HOME ENERGY savings: how effective are thermostats?
Thermostats can provide significant energy savings. In the winter you can adjust the target temperature down by 10-15ºF (5-8ºC) while you are asleep or out. In the summer you can adjust it up by 10-15ºF when you leave home…
Thermostats & Energy Savings in conventional and Energy Efficient Homes
The importance of thermostats vary a lot, anyway.
It depends on your climate and on your home’s size, insulation, sealing levels and design features.
In large homes, with conventional levels of insulation and sealing and complex central heating and cooling systems, thermostats can provide significant energy savings, in harsh climates.
But if you have a small and air-tight home with very high levels of insulation all over their envelope and very energy-efficient windows and doors, and a good design, you will not need complex heating and cooling systems and thermostat systems, even in very cold or hot climates.
Temperature Zoning and Thermostats
When using thermostats and central heating and cooling equipment, in large buildings, consider temperature zoning.
Temperature zoning consists in having different temperatures in different rooms and parts of the house, according to its occupancy and needs. You do not have to heat (or to cool) rooms that are not being used.
A zoning system involves a thermostat in each living area of your home (and duct dampers or valves), to enable you to control the operating times of the heating or cooling equipment.
See: Temperature Zoning for Energy Efficiency
Thermostats & Usage
When using a thermostat, consider carefully its settings.
Depending on your climate and insulation, your energy savings will amout to about 1%-2% or more of your heating and cooling bills, for every degree you turn down your thermostat in the winter (or turn it up, in the summer).
See:
Programming thermostats for the summer months
Programming thermostats for the winter months
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