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The real payoff is that you automatically have the thermostat setting go down when you're away from home or at night.
At my house we generally turn the house up to 65 when we're home, then down to 55 when we go to bed. A programmable thermostat would enable you to do the same thing, only have it go down ten degrees when you're leaving for work and back up when you're about to go home, same with getting up and going to bed.
If you're keeping your house up at around 70 all day long you're missing out on a lot of potential savings.
And in case you're wondering, it's definitely more efficient to bring your temp up from 55 to 65 when you get up or get home than to leave it up at 65 all day.
And in case you're wondering, it's definitely more efficient to bring your temp up from 55 to 65 when you get up or get home than to leave it up at 65 all day.
I disagree. I tried raising/lowering the temperature about 10 degrees every day and my gas bill was significantly higher that month than usual. I think it depends on the difference in temperature between outside and inside. The colder it gets outside the more energy you will waste trying to raise the temperature back up 10 degrees. I have found that keeping the temperature within about 5 degrees either way is most efficient.
I disagree. I tried raising/lowering the temperature about 10 degrees every day and my gas bill was significantly higher that month than usual.
It depends on the insulation level of the house and the efficiency of the HVAC, in addition to the temperature difference (and various other minor reasons).
The real payoff is that you automatically have the thermostat setting go down when you're away from home or at night.
At my house we generally turn the house up to 65 when we're home, then down to 55 when we go to bed. A programmable thermostat would enable you to do the same thing, only have it go down ten degrees when you're leaving for work and back up when you're about to go home, same with getting up and going to bed.
If you're keeping your house up at around 70 all day long you're missing out on a lot of potential savings.
And in case you're wondering, it's definitely more efficient to bring your temp up from 55 to 65 when you get up or get home than to leave it up at 65 all day.
That's not necessarily true.
In an older plaster-interior home, you are better off keeping it at a consistent temperature - or relatively close to consistent (maybe vary 2 degrees). In addition, if you are varying the temperature of plaster by 10 degrees, several times per day, you're basically begging for problems.
Also, it depends on how many hours each "cool" or "warm" period is. If you're out of your house from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM every day, it's probably worth lowering the temperature. If you're only going to lower it for 2-3 hours, it's probably not worth it.
There are too many factors involved to make blankets statements like that.
If you have more than one level in your house a programmable one for each level is nice. You can adjust it for vacant space at different times of day. For example, no need to keep the upstairs warmer (or colder) if nobody is there during the day.
Another big advantage of programmable thermostats is that you can usually adjust the hysteresis levels. At my old house, we had an old mechanical thermostat that cycled the AC on and off too frequently (it only allowed about a 1 degree temp swing). This didn't give my AC compressor sufficient time to cool down and consequently it drew huge surges of current when it turned on. This contributed to higher electric bills.
When we replaced the unit with a $40 digital thermostat from Lowe's, I tweaked the hysteresis to a 3 degree swing and the compressor was much happier.
I must have been theonly person to have problems with a digital thermostat. Twice we had service calls when the heater went ot and both times it was the digital thermostat we had installed. These weren't cheap units either. Our new furnace came with the old type and that is what we have kept on it and have no problems. I set it at 63 and keep it there all the time. Was 60 last year but I wanted a bit more warmth in my older bones this year. We keep the AC at 80.
yes, i would say they are definitely worth it. programming times for the heat to kick up or down is one less thing to worry about. and its fairly easy to install and doesn't cost a lot.
whether you have a programmable, or digital thermostat I don't think it makes a lot of difference. the biggest difference is the digital vs the old dial-type. we typically adjust our thermostat depending on what's going on at any particular time. we turn it down to around 60 at night(much better sleeping) and keep it around 65 or so while we are at home. Higher if my mom comes to visit!
If we are going to be gone more than 2 hours during the day, we turn it down before we leave.
Our neighbor was over last night and suggested we get a special thermostat for our heat pump for the upstairs. The thermostat we have now has a manual switch for EM heat. He says the new one will automatically put it in EM mode when the temp outside falls too low. Should we take his advise and get this special thermostat?
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heat pump thermostat
