Why Smart Thermostats Are Worth It

If you’re looking for a way to spend less money and energy in your home, it might be a wise investment to explore getting a smart thermostat. These devices can do everything from track when you leave the house, so that it doesn’t throw away 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 cover what a smart thermostat is, how it works and why it’s worthwhile to purchase one. We’ll also talk about how it can help you spend less money on your energy bills by reducing energy consumption.

What Is a Smart Thermostat?

A smart thermostat is an automated device that allows you to do it all from adjusting your heating and cooling settings for different times of day, to tracking when people are in the house, so it isn’t needlessly consuming 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 over time based on what they learn from you.

A smart thermostat links to Wi-Fi, so you’ll be able to change and keep track of 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, such as Google Home, Amazon Alexa and Apple HomeKit, for even better control over your comfort. They work with most systems, including home heating and air conditioning.

Smart thermostat features include a temperature sensor that can detect 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 things like adapt more for rooms that are full or have more people in them, as well as track what time of day it is so it knows how much heating or air conditioning should be going.

Are Smart Thermostats Worth It?

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

You won’t have to be concerned about whether your smart thermostat is on the right program, or if you remembered to change the temperature setting before you left. It doesn’t require much effort from you, but you’ll see it in reduced energy bills.

Smart Thermostats vs. Programmable Thermostats

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

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

A smart thermostat conveniently adjusts and progressively changes the temperature inside your home for the greatest energy savings. If you manually adjust a programmable thermostat, you can overload 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 day-to-day activities to make a schedule that reduces heating and cooling costs. You don’t have to do much as your thermostat does all the work for you while saving money.

You can acquire identical 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 advise following these recommendations 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: Set back at least 8 degrees.

Suggested 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: Increase at least 4 degrees.

As you can see, you don’t have to buy a smart thermostat to decrease your energy bill. All you need is a programmable thermostat, but it’s important 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 prominent 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 usually compares you to other residences in your community.

Your potential 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 getting small savings on energy costs, you might be optimizing for energy efficiency already. This includes switching off your HVAC system when you’re not at home or turning your thermostat up/down when you’re sleeping.

Smart thermostats make the process simple through their hands-off process that gradually shifts the temperature. If you’re at home often, it might not save you money on energy costs as is the point in an automated, energy-efficient schedule.

How to Get a Smart Thermostat Rebate

Most utility companies give rebates to homeowners who purchase energy-saving, ENERGY STAR-certified equipment such as a smart thermostat. The rebate total varies by company, but in many instances, it will take care of most or all the cost. To find out more, check your utility company’s website for rebate info.

Depend On the Experts for Your Smart Thermostat Needs

Installing a smart thermostat is an investment, but it can help you spend less money in the long run. If you’ve been considering installing one and want to know if they work as promised, we provide free home comfort assessments. Call our Experts at 866-397-3787 to schedule yours now!

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