Introduction

Living in northern Minnesota comes at a price. Today I had my propane tank refilled. In a little over a two month span, I went through 236.8 gallons at $1.899 per gallon. The bill was a whopping $451.68 with a two dollar truck charge.

With soaring prices and disappearing jobs, saving money is at the forefront of everyone’s mind. According to the Energy Department, the average Americn household is expected to spend $1,137.00 for heating costs between October 2008 and March 2009. Subsequently, a digital programmable thermostat is one way to save money.

It is estimated that a digital programmable thermostat can save up to 20% on your heating and cooling costs. Accordingly, they save money by automatically setting the temperature lower or higher when people are away from home or sleeping. In an eight hour period, you can have as much as a 1% Some people suggest you set your furnace at 68° during the winter and 78° during the summer when you are home.

Misperceptions about the Programmable Thermostat

Some people have argued that a programmable thermostat  doesn't save money because the furnace either has to run longer or hotter to bring the house back up to a comfortable temperature. Neither argument is true. Countless research and studies have shown that the fuel required to reheat the building is equal to the fuel saved while the temperature is dropping to the cooler set point. Thus, fuel is saved during the time between the lower temperature and higher temperature. Consequently, the longer your thermostat is at the lower temperature, the more money you will save.

Another misconception is that if you raise the temperature, the furnace will have to put out more heat. The furnace puts out the same amount of heat regardless of the temperature setting. However, the higher the temperature, the longer the furnace runs to raise the temperature to the chosen temperature.

Choosing a Programmable Thermostat

When choosing a programmable thermostat, you’ll want to consider several factors. These factors are:

• Features - Convenience and your family’s schedules will determine the features you want.
• Price - Price is usually dependent on how many features the thermostat has.
• Warranty - How long is the warranty
• Energy Star label - An Energy Star label denotes the product as being in the upper 25% of energy efficiency for that class of product.

Features

A programmable thermostat can cost as little as $30.00 and go up from there. Price is usually dependent on the amount of features. Some of the features are:

• Touch-face interface
• Backlighting
• 24/7 variable schedule
• 5+1+1 program - Separate settings for the weekdays, Saturday, and Sunday
• 5+2 - Separate setting for the weekdays and the weekend
• Manual overides
• Vacation overides
• Automatic daylight savings time adjustment
• Automatic season change over
• Adaptive intelligent recovery - Senses the amount of time needed to reach the next setpoint
• Filter usage monitor - Monitors when you need to change filters
• Energy usage monitor - Monitors how much energy used in a given time
• Keyboard lockout - Keeps unauthorized people from changing settings
• Battery back - If not, the clock is disrupted every time the furnace turns on and off.
• Voice recoginition
• Light sensitivity

When selecting your features, I have two pieces of personal advice. First, if I were buying a new thermostat today, I would choose one with a lockout feature or buy a clear lock box to place over the thermostat. All the features in the world won’t save you money if family or friends are turning up the temperatures while you’re away from home. Secondly, unless you have a good memory, printed usuage instructions on the inside of the thermostat cover are helpful.

Conclusion

Dependent upon your family’s lifestyle, a programmable thermostat can result in significant savings. Considering it will help you save money year after year, it is well worth the investment. Furthermore, since a programmable thermostat can be purchased for as little as $30.00, it won’t take long to recoup your investment. Before installing your new thermostat, keep in mind the location of the thermostat can affect it’s efficiency. Keep away from exterior walls, doors, windows, skylights, sunlight, and dafts.

On a final note, in the fall of 2007, Consumer Reports tested 25 programmable thermostats. Of those tested, they determined the Lux Temp Touch Screen TX9000 and the Lux Smart Temp TX 1500 were the best buys.