Smart thermostats are revolutionizing the way we think about home heating and the potential of savings homeowners can take advantage of. We’ve come a long way from centuries ago when home heating meant building an indoor fire. Like almost everything else in the 21st century, regulating home heating and cooling has been strongly influenced by technology. Manual thermostats that were in most homes a generation ago have given way to smart thermostats. These products do the thinking for you when it comes to making sure your home is comfortable and they will also put extra money in your pockets.
What are Smart Thermostats?
Manual thermostats required you to set the temperature in your home and adjust those settings based on the time of day. Smart thermostats differ from these earlier models because they can still work even if you didn’t set your home’s temperature. That’s because they have the ability to learn your household’s heating and cooling habits. If you are someone who is always raising or lowering your home’s temperature at certain times, a smart thermostat will remember that pattern. Smart thermostats also give you the ability to manage your home heating and cooling remotely through Wi-Fi and apps available for smartphones tablets and laptops. This allows you to adjust your thermostat from your bedroom, office or wherever else you might be.
Some smart thermostats, like the Nest Thermostat, uses the data it learns from a homeowner’s habits and begins to program the temperature automatically without having to do it manually. The Nest allows homeowners to review their home’s energy history, as the system will show you temperature adjustments over the previous 10 days. The Nest also has the ability to sense climate conditions such as humidity that pop up inside the home and adjust the temperature accordingly.
Smart Thermostats Support Energy Efficiency
This technology translates into savings on your heating and cooling costs. According to a white paper released by Nest in 2015, homeowners using the product saved on average between 10 to 12 percent of their heating usage and about 15 percent of their electric usage for home cooling.
The smart thermostat also cuts down on human error saving you money by preventing you from wasting energy. For example, if you leave your home and forget to turn your heat down, you can do so remotely or the system will remember your schedule and make adjustments. According to the Energy Star program’s website, being able to program your thermostat and fine-tune your home’s heating and cooling schedule can save you about $180 a year in energy costs, provided they’re used properly.
Information from Smart Thermostats Helps Save Money
Another way smart thermostats help you save money is by providing information about your energy use that will allow you to modify your behavior to be more energy efficient. The Nest Thermostat will let you know when you’re saving energy by displaying a leaf icon. They will also include money-saving tips in the reports you receive about energy usage.
If you have questions about smart thermostats and how they can save you energy and money or you’re looking to have our professionals install one for you, give us a call at (516) 231-2964 or fill out our contact form and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. We can discuss your home heating and cooling options and we’ll give you a free, no obligation quote.
