HVAC
HVAC maintenance in Colorado Springs, CO

It’s estimated that nearly 50% of your annual home energy bills are the direct result of home heating and cooling practices. It’s no surprise that many homeowners are looking for ways to reduce their energy consumption and minimize their associated bills. Fortunately, one of the easiest and most effective solutions to reduce your energy bills is with a smart thermostat.

Understanding Smart Thermostats

Smart thermostats are advanced devices that wirelessly connect to your home’s Wi-Fi network. They allow you the ability to both monitor and control your HVAC system from anywhere you have internet connectivity. Smart thermostats come with great features that are far superior to traditional thermostats. These include things like learning capabilities that can automatically adjust your temperature settings based on your routine.

They offer remote access from your smartphone or other smart device anywhere you may be. You can see energy reports to gain feedback about your energy usage and receive helpful suggestions for energy savings. Smart thermostats can even easily integrate with smart home systems like Google Home, Apple HomeKit, and Amazon Alexa for optimal home functionality.

Automatic Scheduling

One of the easiest ways that your smart thermostat can reduce your energy bills is with automatic scheduling. You can program your thermostat to alter the temperature at times you won’t be home, like when you’re at work. This will reduce the run time of your HVAC system when you’re not home to enjoy the comfort that it produces.

You can also automatically schedule your thermostat to be colder during the wintertime in the evenings while you’re asleep. This can enhance your sleep and reduce the need to run your heating system often during the overnight hours. By reducing the temperature between seven and 10 degrees for around eight hours a night, you can save up to 10% on your heating costs throughout the year, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Geofencing

Many smart thermostats now come with geofencing technology. This uses the GPS location of your smartphone to adjust your home’s temperature settings. For example, when you leave your home and your thermostat senses your smartphone’s GPS location is no longer at your home, your thermostat will automatically alter the temperature.

In the wintertime, it will decrease the temperature, while in the summertime, it will increase the temperature. Geofencing technology is also great for ensuring your thermostat reheats or recools your home to your preferred temperature before you arrive. It does this based on your GPS location’s distance from your home, and what it calculates is the necessary runtime to get your home back to your preferred temperature.

Remote Access

One large advantage of using a smart thermostat is that it gives you the ability to control your settings remotely from your smartphone or other device. You can optimize your energy savings by manually adjusting the temperature when your activities divert from your normal schedule. For example, if you decide you’re going out to dinner instead of going home, you can adjust your thermostat accordingly to save it from reheating your home until you actually head home from dinner.

Learning Technology

One other way a smart thermostat can help reduce your energy bills is by making automatic adjustments via its learning technology. Many times, homeowners skip over changing their pre-programmed thermostat settings and make manual adjustments. For example, you may try turning the temperature down before you go to bed in the winter to capitalize on energy savings. With learning technology, it will only take a couple nights of you turning the temperature down before your thermostat will automatically adjust your future settings to do so automatically.

Energy Usage Reports

One of the lesser-known ways that a smart thermostat can help reduce your energy bills is by providing you with better information about your energy usage. You can physically see how much energy your HVAC system is using and during what times of the day. This can allow you to make adjustments to your settings based on this data. You can even see in real time how making a degree or two adjustment on your thermostat can reduce your energy usage.

Choosing the Right Smart Thermostat

If you believe a smart thermostat is a smart investment for your home, it’s best to make a list of features you want to have before you start your shopping experience. One of the best things you can do is start by evaluating your needs. Understand the size of your home, your system type, and the number of zones that you have.

Many homeowners opt for choosing a thermostat that has both geofencing and learning capabilities for optimal convenience and control. If you already have or are planning on getting a smart home system, you need to purchase a thermostat that’s compatible with your specific type of smart home brand. Not all smart thermostats work with say Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant.

Another factor to keep in mind is compatibility between your existing HVAC system and the new smart thermostat. It’s important to check to ensure your specific model heating or cooling system is compatible with the new thermostat. Additionally, look for models that offer actionable insight reports that are easy to read as this will ensure you fully understand your energy usage and are able to better optimize it moving forward.

Other Smart Thermostat Benefits

While there’s no doubt that using a smart thermostat can help reduce your energy usage and ultimately your energy bills, it does provide many other great benefits you should be aware of. Most utility companies will offer you a one-time rebate when you purchase a new smart thermostat for your home. This can work to offset some of the up-front cost of purchasing your new thermostat.

When you integrate a smart thermostat into your HVAC system, you can reduce the runtime of your system. The less often your HVAC system runs, the less wear and tear it endures over time. This can lead to a longer system life span and a reduced breakdown risk.

Best Practices for Maximizing Savings

Installing a smart thermostat is a great start toward your goal of energy savings. There are some key practices you’ll want to implement to ensure you maximize your savings as much as possible. Opt for setting reasonable temperature ranges throughout the winter and summer.

During the winter, aim for 68 degrees when you’re at home and between 60 and 62 degrees when you’re away. During the summer, go with 78 degrees when you’re home and 82 degrees when you’re away. Be sure to set up geofencing technology and remote access control for your smartphone. Make it a monthly habit to monitor your energy reports and identify patterns of high energy usage that you can change. Additionally, ensure your HVAC system gets routine maintenance and filter changes for optimal operating efficiency.

Exceptional Smart Thermostat Installation

Alphalete Plumbing Drain Heating & Air offers exceptional smart thermostat installation for the Colorado Springs, CO community. We can also assist with all your indoor air quality, heating and cooling needs. Call our office staff today to book your next appointment with one of our skilled HVAC technicians.

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