Is your electric bill sky high? It may be more to do with your thermostat than your HVAC system. Your air conditioning thermostat has a direct impact on how much electricity you use.
How Does the Thermostat Work?
The air conditioning thermostat detects the temperature in a specific area of your home, usually right where the control is. If it detects that the temperature is higher than your set point, it engages your HVAC system. Your system operates at a set temperature until the set point is reached; it doesn’t blow colder or hotter either way, it’s just about the duration of time. Once the thermostat identifies the proper temperature, it stops.
Reducing Your Electrical Costs With a Thermostat
Your thermostat could be engaging your air conditioning too often. If it isn’t set properly, not only could your air conditioning be wasting a lot of electricity, but your home may not be comfortable.
Here are a few ways a thermostat can reduce your electrical costs:
- Operating on a schedule. New thermostats can heat and cool a home depending on time of day. Your home may not need to be cooled when you’re at work, or it may not need to be engaged at night.
- Learning about your energy usage. Smart thermostats can detect when they are using higher than average energy. They can then be designed to avoid these high energy cost times, or they can use algorithms to determine when it’s best to let the home cool or when it’s best to let the home temporarily rise a few degrees.
- Being optimized. If a thermostat isn’t operating correctly, it could just be kicking on the system when it doesn’t need to be. The system could be running too cold or it could be running more frequently than it should. In this case, the thermostat may just need to be repaired or replaced.
- Having a nearby heat source. If there’s a lamp near your thermostat, it could be detecting constant heat. This is frequently the problem if the temperature is constantly getting to cold in your house, or if the temperature reading seems higher than it should be.
If you think your thermostat could be malfunctioning it’s a fairly simple process to fix. You can also get your thermostat upgraded to a smart or learning thermostat in order to save money. For a consultation, call today 408-295-2182