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Thermostat Settings: 5 Rules Of Thumb For The Summer
Thermostat Settings: 5 Rules Of Thumb For The Summer
Posted: April 12, 2021
As we gear up for warmer weather in Rhode Island, many people think it’s time to forget about their thermostat. The truth is, your thermostat always needs your attention—especially if you want your home comfort system to run as smoothly and efficiently as possible. Follow the five tips in this article for an ideal thermostat experience—and to save 10% or more each month.
Understand how to use your thermostat. Many people don’t take advantage of all of their thermostat’s settings and functions because they simply don’t know what to do with it. If you have a manual thermostat, take a few minutes with your user guide and get to know how to use it. If it’s programmable, you can set it from your phone, anywhere there’s Wi-Fi! Review the modes, so you know what to think about in terms of settings:
7-day mode: You can choose a different setting for as many days of the week as you’d like.
5-1-1 mode: Your thermostat can follow one schedule for Monday to Friday, and then one for weekends (Saturday and Sunday individually).
5-2 mode: You can choose one setting for weekdays, and then one on the weekend.
1-week mode: You can set your thermostat for a week at a time.
Think about your personal schedule so you choose settings that make sense. This includes:
When you get up in the morning
When you go to sleep at night
When you head out each day
When you return to your home each day
When you make the most of your thermostat’s functionalities, you can see a return on your investment within a year. You’ll also enjoy less of a need for repairs, which means you’ll see savings on service.
Choose temperatures suggested by the U.S. Department of Energy. When you use the AC while you’re home, set your air conditioning for 78°F. Set it to stop running when are out of the house. (When you use the heat, set your system for 68°F when you’re home and awake, and lower the temperatures by 7 to 10° during times when you are asleep or out.)
During the day, you want the temperature in your home to begin adjusting about 20 to 30 minutes before you leave the house. Set it to go back to its original temperature about 20 to 30 minutes before you’ll be back.
At night, the adjusted temperature can start kicking in about an hour before you usually go to sleep. Have your system return to your daytime comfort levels about 30 minutes before your wakeup time.
As we gear up for warmer weather in Rhode Island, many people think it’s time to forget about their thermostat. The truth is, your thermostat always needs your attention—especially if you want your home comfort system to run as smoothly and efficiently as possible. Follow the five tips in this article for an ideal thermostat experience—and to save 10% or more each month.