Your Thermostat and You
One of the things we troubleshoot when we come to your home and check your furnace is your thermostat, and sometimes that's where the problem lies. Just like your furnace, thermostats have a lifespan, and an old thermostat can be the cause of short cycling, temperature variations, and failure to activate. The good news is it's not only a quick replacement, it's a great opportunity to upgrade!
We here at 24 Hour Heating, Air & Electric offer four types of thermostats:
- Non-Programmable: This is your basic thermostat. You input your desired temperature, and in central air systems you input your desired mode (A/C, heat, off), and manage your fan settings (auto, on). This is for people who can be around to manage their thermostat, and want to.
- Side note about your fan settings: You generally want to leave your fan on auto, which means it only runs when your heat or A/C is running. When you set your fan to on it will run until you change the setting, and this comes with both pros and cons. You will cycle air in your home and through the filter in your return, increasing air quality and airflow throughout the house. However, it means more wear on your fan and higher energy usage. There is a theory that the increased wear is offset by the reduced wear from turning on and off, but most HVAC professionals recommend keeping your fan setting on auto.
- Programmable: This is just like a non-programmable thermostat with the added option of setting a schedule for your system. With a programmable thermostat you can pre-program a daily schedule to change your temperature settings at certain times, and a weekly schedule that allows you to set different time schedules for different days. This system is beneficial for people with busy schedules, especially with pets and indoor plants at home, who may need different settings throughout the day to maintain their indoor climate. This naturally also results in better management of your energy bills, and these benefits are most pronounced in areas that experience radical temperature changes over a 24 hour period.
- Programmable with Wi-Fi: This is a programmable thermostat you can connect to your wireless router, making it accessible via the internet. This allows you to not only program a schedule, but you can then manage the schedule from anywhere with internet access. This gives you real-time response capabilities to change or override your schedule to deal with unforeseen weather, as well as the capability to remotely monitor your home temperature and system operation!
- Smart thermostat: As the name suggests, these integrate into your Smart Home Network. They are programmable with Wi-Fi, they usually have Voice Control, and they can interface with your virtual assistant devices like Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. Also, some Smart thermostats have adaptive technology, adapting to your schedule and managing the temperature when you're home or away to increase efficiency and reduce your energy bills. In fact, most Smart thermostat companies estimate that you’ll save between 10 and 12 percent on heating and up to 15 percent on cooling each year!