The thermostat plays a big role in your energy bills, however if you schedule your thermostat for periods when you are sleeping or away, you can make an immense difference without sacrificing comfort, and you may be able to do even more depending on which thermostat you choose.
How do you know what you need? Study the differences between basic programmable thermostats and advanced learning models, however energy and money can be saved with each of these options, however you will need to decide which features are most important to you.
With a programmable thermostat, you can schedule your afternoons to control temperatures when you are there and away, and depending on the model you choose, you may be able to enter a schedule you can override on weekends or other afternoons you are at home. You can program your weekdays on one schedule and your weekends on another, review the number of periods you can set up during the day. When you sleep, when you wake up, when you are at work, and when you are at home at night, do you want different temperatures? Make sure the thermostat you choose can accommodate your needs. It may be enough for some homeowners to set a proper schedule (or multiple) and override it when necessary. However, if you want more flexibility, you should consider a smart thermostat, but smart thermostats let you customize your heating and cooling schedule for every day of the week. Smart thermostats not only offer more flexibility, however they are also Wi-Fi enabled, so you can control the temperature regardless of where you are. In some models, smart thermostats go a step further! These are called “learning thermostats.” Learning thermostats do everything a proper smart thermostat can do and can also monitor your heating and cooling schedules based on your actual daily activities.