21 January 2009
The Great Thermostat Debate
Posted by admin under: Uncategorized .
In a previous post, way back in July, I mentioned that I try to save energy by using a programmable thermostat to turn down the temperature at night and when we’re not home.
A reader, whose husband installs and services furnaces, told me that he said it really doesn’t help to save energy because any energy savings from lower temperatures are offset by increased costs to bring the temperature back up when we are home.
I left it at that, partly because he installs the things and I’m afraid to change the filter on mine, and partly because his arms are as big as my legs. But today I read an interesting snippet on the Consumer Reports Home & Garden blog. Here’s the relevant section:
Programmable thermostats
Our report on programmable thermostats found they can cut your heating bills by as much as 20 percent. Some highly rated models cost as little as $35, and you can install them easily with our step-by-step instructions. During winter, program your thermostat to automatically lower the temperature 5°F at night (while you sleep) and 10°F during the day (when no one is home) to realize savings. “These simple adjustments should not affect comfort yet can cut your heating bill by as much as 20 percent,” says Jim Nanni, manager of the appliance and home-improvement testing department for Consumer Reports.Multiple thermostats let you deliver different amounts of heating to different parts of the home, if you can concentrate your activities in a single zone and leave the others unheated for as long as possible. For every 1°F you lower a thermostat setting, you will save about 3 percent on your heating costs.
Again, I’m no expert, but this seems fairly convincing. I’d be very interested to hear more from both sides of the debate, so feel free to chime in!
