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

For several hours a day you’re away at work, or maybe at school. Yet your heating or air conditioning continues to run, without anybody home. This needs a ton of energy and costs you money. You can considerably reduce this cost by adjusting the thermostat up or down as you head to work and resetting it back to your preferred temperature when you return home. But how much should you adjust the temperature? 

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

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

The tinier the variation between the both temperatures, the lower your total cooling bill will be. You can effectively save energy through the winter by adjusting the thermostat to about 68°F while you’re awake and adjusting it lower while you’re sleeping or away from home. For summer, you can follow the same plan with central air conditioning by leaving your house warmer than normal when you are away and adjusting the thermostat to a setting as high as you’re comfortable with when you’re home and want cooling and to provide humidity control if necessary. 

You might have been told that making these adjustments won’t be worth it because your comfort system has to work harder to return to your favored temperature, reversing your savings, but the energy department puts that notion to rest, especially 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 

Despite the benefits of changing your thermostat each time you head to work, it’s not hard to overlook in the rush of getting ready and on your way. This is one perk of programmable and smart thermostats. You can instruct your thermostat to automatically change to another temperature through your regular work hours. And with a smart thermostat, you can increase or decrease the temperature (or the programming schedule) from anywhere. This is especially helpful if you’ve forgotten to adjust the setting before leaving for a trip. 

Don’t Forget the Pets 

If you own pets, think about their comfort too. Cats and dogs with dense fur won’t be comfy with high temperatures. And pets with less dense fur may not be comfortable with cold temperatures. The same is true of tropical birds, fish and reptiles. Because temperature tolerances differ significantly by breed and species, so it helps to verify the ideal temperature range for your pets. 

Additional Benefits of Adjusting Your Thermostat for When You’re Away 

  • Carbon emissions – The more often you operate your heating and cooling, the more carbon emissions you generate. Preserving energy reduces air pollution and greenhouse gasses. 
  • HVAC Longevity – Overusing your heating and cooling can reduce its longevity and cause increased maintenance to be necessary. It also means the air filter can clog up faster, making your indoor air supply worse. 

If you have any ideas about your air conditioner features, or if you need HVAC repair or maintenance, call the pros at Service Experts Heating, Air Conditioning & Plumbing, a big company with homegrown heart. We’re serious about making the world a comfy place to live. Whether we’re keeping things warm, cooling things down or making the water flow, we take great pride in keeping our customers and communities comfortable and content. 

Experts — it’s in our name and core to our business. We strive to help each member of our staff learn to be a skilled professional. We employ the best and supply education, opportunities and support, so everyone can learn, develop and be ready for every challenge in front of them. 

Our united business strength and people make us special. With over 4,000 team members working together, we can deliver and innovate more successfully than other companies. Our can-do, family-friendly attitude fuels our cooperation and helps us get the job done in a timely manner, and right — the first time. 

Our blend of company size and unique expertise means we can do more with the next big idea … which may come from anywhere and anyone. We are helping transform the industry by utilizing each team member’s greatest ideas. That means our teams and customers can relax knowing we’re moving, innovating, delivering, and in it for the long term, through the busier times and beyond. 

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

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