How Important Is A Thermostat To Furnace Efficiency
A furnace is one of the key components of a heating system, but buying a highly efficient furnace should not be your only focus. You should also look at your thermostat. The type of thermostat you use and how you use it can affect how much money you are able to save on heating your home.
Types of Thermostats
There are at least three types of furnaces that you need to know about:
1. Older thermostats will give you the option to program only one setting. Your furnace will then work to maintain a consistent temperature night and day whether you are at home or not. In terms of efficiency, these are the worst option in that they will force you to heat your home even when you are not at home to benefit from the heat.
2. A programmable furnace will give you the option to program different temperatures for different times of the day. For example, you could program your furnace to maintain a cooler temperature while you are away from home, a higher temperature while you are active in your home, and a slightly lower temperature for while you are sleeping and your bed covers will help to keep you warm.
3. You may also consider using a learning thermostat, which will adapt the output of your furnace to your needs. For example, if you are always turning your temperature up at a certain time of day, it will automatically adjust its programming to meet your needs. These thermostats are a user friendly way to benefit from a programmable furnace.
How Much Do You Stand to Save by Turning Your Temperature down?
The hotter you keep your home during the winter, the harder your furnace has to work. You can actually quantify how you stand to save by turning your thermostat down: if you turn your thermostat down one degree for at least eight hours a day, you will reduce your cooling costs by 1%. If you are away from home, it should be easy enough to turn your thermostat down by 10 degrees and reduce your heating costs by 10%. A programmable thermostat will make it easy to program your thermostat to run at a lower temperature while you are out for the day and start warming your home back up before you get there.
Thermostats may not get as much attention when looking for ways to improve the efficiency of your heating system, but they are worth looking into. The strategic use of a programmable or learning thermostat can help you to save a lot of money on your heating costs. For more information, visit http://www.advancedheatingandcooling.com.
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