Why Smart Thermostats Are Worth It

If you want a way to save money and energy in your home, it may be a wise investment to explore getting a smart thermostat. These gadgets can do everything from monitor when you leave the house, so that it doesn’t waste electricity heating or cooling a vacant home, to changing energy usage according to how many people are in a room or what time of day it is.

We’ll cover what a smart thermostat is, how it runs and why it’s worth it to invest in one. We’ll also discuss how it can help you save money on your energy bills by reducing energy consumption.

What Is a Smart Thermostat?

A smart thermostat is an automated device that allows you to do it all from changing your heating and cooling settings for different times of day, to tracking when people are in the house, so it isn’t wasting energy by heating or cooling an empty home.

Many smart thermostats have learning abilities, which means they pay attention to how you adjust your settings and make automatic adjustments as time passes based on what they learn from you.

A smart thermostat connects to Wi-Fi, so you’ll be able to adjust and monitor your energy usage from just about anyplace.

How Do Smart Thermostats Work?

A smart thermostat has learning algorithms and can connect with other smart home technology, such as Google Home, Amazon Alexa and Apple HomeKit, for even better control over your comfort. They work with most systems, including home heating and air conditioning.

Smart thermostat features include a temperature sensor that can detect when the home is empty, and then automatically adjust to an energy-efficient setting. Your smart thermostat might be able to geofence with your phone to know when you’re at home or away.

A smart thermostat does things like adjust more for rooms that are occupied or have more people in them, as well as monitor what time of day it is so it knows how much heating or air conditioning should be going.

Are Smart Thermostats Worth It?

For some people, the answer is yes. If you do a lot of traveling or are out for many hours during the day, it may be worth your money to get one of these devices. You could save a lot, especially if you forget to adjust it when you leave for work or go out of town for the weekend.

You won’t have to worry about whether your smart thermostat is on the appropriate program, or if you remembered to adjust the temperature setting before you left. It doesn’t require a lot of effort on your part, but you’ll notice it in reduced energy bills.

Smart Thermostats vs. Programmable Thermostats

Most homeowners have a traditional programmable thermostat, but 40% of them aren’t set correctly. This means you might be missing opportunities to save on heating and cooling costs.

Smart thermostats are handy because they learn your schedule and automate heating and cooling to match. You can set a comparable schedule on a programmable thermostat. But it’s more work to program your thermostat by hand.

A smart thermostat conveniently adjusts and gradually changes the temperature inside your home for the greatest energy savings. If you manually adjust a programmable thermostat, you can overload your HVAC system and make it work harder to meet your adjustments.

Do Smart Thermostats Save Energy?

Yes, since your smart thermostat will learn about your temperature preferences and day-to-day activities to make a schedule that reduces heating and cooling costs. You don’t have to do much as your thermostat does all the work for you while conserving money.

You can acquire the same energy savings with a programmable thermostat, but it’s going to require a little bit more effort than a smart thermostat. To put together a schedule on programmable models, we suggest following these recommendations from ENERGY STAR® to save energy.

Recommended Temperature Settings for Your Heating System

• • Wake: Below 70 degrees.

• • Day: Set back at least 8 degrees, if no one is there.

• • Evening: Greater than 70 degrees.

• • Sleep: Set back at least 8 degrees.

Suggested Temperature Settings for Your Cooling System

• • Wake: Greater than 78 degrees.

• • Day: Set up at least 7 degrees, if no one is home.

• • Evening: Cooler than 78 degrees.

• • Sleep: Increase at least 4 degrees.

As you can see, you don’t have to get a smart thermostat to decrease your energy bill. All you need is a programmable thermostat, but it’s important to note that any savings may come at the cost of your comfort and convenience.

Do Smart Thermostats Save Money

Nest, one of the most prominent smart thermostat manufacturers, says its smart thermostat saves U.S. homeowners about:

• • 10-12% on your heating bill

• • 15% on your cooling bill

• • $131 to $145 on your energy bill each year

Your smart thermostat will give you a monthly heating and cooling report, which often compares you to other residences in the area.

Your possible savings vary based on your house, where you live, how much insulation you have and your desired temperature settings. You might see average savings, significant savings or somewhere in the middle.

If you’re noticing you’re only getting minimal savings on energy costs, you might be optimizing for energy efficiency already. This includes turning off your HVAC system when you’re not at home or turning your thermostat up/down when you’re sleeping.

Smart thermostats make this simple through their hands-off process that slowly shifts the temperature. If you’re at home often, it might not save you much on energy costs as is the point in an automated, energy-efficient schedule.

How to Get a Smart Thermostat Rebate

Many utility companies give rebates to homeowners who purchase energy-saving, ENERGY STAR-certified equipment like a smart thermostat. The rebate amount varies by company, but in most instances, it will take care of most or all the cost. To find out more, check your utility company’s website for rebate info.

Trust the Experts for Your Smart Thermostat Needs

Getting a smart thermostat is an investment, but it can help you spend less money in the end. If you’ve been thinking about installing one and want to know if they run as promised, we provide free home comfort assessments. Call our Experts at 954-736-4314 to schedule yours now!