How Should I Set My Thermostat for When I’m At Work?

For plenty of hours a day you’re gone at work, or maybe at school. Yet your comfort system continues to run, without anybody home. This uses up a good deal of energy and wastes money. You can significantly lower this cost by adjusting the thermostat up or down before you go to work and resetting it back to your favored temperature when you come home. But how much should you adjust it? 

Here’s what the Department of Energy says about thermostat settings: 

You can save around 10% a year on heating and cooling bills by just setting your thermostat down 7°-10°F for eight hours a day from its usual setting. The percentage of savings from setback is greater for buildings in more temperate climates than for those in more extreme climates. 

The smaller the variation between the indoor and outdoor temperatures, the lower your overall cooling bill should be. You can effectively save energy through the winter by lowering the thermostat to around 68°F while you’re awake and setting it down while you’re sleeping or away from home. In the summer, you can follow the same approach with central air conditioning by keeping your house warmer than normal when you are away and adjusting the thermostat to a setting as warm as is comfortable for you when you are at home and want cooling and to ensure humidity control if needed. 

You might have been told that making these adjustments are not worth the effort because your heating and cooling has to work extra hard to go back to your preferred temperature, using up your savings, but the energy department suggests this isn’t true, namely for a furnace: “A common misconception associated with thermostats is that a furnace works harder than normal to warm the space back to a comfortable temperature after the thermostat has been set back, resulting in little or no savings. In fact, as soon as your house drops below its normal temperature, it will lose energy to the surrounding environment more slowly.” 

Programmable and Smart Thermostats 

Even with the benefits of changing your thermostat each time you head to work, it’s very easy to forget in the rush of getting ready and on your way. This is one advantage of programmable and smart thermostats. You can direct your thermostat to automatically shift to a different temperature across your regular work hours. And with a smart thermostat, you can adjust the temperature (or the programming schedule) from anywhere. This is particularly helpful if you’ve forgotten to fix the setting before going on vacation. 

Always Remember the Pets 

If you have a pet, give consideration to their comfort too. Cats and dogs with thick fur won’t be comfy with high temperatures. And pets with less fur might not be happy with cold temperatures. The same applies to tropical birds, fish and reptiles. Considering temperature tolerances differ significantly by breed and species, so it helps to verify the ideal temperature range for your pets. 

Other Advantages of Adjusting Your Thermostat for When You’re Away 

• Carbon emissions – The more you operate your heating and cooling, the more carbon emissions you produce. Conserving energy decreases air pollution and greenhouse gasses. 
• HVAC Longevity – Overworking your HVAC unit can reduce its life expectancy and cause additional maintenance to be necessary. It also means the air filter may clog up sooner, making your indoor air supply worse. 

If you have any ideas about your air conditioner options, or if you are looking for HVAC repair or maintenance, contact the pros at Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning, a big company with homegrown heart. We’re enthusiastic about making the world a cozy place to live. Whether we’re warming, cooling or making the water flow, we have a lot of pride in keeping our customers and communities cozy and contented. 

Experts — it’s in our name and vital to our service. We work hard to help each team member become a skilled professional. We hire the best and offer instruction, opportunities and support, so our teams can learn, develop and be prepared for every challenge in front of them. 

Our united business strength and people make us special. With more than 4,000 team members collaborating on making you comfortable, we can deliver and innovate more effectively than other companies. Our enthusiastic, neighborly attitude fuels our cooperation and helps us get the job done in a timely manner, and right — the first time. 

Our combination of company size and personal expertise means we can do more with the next big idea … which may come from anywhere and anyone. We are reinvigorating the industry by utilizing each team member’s greatest ideas. That means our teams and customers can rest assured we’re moving, innovating, delivering, and in it for the long haul, through the busiest times and beyond. 

We are Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning! Giving strength, knowledge and support through every season.