Pasadena Thermostats: Upgrade to a Programmable Thermostat for Energy Savings

Pasadena Thermostats: Upgrade to a Programmable Thermostat for Energy Savings

Are you looking for an easy way to save energy this spring and summer? If you’re still using an old manual thermostat, one of the most cost-effective upgrades you can make is to install a programmable thermostat.

How a Programmable Thermostat Keeps Your Home Cool

Every morning when you wake up, you adjust the manual thermostat to keep you comfortable until you leave for work. It’s easy to forget to readjust the temperature before you head out the door, meaning you pay to keep a vacant house cool all day. Even if you do remember, you’ll arrive home to a sweltering house in the evening.

A programmable thermostat lets you set and forget. Multiple daily settings let you program Wake, Leave, Return and Sleep temperatures for the weekend and weekdays. Different models provide different levels of customization.

Simply by turning the temperature up 10-15 degrees for eight hours every day, you can save 5-15 percent on your cooling bills. As a bonus, you never sacrifice comfort if you program settings to resume a comfortable temperature before you wake up or arrive home.

Common Misconceptions

Perhaps you think the savings will be minimal because the air conditioner has to work harder to resume a comfortable temperature following a setback period. This is a common misconception — it takes a lot less energy to cool your home from 85 to 75 degrees than it does to maintain that comfortable 75-degree setting all day long.

In short, the longer your setback periods are, the more you’ll save.

Programming a Thermostat for Energy Savings

Think about everyone’s daily schedule and choose a programmable thermostat that meets your needs based on how your routines vary from day to day. Create settings that ensure the home is not cooled when vacant and comfortable in time for someone’s arrival. You can always override the current setting if you feel too warm, but remember the lower you set the temperature, the higher your cooling costs will be.

To learn more about using a programmable thermostat, please contact Air-Tro Inc., serving Pasadena residents since 1969.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the greater Pasadena, California area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).

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