Why Smart Thermostats Are Worth It

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

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

What Is a Smart Thermostat?

A smart thermostat is an automated device that allows you to do it all from adjusting your heating and cooling settings for various times of day, to monitoring when people are in the house, so it isn’t needlessly consuming energy by heating or cooling a vacant home.

Many smart thermostats have learning capabilities, which means they pay attention to how you change your settings and make automatic adjustments over time based on what they learn from you.

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

How Do Smart Thermostats Work?

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

Smart thermostat features include a temperature sensor that can tell 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 out.

A smart thermostat does tasks like adapt 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 long hours during the day, it may be worth your money to invest in one of these thermostats. You could save a lot, especially if you forget to change it when you leave for the office or go out of town for the weekend.

You won’t have to be concerned about whether your smart thermostat is on the right program, or if you remembered to adjust the temperature setting before you went out. It doesn’t require much effort from you, but you’ll see it in lower energy bills.

Smart Thermostats vs. Programmable Thermostats

Many 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 expenses.

Smart thermostats are convenient because they adjust to your schedule and automate heating and cooling that corresponds. You can set a similar schedule on a programmable thermostat. But it’s more work to program your thermostat by hand.

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

Do Smart Thermostats Save Energy?

Yes, because your smart thermostat will learn about your temperature preferences and day-to-day activities to make a schedule that saves on 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 identical energy savings with a programmable thermostat, but it’s going to take a little bit more work than a smart thermostat. To put together a schedule on programmable models, we advise following these recommendations from ENERGY STAR® to save energy.

Suggested Temperature Settings for Your Heating System

    • Wake: Under 70 degrees.
    • Day: Set back at least 8 degrees, if no one is there.
    • Evening: Higher than 70 degrees.
    • Sleep: Set back at least 8 degrees.

Recommended Temperature Settings for Your Cooling System

    • Wake: Greater than 78 degrees.
    • Day: Set up at least 7 degrees, if no one is home.
    • Evening: Lower than 78 degrees.
    • Sleep: Increase at least 4 degrees.

To sum up, you don’t have to get a smart thermostat to decrease your energy bill. All you need is a programmable thermostat, but it’s essential to know 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. households about:

    • 10-12% on your heating bill
    • 15% on your cooling bill
    • $131 to $145 on your energy bill annually

Your smart thermostat will give you a monthly heating and cooling report, which usually compares you to other residences in your community.

Your potential savings differ based on your home, where you live, how much insulation you have and your preferred temperature settings. You might experience average savings, significant savings or somewhere in the middle.

If you’re noticing you’re only seeing 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 easy through their hands-off process that slowly shifts the temperature. If you’re at home a lot, it might not save you money on energy costs as is the point in an automatic, energy-efficient schedule.

How to Get a Smart Thermostat Rebate

Many utility companies offer rebates to homeowners who install energy-saving, ENERGY STAR-certified equipment like a smart thermostat. The rebate amount varies by company, but in most instances, it will cover most or all the cost. To find out more, visit 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 long run. If you’ve been thinking about installing one and want to know if they run as promised, we offer free home comfort assessments. Call our Experts at 866-397-3787 to schedule yours today!