Choosing the right thermostat

In my last post, I wrote about a dream – the dream of a home with zero-net energy usage. It’s a dream that a lot of people are working towards, and it’s fairly close to realization. But in order for you to take advantage of it, you’d need to do a lot (besides wait a year or more). You’d need to get entirely new appliances that track peak loads on the energy grid and adjust accordingly. And you would need to install some form of energy generator, whether it’s a solar array or wind turbines. It’s a large investment.

But while the smart grid is still relatively far off, there are still things you can do to reduce your energy usage – small changes that don’t cost you a lot of money but can save you a ton.

One of these things is installing a smart, programmable thermostat into your home. Automating your homes means added convenience and savings for your family. With the right thermostats installed in your home, you won’t have to pay for wasted energy consumptions.

A thermostat is a device that operates as a control to regulate your cooling and heating equipment so that you can adjust your home temperature with ease. It measures your home temperature and uses that information to activate your furnace or air-conditioned depending on your settings. Today, more and more technologies are being used to fully automate home and if you are looking to start automating your home, this is a good start.

How do  you choose the right one for your home? 

Vital to that question is your schedule.  Choosing the right thermostat can be a daunting task, but knowing what you want to achieve with this tool can help to simplify the choices. Of course, you should always bear in mind to choose the model that best works for your convenience. A high-tech gadget can be fun, but if it gets too complicated to use you’ll end up not using it all.

For home use a programmable electronic thermostat is best. It helps you save energy and money. You can have pre-programmed settings to regulate your home’s temperature during both  summer and winter, whether you are sleeping or out of your house. The purpose is to establish a program that automatically and efficiently reduces the energy used on heating or cooling.

There are many different brands of programmable thermostats but it is recommended to choose one that is Energy Star qualified. They come programmed with suggested temperatures and set point times, but you can easily adjust the settings to perfectly fit with your family’s activities and schedules.

Here are some models you can consider for your home.

• 7-day models –  if your daily schedule varies day after day this is the most flexible model, allowing you to set different programs every day.
• 5+2-day models – use the same schedule for all the weekdays and another for the weekends.
• 5-1-1 models – use the same schedule for all the weekdays, another for Saturday and another for Sunday.

Here are Amazon’s top 3 models that ranked well and are Energy Star approved:

• Honeywell RTH6400D
• Hunter 44550
• Lux Products TX9000TS

Their prices are reasonable, and once installed, your energy consumption will be regulated. The savings will eventually pay for the cost of the thermostat.