Thermostat Advice From The Professionals.
As the brains of your heating and cooling system, the thermostat can have a huge effect on energy efficiency and comfort. Kyle Golden, Product Manager of Controls for Lennox, weighs in on thermostats, and the advantages you’ll enjoy with a programmable model.
The heart of your system.
“The thermostat controls every other part of your system,” says Golden. “It’s your point of contact. So it’s important to use a thermostat that can give you maximum return on your system investment.”
For that reason, Golden recommends a programmable thermostat.
Coordinated with your schedule
Programmable thermostats work by reducing system use when your home is empty, so you don’t waste money on heating and cooling an empty home. They do this by running according to a schedule that you program based on the hours that you are home.
“Changing your heating and cooling settings for different times of day can help you save money,” he says. “ A programmable thermostat makes those changes for you automatically, synchronizing your heating and cooling with your life.”
Set for savings
To program a thermostat for the best mix of comfort and energy efficiency, Golden recommends the following settings.
For summer:
Set your thermostat for 78 degrees when you’re home
Set it for 85 degrees when you’re away
Set it for 82 degrees when you’re asleep
For winter:
Set your thermostat for 68 degrees when you are home
Set it for 60 degrees when you are away
Set it for 60 degrees when you are sleeping
During the transitional months of spring and fall, Golden recommends setting the thermostat based on personal preference, using summer and winter’s settings as a guide.
There’s more to it than temperature
While temperature is the main factor affecting your comfort, Golden says that it’s not the only one.
“Humidity plays a huge role in comfort. You know how the weather report says it’s 90 but it feels like 100? That’s humidity. Moisture levels in the air affect the way the air feels on your skin.”
If your thermostat offers individual humidity control, it can change how your air feels without big changes in temperature. Which means more energy-efficient cooling and heating. Systems with variable speed can also help control humidity levels by drawing air across the coil slowly to remove more moisture on startup.
