
Every degree counts when it comes to your comfort—and your power bill. That’s why more Wausau, WI, homeowners are turning to smart thermostats to maximize their home comfort. These devices offer more than just convenience—they use intelligent temperature scheduling and connectivity to sync with your daily routines.
With these smart thermostat programming tips from the professionals at Gilray Heating and Cooling, you can keep your space cozy while cutting unnecessary energy use. Whether you're looking to cut back on utility bills or enjoy a more responsive home, smart home climate control is a smart solution. In this blog, we’ll walk you through essential smart thermostat strategies. With this smart thermostat programming guide, you can make your HVAC system be more efficient and less wasteful.
1. Change the Temperature According to Your Daily Routine
Customize your smart thermostat settings to change the temperature according to your daily routine—cooler when you're away, warmer when you're home and just right for sleeping. By automatically changing adjusting the temperature when no one’s home, these schedules eliminate unneeded heating or cooling. Some smart thermostats have the capability to learn your habits and change temperature automatically.
Taking advantage of smart thermostat settings to change temperatures based on your daily routine gives you comfort on your terms without wasting energy—all while saving money. Plus, it’s easy: you don’t have to keep track of settings.
2. Adjust Temperatures Seasonally
One of the cost-saving thermostat tips from the team at Gilray Heating and Cooling is to use your smart thermostat to adjust your home’s temperature based on the time of year. For example, during winter, experts say the recommended thermostat setting for home energy efficiency is 68 degrees in the day and slightly lower at night. This strategy can lower heating bills by as much as 10% each year. That’s different from the ideal cost-saving temperature during warmer months, which is approximately 78 degrees. By modifying your temperature settings based on the seasons, you use less energy and still remain cozy.
3. Utilize Away or Eco Modes When You're Not Home
Smart or programmable thermostat schedules also allows you to activate special modes—such as Away and Eco—when you're not home. Away Mode reduces the temperature while you're out. Eco Mode also lowers the temperature and is ideal for longer absences, like vacations. These two modes help you conserve energy when you’re not home to experience the heating or cooling, but still ensure your HVAC system still runs to prevent dangerously high or low temperatures.
4. Control Temperature in Individual Rooms or Areas with Zoning Features
Some homes have stubbornly hot or cold rooms. A typical example is a second floor that’s consistently warmer than the ground level. Installing an HVAC zoning system breaks the house into zones, allowing you to independently control temperatures in different parts or levels of your home. Smart thermostats allow you to set and adjust temperatures by zone, so you can always enjoy the perfect temperature.
5. Monitor and Fine-Tune for Maximum Savings
One of the advantages of smart thermostats is their ability to work with connected HVAC systems. More than simply controlling your HVAC system, the WiFi or Bluetooth connection lets your smart thermostat receive real-time data from the system itself. This means a smart thermostat can monitor performance, inform you about AC or furnace repair and can even send a notification to your local HVAC company when it's time for HVAC maintenance or repair.
This lets get prompt furnace or air conditioning repair as soon as your system needs it. Without this feature, a failing heating and cooling system could become less efficient and lose performance before you even notice—until the damage is done and your energy bills spike.
Need Help Programming Your Thermostat? Gilray Heating and Cooling Can Help
Smart thermostats have many perks for your comfort and home energy efficiency. At Gilray Heating and Cooling, we love helping homeowners like you unlock the most out of smart thermostats and other smart HVAC technology. If want to really increase your comfort, we can combine a smart thermostat with furnace or air conditioning installation—helping you enjoy the most possible comfort from your HVAC system. Or, we can walk you through how a smart thermostat and zoned HVAC system can make your upcoming AC or furnace installation that much more cost-effective. We're also happy to provide you with thermostat efficiency advice and show you what these innovative tools are capable of.
The path to lowering your home heating bills with smart thermostats begins with a phone call. Schedule your appointment with Gilray Heating and Cooling by calling 715-515-7221 today.