We live in an era of homebodies, with more people spending time at home than ever before. As a result, home customization and comfort have been trending upward across the board. From automation to eco-friendly products, people are designing their homes to be the ultimate place to spend their time. The growing trend of smart thermostats fits into modern comfort systems, with many homeowners upgrading their homes to include these devices.
However, you may be wondering if it is worth the hype. Today, will cover how these devices work, what makes them different from traditional thermostats, and why upgrading with the help of professionals like Apollo Heating & Air can save you money while optimizing your home comfort.
What Is a Smart Thermostat?
Unlike a traditional thermostat that requires you to walk up to your wall and manually program your temperature control preferences daily or by seasonal schedules, a smart thermostat gives you superior access and customization.
Smart thermostats, also known as connected or communicating thermostats, utilize Wi-Fi connectivity to be accessible right from your phone. Using its intuitive technology, you can input daily schedules, adjust your home’s temperature from anywhere, track your energy use, and even leverage predictive technology to better manage your home’s energy use.
To further explain how a smart thermostat works, let’s dive into the five benefits of utilizing these home devices:
5 Benefits of a Smart Thermostat
Benefit #1: Personalized Comfort and Scheduling
A smart thermostat lets you fully customize your home heating and cooling schedule. Unlike a traditional thermostat with minimal customization options, a smart thermostat can learn your routine and personal preferences to provide a comfortable, energy-efficient home temperature.
For example, let’s say you work outside the home Monday through Friday from 8 am to 5 pm. When you provide this information to your smart thermostat, it can automatically adjust your home’s temperature to rise (in the summer) or fall (in the winter) throughout the day to minimize heating or cooling when you are not around. As your return time approaches, your thermostat will slowly adjust your home’s temperature back to your preferred setting by the time you get home.
Then, let’s say you like to sleep in on the weekends in the winter until 10 am. You can set your controls for a moderate heating wake-up time. The smart thermostat can keep the home cooler throughout the night, so you can enjoy being snuggled up in your blankets (and reduce energy costs), and then slowly increase the temperature as 10 am approaches. This way, you can rise from bed to a cozy home rather than it feeling like an icebox.
These are just two examples of customization options, but there are endless possibilities for control. Whether you have a different routine every day or only change your habits with the seasons, your smart thermostat’s learning capabilities let you create a comfortable home that suits your preferences.
Benefit #2: Increased Energy Efficiency
Did you know that a thermostat controls half of your home’s energy? That’s more than your kitchen appliances, lighting, TVs, and computers combined! That’s why having a smart thermostat is the ultimate choice if you want to improve your home’s energy efficiency.
As we mentioned before, a smart thermostat can be programmed to automatically adjust temperatures based on household routines. This, in turn, reduces energy waste and lowers monthly utility bills.
Like the example above, say you are out of the home from 8 am to 5 pm. If you were to keep your home at your preferred comfort temperature of 70° while you are away, it would likely result in significant energy waste, especially during peak seasons like summer or winter, when your HVAC system would need to run constantly to maintain that temperature.
There is no point in heating or cooling an empty home. Changing the temperature by just 1° can cut your energy use by up to 5%, so imagine what the savings would be if you let your home temperature rise to 78° in the summer or drop to 60° in the winter while you are out of the house. Energy.gov reports that you can save as much as 10% a year on heating and cooling by simply turning your thermostat back 7°-10°F for 8 hours a day from its standard setting. That could easily translate to more than $150 in energy cost savings a year!
Benefit #3: Remote Access and Control
Another benefit of smart thermostats that homeowners love is the easy control they can have from anywhere. With an intuitive app on their phone, homeowners can adjust their smart thermostat from anywhere.
For example, say you are at work and you get to leave early. You can adjust your settings to be back to your preferred temperature by the time you get home. Alternatively, say you went on vacation and forgot to modify your schedule. You can easily switch your smart thermostat to vacation mode from anywhere. Lastly, and one of our favorites, is let’s say you are snuggled into bed and it’s just a bit too cold. Rather than having to leave the comfort of your blankets to walk out to the hall to adjust the settings, you can do it right from your bed without leaving its warmth.
Benefit #4: Integration with HVAC Systems and Smart Devices
Speaking of convenience, another benefit of choosing smart thermostats is their integration capabilities with other smart devices. Alex, Google Home, and other similar devices can be paired with your smart thermostat for seamless operation.
Imagine this. You are cooking up a storm in the kitchen. You are elbow deep in batter, the oven is running, the stove top has pots bubbling, and the dishwasher is in its drying cycle. You can bet that the kitchen is quite warm, which means the chef is too. Yet, your hands are dirty. You don’t have the ability to pull out your phone to adjust the temperature settings to ease the kitchen’s heat. So, what can you do? You can call out to your Alexa to turn the heat down by 2°. Done! No more sweaty chef.
Alternatively, let’s say your smart thermostat is connected to your home device’s weather app. A storm front is coming in, bringing the outside temperature down by 15° quickly. If this connection control is enabled, your smart thermostat can adjust your home temperature schedule to reflect the impending weather. Not only does this keep your home at an ambient temperature, but it also reduces your energy consumption.
Benefit #5: Positive Environmental Impact
Beyond the cost-reducing benefit of a smart thermostat that keeps more money in your wallet, it also provides a positive environmental benefit. By reducing energy consumption, homeowners decrease their overall carbon footprint and contribute less to environmental pollution.
A question we often get from homeowners is how to know if what they are teaching their smart thermostat is actually environmentally friendly. Fortunately, most smart thermostats today come with default eco-friendly settings. Let’s look at the Nest thermostat as an example.
Nest offers various eco-friendly settings homeowners can take advantage of, such as Auto-Away™. When set with Auto-Away™, the Nest Thermostat automatically turns to an energy-efficient “Away” temperature when you’re gone. Another excellent training tool the Nest system offers is a leaf icon that registers on your Nest display. The Nest Leaf appears when you are saving energy, so you can look to it for confirmation that you are making the most eco-conscious choices.
Why Professional Installation Matters for Smart Thermostats
While a savvy homeowner may be able to trade out their old thermostat for a new one, those with little HVAC experience will likely make a mistake. This could result in the thermostat not working correctly or, worse, causing damage to your HVAC system.
Given the complex and expensive aspects of HVAC systems, professional installation is the practical choice for most people. Professional smart thermostat installation by a certified HVAC technician ensures proper setup, system compatibility, and optimal performance.
Why Choose Apollo Heating & Air
Homeowners in the Tri-Cities and surrounding areas who want to improve their home’s energy efficiency, comfort, and convenience through innovative HVAC technology, we at Apollo Heating & Air are here to help.
At Apollo Heating & Air, we offer smart thermostat installation, including Nest installation. Whether you need a residential replacement, new construction installation, commercial replacement, or a simple repair call, we offer every level of service.
If you are wondering if a smart thermostat is compatible with your existing system and what it would take to get it installed, we are more than happy to explain the details. All you have to do is fill out our free estimate form, and we will get back to you with an answer and a quote.
Alternatively, if you are ready to perform the switch and make your home smarter and more efficient, contact Apollo Heating & Air today to schedule your smart thermostat installation and start saving energy the easy way.