Every degree counts when it comes to staying comfortable—and your home energy bill. That’s why more Cedar Rapids, IA, homeowners are turning to smart thermostats to take control of their home comfort. These devices do more than make it easier to control your HVAC—they use adaptive temperature scheduling and connectivity to sync with your daily activities.
By using these smart thermostat programming tips from the experts at Ilten's, you can stay comfortable year-round while minimizing unnecessary energy use. Whether you're looking to cut back on utility bills or enjoy a more responsive home, smart home climate control is the way to go. In this blog, we’ll cover essential smart thermostat strategies. With this smart thermostat programming guide, you can make your HVAC system deliver comfort with less effort.
1. Set Schedules Around Your Daily Routine
Use your smart thermostat settings to control temperatures according to your normal routine—cooler when you're away, warmer when you're home and comfortably adjusted for sleeping. By automatically shifting the temperature when no one’s home, these schedules eliminate wasteful heating or cooling. Some smart thermostats can recognize your patterns and adjust the temperature automatically.
Taking advantage of smart thermostat settings to change temperatures based on your daily activities provides comfort on your terms without wasting power—all while saving money. Plus, it’s easy: you don’t have to manually update settings.
2. Adjust Temperatures Seasonally
One of the cost-saving thermostat tips from the team at Ilten's is to use your smart thermostat to change your home’s temperature according to the season. For instance, during winter, experts say the recommended thermostat setting for home energy efficiency is 68 degrees in the day and a bit colder at night. This approach can lower heating bills by as much as 10% each year. That’s different from the best cost-saving temperature when it's hot outside, which is around 78 degrees. By modifying your temperature settings based on the seasons, you reduce unnecessary power usage and still remain cozy.
3. Use Away or Eco Modes When You're Out
Smart or programmable thermostat schedules also lets you use special modes—such as Away and Eco—when you're not home. Away Mode lowers the temperature while you're gone. Eco Mode also minimizes the temperature and is ideal for when you'll be gone several days, like vacations. These two modes let you save on power when you’re not home to experience the heating or cooling, but still ensure your HVAC system still runs to avoid dangerously high or low temperatures.
4. Take Advantage Zoning Features
Some homes have extremely hot or cold rooms. A common example is a a second floor that’s often hotter than the main level. Installing an HVAC zoning system separates your home into multiple areas, allowing you to adjust temperatures in different parts or levels of your home. Smart thermostats make it easy to set and adjust temperatures by zone, so you can always enjoy the perfect temperature.
5. Monitor and Fine-Tune for Maximum Savings
One of the benefits of smart thermostats is their ability to work with connected HVAC systems. More than just controlling your HVAC system, the WiFi or Bluetooth connection allows your smart thermostat to gather real-time data from the system itself. This means a home smart thermostat can monitor performance, tell you when you need AC or furnace repair and can even automatically contact your local HVAC company when it's time for HVAC maintenance or repair.
This lets get prompt furnace or air conditioning repair as soon as your system starts to malfunction. Without this feature, a failing heating and cooling system could suffer more damage and waste energy before you even notice—until the damage is done and your energy bills skyrocket.
Need Help Programming Your Thermostat? Ilten's Is Here For You
Smart thermostats have many advantages for your comfort and the energy efficiency of your home. At Ilten's, we love assisting homeowners like you unlock the most out of smart thermostats and other smart HVAC technology. If you'd like, we can include a smart thermostat with furnace or air conditioning installation—helping you get the most out of your HVAC system. Or, we can walk you through how a smart thermostat and zoned HVAC system can make your upcoming AC or furnace installation that much more eco-friendly. We're also happy to offer you thermostat efficiency advice and demonstrate what these innovative tools are capable of.
Learning more about smart thermostats begins with a phone call. Set up your appointment with Ilten's by calling 319-208-2351 today.