One thing that’s important to remember about programmable thermostats is that your programmed settings for one season aren’t going to work in another season. In other words, if you haven’t already done so, you should reset your programmable thermostat for the wintertime.

Basically, the idea is to program “setbacks” in your programmable thermostat when the house is empty during the day and at night when everybody’s sleeping. If you do this on a consistent basis, your annual energy savings can be substantial.

Programming a Thermostat for Cold Weather Energy Savings

A typical winter weekday program might work like this:

• During the overnight hours, set the temperature 8-12 degrees lower than your regular comfort temperature. Most people prefer cooler temperatures while they’re sleeping, anyway.
• Program the thermostat so that it warms up the house shortly before family members awaken to prepare for work or school. If your family is up and out fairly quickly, you might skip this step since it does waste energy to raise the temperature significantly for such a short period of time.
• Set the thermostat back to 55-58 degrees while the house is empty all day long. On a relatively mild Georgia winter day, the heat might not have to kick on at all.
• Program the thermostat to return to your household comfort level (for many households that’s around 68 in the wintertime) shortly before family members are expected to return home. Then leave it there until bedtime.

Other Tips for Saving Energy with a Programmable Thermostat

• For maximum energy savings, employ setback periods of at least six hours. Shorter setbacks tend to waste rather than save energy.
• As much as possible, refrain from overriding programs. This defeats the purpose of a programmable thermostat.
• If you have children, teach them not to fuss around with the thermostat. Ask other family members to check with you before changing the program.

If you need help programming your thermostat, or would like to upgrade to a smart, programmable thermostat, please contact us at Powers Heating & Air, serving the Newnan, Sharpsburg, Senoia, Fayetteville, Tyrone and Peachtree City areas.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Peachtree City, Georgia and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).

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