Programmable Thermostats: How They Will Work In Your Pasadena-Area Home (heating)

Would you like to save money while you’re sleeping or away from home? You can save a substantial amount of energy while not sacrificing comfort by using a programmable thermostat.

Use this guide to learn how to program energy-saving settings matched to your schedule, and for your particular heating and cooling systems.

Programmable thermostat features

Programmable thermostats offer an array of features that make programming temperature changes a snap. Large touchscreen displays make navigation easy and intuitive. Program and store as many as six temperature changes per day. For quick temperature changes, manually override the programmed setting by selecting “Hold” without changing the remainder of the daily or weekly programs.

Choosing the right thermostat

It is necessary to match compatible programmable thermostats with heating and cooling systems. For instance, if you have a heat pump, you’ll need a two-stage programmable thermostat. Otherwise, when room temperature falls more than a few degrees below a conventional thermostat’s set point, the heat pump’s backup electric resistance heating powers on, and energy savings go out the window. A two-stage thermostat prevents backup heat from powering on.

Boilers and radiant floor heating systems have a slow response time. You’ll need a thermostat that tracks heating performance, and automatically adjusts startup time to meet the heating requirements to your scheduled program. If you have electric baseboard heating, you’ll need a line-voltage thermostat capable of controlling 120-volt or 240-volt circuits. Your HVAC professional can help you choose the best thermostat for your heating system.

How much energy can I save?

Government statistics show that heating and cooling costs can be reduced by about 1 percent for each degree the thermostat is lowered (heating months) or raised (cooling months) for an 8-hour period. For instance, if you set back (heating months) the thermostat 8 degrees during sleeping hours, and maintained that same setting during your work day (total 16+ hours), you would save approximately 16 percent, and perhaps more, heating costs during that 24-hour period.

For more information about programmable thermostats, contact Air-Tro in L.A. and Orange Counties, and the metro areas of Riverside and San Bernadino County.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the greater Los Angeles, California area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about choosing a contractor and other HVAC topics, visit our website.

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