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The use of smart home automation technology has increased greatly in recent years. While some smart home devices are mostly about convenience, the benefits a smart thermostat can provide go far beyond that. A smart thermostat is a great way to improve your comfort and can also save you lots of money.
What Is a Smart Thermostat and How Does It Work?
There are a wide variety of smart thermostats available nowadays, and the one thing they all have in common is that they are internet enabled. Any smart thermostat can connect directly to your home’s Wi-Fi network. Many smart thermostats are also fully compatible with at least some brands of smart home hubs. This means you can use a virtual assistant like Siri, Alexa or Google Assistant to give voice commands to the thermostat instead of needing to open the app.
Once the thermostat is installed, all you need to do is download the appropriate app to any smart mobile device like your phone or tablet. You can then use the app to connect it to your Wi-Fi network. After setting up the thermostat through the app, you can then use your mobile device to program and control your heating and air conditioning at the push of a button.
A smart thermostat is one of the easiest ways to save on heating and air conditioning costs. This is because you can use the app to adjust the temperature in your home up or down without needing to be at your house. If you forget to turn the AC or heating down before leaving, you can do it through the app. This is so that your HVAC system doesn’t need to run as much and use more energy than necessary. Similarly, you can tell the thermostat to keep your AC or heat set lower if you need to work late.
How a Smart Thermostat Can Provide Automatic HVAC Control
One thing you should understand is that not all smart thermostats are equal. Many of the more budget-friendly models on the market are essentially no different from a standard programmable thermostat. Other than that they are Wi-Fi enabled and can be controlled remotely through an app. If you’re looking to automate your HVAC system to further improve your comfort and save more on your energy costs, you need a smart thermostat with learning capabilities.
A learning thermostat uses AI algorithms and works alongside other types of smart home technology such as motion sensors, door sensors and automatic door locks. This enables it to essentially learn from your behavior and understand your typical daily routines. The thermostat can then automatically program your heating and air conditioning on its own with very little input from you. All you really need to do is use the app to set your desired temperatures for the times that you’re home, at work and asleep. With this info, the thermostat will then program itself so that it turns the temperature up or down at specific times each day.
Let’s say that you normally have your heating set to 70 degrees Fahrenheit when you’re home and awake. Then, you might turn it down to 65 degrees when you go to bed and again when you leave for work. By using the other smart technology in your home, the thermostat will know exactly when you go to bed, wake up, leave for work and get back home. Even if you leave at different times on different days of the week, the thermostat will always change the temperature at the time you leave. It will also switch back to the normal temperature early enough that your home is already fully warm at whatever time you get back from work.
If you have the day off or leave later than normal, the motion and door sensors in your house will tell the thermostat that you’re still home. This means that it will keep your heating turned up to normal without you needing to do a thing. Similarly, any time you stay up later than usual, the thermostat will know and wait to turn your heating down until it senses you’ve gone to bed.
Other Ways a Smart Thermostat Can Automate Your HVAC System
Some smart thermostats also have other advanced features like weather monitoring and geo-fencing that make them even more intuitive. Weather monitoring is useful both for your comfort and energy savings. On much colder or hotter days, this feature will enable the thermostat to adjust the temperature earlier than normal. This ensures your home is fully warm or cool before you get back from work. On milder days, it will wait to adjust the temperature until later to minimize the amount of energy your HVAC system uses.
Geo-fencing is also an extremely useful feature that allows a smart thermostat to detect your current location by interacting with the GPS on your phone. This feature enables you to use a map and program certain boundary lines or borders. The thermostat will then wait to adjust your home’s temperature until you enter or exit these certain areas. For instance, you can set one boundary a specific distance from your home so that the thermostat will only change the temperature setting after you cross that boundary. This means you won’t have to worry about the thermostat changing the temperature and making your home too hot or cold if you’re just running a few nearby errands. You could also program another boundary at your workplace so that the thermostat will only switch back to the normal temperature as you’re leaving to help save energy.
Additional Benefits of Installing a Smart Thermostat
Most experts estimate that a smart thermostat can save you around 10%-15% on heating and cooling costs, but this is far from the only benefit it can provide. With a smart thermostat, you can also monitor the daily and monthly energy usage of your HVAC system. This makes it even easier to save on your energy costs since it allows you to make adjustments to the temperature settings. You can almost immediately see what effect it has on energy usage. It also makes it easier to know if your HVAC system needs to be serviced or repaired. It does this by monitoring to see if the energy usage starts to increase above what it normally is. A smart thermostat also takes the hassle out of HVAC maintenance since you can program it to remind you to replace the air filter or schedule an annual maintenance service.
Since 2003, Tingley Home Services has been focused on helping residents of Milford and the surrounding areas with all of their home comfort and electrical needs. As one of the area’s top HVAC services, we can assist if you’re looking to automate your heating and AC with a smart thermostat. When you choose us, we’ll help you find a thermostat that is compatible with your home and HVAC system and ensure it works just like it should. If you’re having any issues keeping your home comfortable, we also offer expert HVAC maintenance, repair and installation services. Whether you’re looking for smart thermostat installation or need any other home comfort service, contact us today.
