Your home’s air conditioner makes scorching summer months much more bearable for you and your family. However, any homeowner who utilizes their air conditioning system during the summertime can usually expect to see much higher power bills. Fortunately, understanding what temperature to set your thermostat at can help you to keep your energy expenses to a minimum.
Efficiency Starts With a Programmable Thermostat
The first fact that any homeowner needs to realize is that a programmable thermostat can change the whole efficiency of their centralized air conditioning system. Due to its programming function, you can set different desired temperatures for different times of the day. Also, you can customize your settings for each day of the week to account for days when you’re home more often.
The key here is that you can program your thermostat to increase the temperature of your home when no one is there. It’s not necessary for your air conditioning unit to run continuously unless your family is at home or on the way there. You may be thinking that it would be just as easy to turn the thermostat off when you exit your home. The reality is that when you return, you would be walking back into a warm and uncomfortable home.
With a programmable thermostat, you can set the desired temperature to decrease down to a comfortable level before you get back home. Most air conditioning experts recommend having your thermostat return to your at-home desired temperature about an hour before you head back home. This way, you can walk into a nicely cooled home without a thought.
What Should Your Temperature Be When You’re Home?
When your family is enjoying time at home, you want to ensure that your thermostat is set at a comfortable level. Don’t make the common mistake of setting your air conditioner too low and having to wear sweatpants and sweatshirts around your home. That’s just a waste of energy!
Instead, experts recommend setting your thermostat to 78 degrees. Give this a go for your family and see how you feel. You may need to drop down to 76 or even 75 degrees to hit a comfortable level for your whole family. Once you figure out what your family’s ideal temperature is, you should program it into your thermostat for the weekly hours that you know that you’ll be at home.
What’s Your Ideal Away-From-Home Temperature?
By now, you should have your ideal at-home temperature setting already figured out. The temperature when you’re away from home should increase by at least 10 degrees. In most situations, this means that your thermostat will run minimally when you’re not in residence.
However, setting it just 10 degrees higher helps to keep the temperature still within a reasonable range. When your programmable thermostat begins to lower back down to your at-home temperature, it can do so efficiently. Take a few moments and program your thermostat to a higher temperature for the hours of the week that you know that none of your family members will be in the house. You will reap the savings!
Tips for Saving Money
As a homeowner, it’s likely that you want to take advantage of many money-saving tips to reduce your energy bill during the hot summer months. Fortunately, there are a lot of different things that you can do. First, you can benefit from using your home exhaust fans. Always run the exhaust fan when you are in the shower or cooking on the stove as it works to remove excess moisture from the air. Too much humidity in the air can make a room feel up to 10 degrees warmer than it actually is.
Second, you should invest in some ceiling fans for the most highly trafficked rooms in your home. Bedrooms, living rooms, and kitchens are all a must. Be sure that the fan blades are pointed downward so that the air is blowing down on you. Just the presence of having the wind blowing on your skin can make the room feel between two and eight degrees colder than it actually is.
Quality AC Services
Weather Masters Corp. is your Frederick hometown air conditioner professional. We provide both heating and cooling installation, maintenance, and repairs. Simply give us a call today, and we’ll get a technician headed out to assist you.
