5 Things You Can Do With a Smart Thermostat

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You whitethorn person noticed nan sleek, high-tech creation of a smart thermostat connected nan wall of a neighbor’s location aliases connected show astatine a large container retailer. Or you whitethorn moreover person 1 of these smart location devices yourself. However, you whitethorn not beryllium alert of nan grade of their energy-saving capabilities.

While smart thermostats tin quickly amended nan comfortableness and convenience of a home, they besides unfastened nan doorway to a number of caller ways to prevention energy, and galore of these opportunities are chartless and underutilized moreover by group who person had a smart thermostat successful their location for years.

Let's look astatine 5 things you tin do pinch a smart thermostat:

1. Optimize your home’s heating and cooling.

Space heating and cooling accounts for about half of a home’s power usage, and according to ENERGY STAR, nan smart thermostat mightiness beryllium nan azygous “best campaigner to prevention power successful your home”. By heating and cooling your location astatine nan optimal times, a smart thermostat tin prevention you eight percent aliases much connected your power bills, depending connected nan size of your home, nan upwind successful your area and different factors.

Smart thermostats that autumn into nan “learning” category, which includes higher-end Nest and ecobee models, automatically group heating and cooling schedules based connected erstwhile you thin to beryllium location and really you’ve utilized nan thermostat complete time. While location are tons of things you tin do pinch a smart thermostat, its halfway functions already make it an perfect energy-saving device.

2. Get useful information astir your HVAC’s performance.

Traditional, non-smart thermostats supply small to nary accusation astir your HVAC system’s capacity and power usage. But smart thermostats “offer overmuch much blase feedback”, according to How-To Geek. On your thermostat’s app aliases web portal, you tin often spot charts and information connected your power usage, caller weather, estimated savings and more.

You tin past comparison this info pinch immoderate changes you've made astir your home, specified arsenic installing caller blinds aliases sealing gaps astir your windows and doors. You tin besides spot if higher-than-average usage is owed to upwind that week aliases if your HVAC strategy is connected nan fritz aliases needs regular maintenance.

3. Participate successful programs to gain immoderate other cash.

One of nan awesome challenges of nan modern powerfulness grid is dealing pinch times of precocious demand. For example, successful nan precocious day erstwhile group travel location from activity aliases during times of highly basking weather, energy usage spikes. This tin beryllium costly and, successful immoderate instances, tin frighten nan stableness of nan grid. To woody these spikes successful demand, powerfulness companies person been introducing caller programs that we tin collectively telephone “demand response”, though they’ll typically person names for illustration “Peak Time Savings” aliases “Peak Reduction Program”.

This is simply a wide scope of programs, and you don’t request a smart thermostat to participate successful each of them. However, immoderate require smart thermostats. By participating, you tin do your portion to stabilize nan grid, and you tin usually gain a fewer bucks arsenic a result. Power companies will sometimes connection significant discounts – aliases moreover free smart thermostats – if you work together to enroll successful this type of program.

4. Lower your power usage erstwhile you’re distant from home.

When you’re not astatine home, you tin set nan somesthesia of your location to prevention energy, and pinch a smart thermostat, location are a fewer ways to easy do this. First, immoderate smart thermostats person occupancy sensors, and if they consciousness that you’re not home, your thermostat will move to distant mode. There’s besides geofencing that relies connected your telephone to cognize erstwhile you’re home, distant aliases moreover connected your measurement backmost home.

Additionally, smart thermostats typically see a smart schedule characteristic that How-To Geek describes arsenic “a programmable thermostat connected steroids that programs itself”. With this feature,  your thermostat will show really you usage your location – including erstwhile you travel and go, what temperatures you thin to for illustration and much – and grip everything for you.

5. Connect it to smart blinds and different smart location devices.

Like smart thermostats, smart blinds tin automatically set based connected your habits and maximize power savings. As agelong arsenic you cheque nan compatibility of your smart thermostat and smart blinds, they tin besides activity together to execute moreover greater savings and comfort. There are now moreover smart vent covers that tin activity pinch your smart thermostat to nonstop basking aliases cool aerial to nan rooms that request it nan most.

Smart thermostats tin besides link pinch galore smart speakers aliases smart location hubs (as agelong arsenic you cheque compatibility earlier purchasing). This will let you to alteration nan somesthesia aliases different settings pinch sound commands. You’ll besides person each of your smart location devices successful 1 cardinal portal and tin quickly get an overview of your home.

These are conscionable a fewer of nan things that you tin do pinch a smart thermostat. Depending connected nan circumstantial exemplary you person and nan programs disposable from your powerfulness company, there’s apt an array of different energy-saving options for you. If you don’t person 1 of these devices yet but are now considering it, beryllium judge to cheque first pinch your powerfulness institution – galore now connection important rebates to thief you get 1 of these powerful devices successful your home.

Looking for further steps you tin return to beryllium much power businesslike astir your home? Read our Ways to Save connected Energy fact sheets here!