooling a vacant home, to adjusting energy usage according to how many people are in a room or what time of day it is.

We’ll review what a smart thermostat is, how it runs and why it’s worthwhile to purchase one. We’ll also discuss how it can help you save money on your energy bills by decreasing energy consumption.

What Is a Smart Thermostat?

A smart thermostat is an automated device that allows you to do it all from changing your heating and cooling settings for various times of day, to monitoring when people are in the house, so it isn’t wasting energy by heating or cooling a vacant home.

Most smart thermostats have learning abilities, which means they pay attention to how you adjust your settings and make automatic adjustments as time passes based on what they learn from you.

A smart thermostat connects to Wi-Fi, so you’ll be able to change and monitor your energy usage from just about anyplace.

How Do Smart Thermostats Work?

A smart thermostat has learning algorithms and can connect with other smart home technology, like Google Home, Amazon Alexa and Apple HomeKit, for improved control over your comfort. They work with most systems, such as home heating and air conditioning.

Smart thermostat features include a temperature sensor that can tell when the home is vacant, and then automatically adjust to an energy-efficient setting. Your smart thermostat may be able to geofence with your phone to know when you’re at home or out.

A smart thermostat does tasks like adapt more for rooms that are occupied or have more people in them, as well as monitor what time of day it is so it knows how much heating or air conditioning should be used.

Are Smart Thermostats Worth It?

For some people, the answer is yes. If you do a lot of travel or are out for many hours during the day, it may be worth your money to get one of these thermostats. You could save a lot, especially if you forget to adjust it when you leave for the office or go out of town for the weekend.

You won’t have to worry about whether your smart thermostat is on the appropriate program, or if you remembered to adjust the temperature setting before you went out. It doesn’t require a lot of effort on your part, but you’ll see it in reduced energy bills.

Smart Thermostats vs. Programmable Thermostats

Many homeowners have a standard programmable thermostat, but 40% of them aren’t set properly. This means you might be missing chances to save on heating and cooling costs.

Smart thermostats are handy because they learn your schedule and automate heating and cooling that corresponds. You can set a comparable schedule on a programmable thermostat. But it’s more effort to program your thermostat by hand.

A smart thermostat conveniently adjusts and gradually changes the temperature inside your home for the greatest energy savings. If you manually change a programmable thermostat, you can overburden your HVAC system and make it work harder to meet your changes.

Do Smart Thermostats Save Energy?

Yes, since your smart thermostat will learn about your temperature preferences and routine to make a schedule that saves on heating and cooling costs. You don’t have to do much as your thermostat does all the work for you while conserving money.

You can acquire the same energy savings with a programmable thermostat, but it’s going to require a little bit more work than a smart thermostat. To put together a schedule on programmable models, we suggest following these guidelines from ENERGY STAR® to save energy.

Recommended Temperature Settings for Your Heating System

    • Wake: Under 70 degrees.
    • Day: Set back at least 8 degrees, if no one is home.
    • Evening: Higher than 70 degrees.
    • Sleep: Decrease at least 8 degrees.

Recommended Temperature Settings for Your Cooling System

    • Wake: Higher than 78 degrees.
    • Day: Set up at least 7 degrees, if no one is there.
    • Evening: Cooler than 78 degrees.
    • Sleep: Set up at least 4 degrees.

To sum up, you don’t have to get a smart thermostat to decrease your energy bill. All you need is a programmable thermostat, but it’s essential to note that any savings may come at the cost of your comfort and convenience.

Do Smart Thermostats Save Money

Nest, one of the most popular smart thermostat manufacturers, says its smart thermostat saves U.S. homeowners about:

    • 10-12% on your heating bill
    • 15% on your cooling bill
    • $131 to $145 on your energy bill annually

Your smart thermostat will give you a monthly heating and cooling report, which often compares you to other residences in the area.

Your possible savings vary based on your house, where you live, how much insulation you have and your desired temperature settings. You might experience average savings, significant savings or somewhere in between.

If you’re noticing you’re only seeing small savings on energy costs, you might be optimizing for energy efficiency currently. This includes switching off your HVAC system when you’re not at home or moving your thermostat up/down when you’re sleeping.

Smart thermostats make the process easy through their hands-off process that slowly shifts the temperature. If you’re at home a lot, it might not save you much on energy costs as is the point in an automatic, energy-efficient schedule.

How to Get a Smart Thermostat Rebate

Many utility companies give rebates to homeowners who install energy-saving, ENERGY STAR-certified equipment like a smart thermostat. The rebate amount varies by company, but in most instances, it will cover most or all the expense. To find out more, visit your utility company’s website for rebate information.

Depend On the Experts for Your Smart Thermostat Needs

Getting a smart thermostat is an investment, but it can save you money in the end. If you’ve been thinking about installing one and want to know if they run as promised, we offer free home comfort assessments. Call our Experts at 866-397-3787 to schedule yours now!

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