How to Save Money Using a Programmable Thermostat

To learn how to program your thermostat, you may try to follow the directions it has on the cover or google ‘program thermostat’ and there are YouTube videos showing how to program your specific thermostat.  In summary, there is a setting for WAKE when you are getting up, LEAVE when you are going to work or school, RETURN when you come home in the evening, and SLEEP when you go to bed.Many people say they’ve rarely (or never) programmed their thermostat because they’re not sure how to, but learning how to use a programmable thermostat can help you save at least 15% annually on energy bills. Here are some tips that will help you optimize your energy usage.

Winter months:

• For the hours you’re home and awake, program the temperature to 68°F.
• Lower by 10° for the hours you’re asleep and 5° when you're out of the house.

Summer months:

• For the hours you’re home, program the air conditioning to 74°F.
• For the days you don’t need cooling, manually shut off the AC.
• Program the AC to shut off during the hours you’re out of the house.

Basically, we recommend you lower your A/C or heat while you are sleeping or away from home. Here are a few programming tips that can help you create the best set-and-forget heating and cooling schedule for your home:

• Lower heat or A/C 20 to 30 minutes before you leave home each day.
• Turn on heat or A/C 20 to 30 minutes before you come home each day.
• Reduce the heating or cooling 60 minutes before you go to sleep each night.
• Increase heating or cooling about 30 minutes before you wake up each morning.
• Spend time tweaking your program for a few days to make sure it feels right for you.

TIP: With a Wi-Fi-enabled thermostat, you can control your home’s temperature from anywhere. This is done remotely using an app on your smartphone. That way, you’re not wasting energy if you’re running late or forgot to create a new program before going on vacation.

Copperhead installs Nexia home thermostats, which are Wi-Fi enabled, and come with an app on your smartphone, which empowers you to control the climate in your home from anywhere on the go.

 

We can also supply and install NEST thermostats which sense when you are home by the signal on your smart phone and adjust the thermostat according to a setback you have setup on your NEST account online.