Install a programmable heat thermostat set it and forget it

Of course, you have heard that installing one of the new digital programmable thermostats will keep you and your family cool in summer and warm in winter. All the while, reducing your heating and cooling costs, and as if that was not reason enough to replace your old thermostat, conserving energy and resources.

Okay, you are probably thinking I have heard all that before. As you read this article, I think you will begin to see what you should know about a programmable thermostat, the whole “set it and forget it” thing, will do for you.

If you are like me, programmable thermostats are something we have heard a lot about, but are just getting around to installing in our home. We are quite aware, the great thing about the new digital programmable thermostats, we simply program the thermostat with a Wake time, oh lets say 5:30am at 68 degrees Fahrenheit, so we can get ourselves ready for the day, and the kids ready for school, in relative comfort.

Set a Leave time, of 6:45 at 62 degrees Fahrenheit, after all when no one is at home, why should the furnace and air conditioner keep our home the same temperature as if we were there?

Set a Return time, so the heat pump, furnace or air conditioner will kick on and warm or cool the house a few minutes before we get home and want to change clothes.

Set a Sleep time, for those of us that enjoy sleeping with the house a bit on the cool side and save money, we can adjust the thermostat down a few degrees, say back to 62 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter months, and wrap up or cuddle with that special blanket and pillow.

The point here, is with the set it and forget it thing going on, we can easily set our thermostat with unique Wake, Leave, Return, and Sleep times that effect every day of the week. Regardless of whether our furnace or heat pump is in the heating or cooling mode, a programmable thermostat will keep our homes comfortable, save money, and help us conserve energy, while doing our part for the environment.

Really, think about this for a moment, according to a national survey we spend between $2000 and $2500 of our hard-earned money annually on our home energy bills. Experts estimate that between 35% and 50% of that money goes to heating and cooling our homes. Buy simply lowering our thermostats one degree, we can realistically save between 1-3% of every dollar we spend to heat our homes depending on weather we use gas or electricity, and what area of the country we live.

That equates to, simply lowering the temperature setting on our thermostat by 2 degrees, can easily save us 2%, or as much as 6% on our heating bill every month.

Think about the ole style thermostats this way for just a moment. It is common for old style thermostats to have a 10-degree or more variance above and below the temperature setting, you set it on. Which is to say, when we set our old thermostat at 72 degrees the furnace would not kick on until the temperature inside our home dropped to around 62 degrees, causing you to look for your favorite sweater?

Making matters worse, when our old thermostat tells our furnace to kick on, the furnace runs until the temperature inside our home is around 82 degrees before it shuts the furnace off, just about the time your sweater is coming off, running up the electric and gas bills

Installing a programmable thermostat is quite cost effective when you think about it. When we take into account all money we can save each month on our utility bills. Shoot we can go online to Amazon or walk into our local home-improvement store and pick-up a brand new programmable thermostat for $50 too $100. Follow the included instructions and install the thing ourselves in just a few minutes, or hire the neighborhood handyman to install it for a few bucks.

Have fun saving energy in your home. Mike

The author of this publication, Mike Teddleton owns the copyright to Install a programmable heat thermostat set it and forget it. The rights to publish this article in print or online can only be granted by contacting me the author in writing. You may use the intro and link back to the article directing the reader back to my post here at HubPages where they may find the story in its entirety

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