Being smart about how you control your temperature settings will help you save money and stay comfortable in your home. You can save as much as 10% per year on heating and cooling by turning your thermostat down 7°–10°F for 8 hours a day in the fall and winter; turn it up in the spring and summer. (If you have a heat pump, don’t do this without a smart or programmable thermostat designed for use with heat pumps.)
Smart thermostats
A smart thermostat is a Wi-Fi enabled device that automatically adjusts heating and cooling temperature settings for optimal performance. Smart thermostats that earn the ENERGY STAR® label have been independently certified, based on actual eld data, to deliver energy savings.
Smart thermostats provide convenience, insight, and control. While system designs vary, the following are common smart thermostat features:
- Learning the temperature you like and establishing a schedule that automatically adjusts to energy-saving temperatures when you are asleep or away
- Providing data on home energy use that you can track and manage
- Allowing you to control home heating and cooling remotely through your smartphone or tablet.
ENERGY STAR certified smart thermostats are also designed to be compatible with incentive programs offered by some utilities. These incentives reward customers in ways that help utilities manage energy availability and reliability.
Programmable thermostats
A programmable thermostat will automatically turn on the heating or air conditioning at times you schedule. Programmable thermostats can store multiple daily settings that you can manually override without affecting the rest of the daily or weekly program.
Which to buy?
Smart thermostats are generally easier to use and have more reporting and interactive features than programmable thermostats. Programmable thermostats need to be set up to turn the temperature up or down on a schedule and usually don’t have interactive features, but they are cheaper than smart thermostats.