When you live in a climate like ours, you have to be prepared for any type of weather! Wisconsin provides wonderful variety through the beautiful four seasons but that also means very hot summer days and extreme cold winter nights. This leads to both heating and cooling being important but also important is the need to control or change the temperature often. A smart thermostat is a great option and here are a few questions to help you learn more about them!
What is a smart thermostat?
A smart thermostat works in the same way a regular thermostat would – it controls the temperature – but in addition to being able to change the temperature from the device itself it can also be controlled by an app on your phone. Beyond basic temperature control, there are a number of schedules and modes you can enable to meet your specific needs including eco and away modes for optimal energy savings. Best of all, the thermostat learns your preferences and adjusts automatically to save you money.
How can it save me money?
The thermostat learns what temperature you like and builds a personalized schedule for you based on your preferences and the season. It is the first thermostat to be ENERGY STAR certified, shows you a leaf whenever you are saving energy and independent studies have showed it saves someone on average 10% to 12% on heating bills and 15% on cooling bills. Plus, you can view daily and monthly energy reports so you can see the days and times when you use more energy if you are looking for additional ways to save.
What are some of the practical applications?
You can have the temperature automatically turn down when you leave for the day so your heating or cooling system isn’t running when no one is home and then set it to turn on a half hour before everyone gets home so the house is warm or cool upon your arrival. If you leave for vacation, you can put the thermostat in away mode so you can save energy but also keep an eye that your house doesn’t get too hot (especially if you have pets) or too cold (so no worries about pipes freezing). If you have a cabin or second home, you can regulate the temperature even when you are gone for longer periods of time. You can also set alerts so you are notified if your home drops below or goes above a certain temperature. This can alert you to a potential problem.
That all sounds great but what if I don’t want anything complicated?
These thermostats are very easy to operate! Remember, it can be controlled from the device itself so if you don’t want to bother with an app you don’t have to. Plus, the whole point of these thermostats is that they learn and create a schedule for you so they are extremely self-sufficient.
*The smart thermostat used for this blog post is the Nest Learning Thermostat. In The Lite is a certified Nest Pro and can install these for you or answer any questions.
If you have any questions or comments, contact Sasha at sasha@inthelitellc.com. As always, we hope we’ve made your day brighter!