(513) 899-6005 (513) 899-6005
Many homeowners still rely on an old manual thermostat to control their air conditioning and heating. Using a manual thermostat instead of a modern, programmable model can create significant issues in terms of your energy bills and your overall home comfort. This is especially the case during the humid Ohio May-to-June period when you first start cooling your house, but it’s not yet so hot that you need to constantly have your air conditioning running. In this article, we’ll provide a full guide on how to properly program your thermostat based on the weather cycles and why it matters.
The Importance of Properly Programming Your Thermostat
Whenever your HVAC system is set to cooling mode, you should always leave your thermostat set a few degrees higher whenever no one is home. Leaving it constantly set to the same temperature just wastes energy and results in your electricity bills being higher than necessary. By setting the thermostat higher, your AC obviously won’t run as much. Not only does this help to conserve energy, but it also lessens the amount of wear and tear the system’s components experience. If you don’t adjust the temperature for the times when the house is unoccupied, you’ll likely need to pay to have the system repaired more often and end up needing to replace it sooner.
The US Department of Energy estimates that turning the temperature up by 1 degree for eight hours every day will lower your air conditioning costs by around 1%. While 1% may not sound like much, the savings can quickly add up if you adjust the temperature by 4 to 5 degrees.
How to Program Your Thermostat
At Rick’s Heating & Cooling, we proudly install Emerson programmable thermostats. The models we offer are among the most intuitive and easiest to program of any units you can find on the market. They feature a large screen for easy reading and allow you to quickly program your desired temperature settings for specific days and times. You can either choose a seven-day schedule or a 5-1-1 (weekdays, Saturday and Sunday) schedule.
From the menu, you first need to select the day. You can then easily select the temperature hour by hour. The most effective solution for saving energy is to program it so that the temperature automatically turns up around the time you normally go to bed. You then want to set it so that it switches back to the normal temperature setting around an hour or two before you normally get home from work. That way, your house should already be mostly cooled back to your desired temperature when you arrive.
Best Temperature Settings for the Cincinnati Spring
Programming your thermostat for spring is a bit more difficult compared to setting it for the summer heat. That’s partly because the weather can change so much from day to day and even hour to hour. In Ohio, the other issue is that your house may frequently be overly humid but not so hot that you need your AC running on full blast. These issues mean that you’ll typically need to continually adjust your thermostat settings during the seasonal transition before the first heat wave arrives.
During the earlier parts of spring, you usually won’t need to set your thermostat as low as you do during the middle of summer. Keeping it set to around 75 to 77 degrees should ensure your house never gets too hot. If your house starts feeling overly humid and muggy, you should turn the temperature down a few degrees for an hour or two. That way, your AC will come on and start removing excess moisture from the air to help dry your home out.
Once the weather starts heating up more, you should start slowly turning the temperature down during the times when you’re home. Programming the thermostat to around 72-74 degrees generally provides the best middle ground in terms of comfort and energy savings. During the day, you should have the temperature set to around 3-5 degrees higher than normal. You generally don’t want to go any higher than this as it can lead to your AC running so much to bring the temperature back down that it cancels out whatever energy you saved during the day.
At Rick’s Heating & Cooling, our experienced team is ready to expertly handle your home comfort needs. We offer professional thermostat installation along with the full range of air conditioning services, and you can trust us to provide quality work at a fair, honest price.
To schedule service or a thermostat replacement consultation, contact us today.
