As smart thermostats continue to gain popularity, chances are that you’ll hear more and more about their benefits. These useful devices behave just like older thermostats, but there is a lot of added functionality. Many of these new features can help reduce the amount you pay on your monthly utility bills. A lot of them have to do with energy efficiency, but you might not know that your utility company may help, too. Below, we’ll go over some of the ways a smart thermostat can help you save money.
Boosting Energy Efficiency for Max Savings
First and foremost, smart thermostats can help make your HVAC system more efficient as a whole. By using less electricity or fuel, you’ll see your utility bills begin to drop, putting more money in your pocket. Here are some of the ways that a smart thermostat can help you maximize your HVAC system’s energy efficiency.
Programming and Energy Reports
Like conventional programmable thermostats, smart thermostats allow you to create programs that dictate when your system runs each day. Unlike their non-smart brethren, though, smart thermostats generally keep track of the energy their systems use, including during programmed schedules. That lets you get a better idea of what’s going on and times you may be wasting energy. In turn, you can adjust accordingly.
Remote Control
Speaking of wasting energy, one of the most major advantages of smart thermostats is the ability to control them remotely. Many smart thermostats utilize an app or website for functionality. This is convenient when you don’t want to get up from the couch or you’re in the middle of a busy work-from-home day. Moreover, though, it helps when you’re away from home. Whether you’re traveling or you have a job outside the home, it can be easy to forget to adjust your thermostat.
This applies whether you have a program set or not. After all, a program for normal Wednesdays won’t help if everyone in the house is gone for a week. Instead of resigning yourself to higher bills or rushing back home to fix the issue, all you have to do is make sure you have cell service. You can stop your system from cooling or heating an empty house no matter where you are!
Geofencing
App functionality isn’t limited to remote control, either. By interfacing with your smartphone’s location, smart thermostats can determine when you’re home at all. To do this previously, you needed to have motion sensors installed in your dwelling. Though some modern units still use motion-sensing tech, others integrate that with your smartphone. This allows you to set a “geofence,” or an area around your home for the system to consider you to be “at home.”
That gives you flexibility. For instance, if you’re the type of person who likes to eat outside during the evening, you can make the geofence include your backyard. Similarly, should you have family members who do activities out front, that geofence can include the street in front of your house or apartment.
When your phone location updates to be outside of that fence, your smart thermostat can then change to an energy-saving temperature instead of fully cooling or heating your home. All of this can be done without you even having to think about it after it’s set up.
System Diagnostics
Many smart thermostats, particularly those produced by major brands, can scan your HVAC system for issues. Oftentimes, they can’t give detailed breakdowns about which exact components fail, but they can alert you to problems. Since you’ll know you need to call in one of our professionals at that point, we can pinpoint the issue and resolve it. Catching issues early prevents them from spinning into more expensive problems to solve.
Local Energy Company Discounts
Regardless of whether you use electricity or fuel, chances are that your local utility company offers incentives for switching to a smart thermostat. Smart thermostats are often more accurate than older types, so along with using the features above, they often inherently help reduce the strain on energy grids and fuel supply chains.
The exact incentive depends on your company. Some will provide rebates so that you can purchase a smart thermostat at a reduced price overall. Others allow you to enroll in programs in which the utility provider changes the settings of your thermostat during times of peak usage. Because you lower your use during peak times, your home further reduces the strain on your local grid or supply chain; in turn, the company offers you discounted fuel prices or credit on your monthly bill.
Call in the Thermostat Experts
You might want to upgrade your smart thermostat after you learn about the ways it helps you save. Maybe your system is showing signs of inefficiency or you routinely hear strange noises. Regardless of what’s going on, JJ Heating & Cooling Company can help. With more than 20 combined years of experience, you know you can trust us.
Call JJ Heating & Cooling Company for all your HVAC and smart thermostat needs in Gambrills, MD!
