Are Smart Thermostats Really Smart Enough to Help Save Money?
With smart technologies foraying into every aspect of our lives, a growing number of consumers now choose smart devices over their traditional counterparts. Smart thermostats are gaining popularity due to a host of advantages ranging from remote access to HVAC systems, connectivity to other smart devices, ease of setting up preferences, and learning capabilities.
The most significant question in this context is 'do smart thermostats save money on utility bills.' Here is a look into the facts from Hammond Services, the HVAC specialists in McDonough.
What is a smart thermostat?
By connecting to the internet, smart thermostats do a lot more than older versions of non-programmable thermostats. In addition to functioning as per the schedules you set, these thermostats have integrated learning capabilities to understand your preferences and adapt accordingly. Since these thermostats can be linked to smart home hubs such as Alexa or Google Home, you can easily control it remotely over apps or even with voice commands.
Tips to save on utility bills with smart thermostats
By expertly maintaining temperatures at the lowest possible levels for as long as possible, smart thermostats significantly cut down your energy bills. So, the simple answer to your question does smart thermostats help save money would be yes - if you use them correctly.
Once you save your preferred temperature levels and your routine schedule, the thermostat will use this information to ensure that energy usage is minimum when you are at work and that your home is comfortably warm by the time you return from work. Since smart thermostats are also more user-friendly, you can easily update your schedule from your smartphone and enjoy continued savings.
Here are a few tips you can try to enhance the energy savings with your smart thermostat:
1) Keep it aware of your location
Once your smartphone is synced with the thermostat, it automatically detects your location and adjusts temperatures based on it. For instance, if you are traveling away from your home, the thermostat will switch off the heating system to save energy. Similarly, you can schedule the thermostat to turn on heating when you are about to reach home. Hence, your home will always be comfortably warm without wasting energy and money.
2) Make use of the intelligent temperature triggers
If you are wondering how do smart thermostats help save money, the answer lies in intelligent temperature triggers that effectively maintain temperatures without you having to monitor them constantly. Once you program the thermostat with the temperature range you desire and what functions to activate if temperatures fall above or below this range, it will automatically ensure optimal temperatures within the home. This prevents the need for flash cooling or heating, saving energy and money.
3) Keep a tab on your energy usage
Smart thermostats collect and save data on how frequently you use heating/cooling systems, how many hours you run it, what temperatures settings you prefer, and how much energy is consumed. Armed with all these statistics, it is easier for you to identify patterns and cut down unnecessary energy usage.
4) Create customized automation routine
You can easily link Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant to your smart thermostat and set up a customized routine based on temperature triggers or your daily schedule. Other smart devices around the home can also be added to the network, and the functioning can be efficiently coordinated to keep energy usage minimal.
For instance, if your room temperature is cool enough, the smart thermostat can turn off the air conditioning and switch the smart fan on to maintain the temperature while keeping energy usage low.
Final thoughts
The argument against smart thermostats is that temperature settings can be adjusted in programmable thermostats as well. While that is true, this works best if your schedule is fairly fixed or you remember to change the settings with every change in schedule. In reality, more often than not, users forget to set it up every time they need to increase or decrease temperature settings.
With smart thermostats, there is no issue of forgetting since the thermostat always remembers your preferred temperature range, learns to adapt to your schedule, and actually contributes to saving money. Most importantly, you can accomplish all this through a simple app on your smartphone. For all HVAC specialist services and queries in McDonough, reach out to us through our Contact form or call us on (770) 227-5325
