Every degree counts when it comes to staying comfortable—and your power bill. That’s why more Fairview, PA, homeowners rely on smart thermostats to manage their home comfort. These devices do more than make it easier to control your HVAC—they use intelligent temperature scheduling and connectivity to match your daily activities.
By using these smart thermostat programming tips from the heating and cooling specialists at Patterson & Stirling, you can maintain your preferred temperature 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 the way to go. In this blog, we’ll walk you through essential smart thermostat strategies. With this smart thermostat programming guide, you can make your HVAC system work smarter—not harder.
1. Change the Temperature According to Your Daily Routine
Customize your smart thermostat settings to adjust the temperature in your home according to your normal routine—cooler when you're away, warmer when you're home and comfortably adjusted for sleeping. By automatically changing adjusting the temperature when no one’s home, these schedules eliminate wasteful heating or cooling. Some smart thermostats can learn your habits and change temperature automatically.
Using smart thermostat settings to change temperatures based on your daily activities ensures comfort on your terms without wasting electricity—all while saving money. Plus, it’s easy: you don’t have to manually update settings.
2. Adjust Temperatures Seasonally
One of the cost-saving thermostat tips from the team at Patterson & Stirling is to use your smart thermostat to change your home’s temperature according to the season. For example, during winter, experts say the recommended thermostat setting for home energy efficiency is 68 degrees in the day and a bit colder at night. This approach can lower heating bills by as much as 10% each year. That’s different from the suggested cost-saving temperature when it's hot outside, which is approximately 78 degrees. By modifying your temperature settings based on the seasons, you reduce unnecessary power usage and still enjoy a pleasant home.
3. Use 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 away from your home. Away Mode lowers the temperature while you're out. Eco Mode also reduces the temperature and is perfect when when you'll be gone several days, like vacations. These two modes let you save on power when you’re not home to feel 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 often hotter than the ground level. Installing an HVAC zoning system separates your home into multiple areas, allowing you to individually manage temperatures in different parts or levels of your home. Smart thermostats make it easy to set and adjust temperatures by zone, so you can always enjoy the perfect temperature.
5. Use HVAC Monitoring Features for Maximum Savings
One of the benefits of smart thermostats is their capability to integrate with connected HVAC systems. More than simply controlling your heating and cooling system, the WiFi or Bluetooth connection gives you access to real-time data from the system itself. This means a smart thermostat can track how well the system is running, inform you about AC or furnace repair and can even alert your local HVAC company when it's time for HVAC maintenance or repair.
This helps get prompt furnace or air conditioning repair as soon as your system requires it. Without this capability, a failing heating and cooling system could suffer more damage and waste energy before you even notice—until the damage is done and your energy bills spike.
Need Help Programming Your Thermostat? Patterson & Stirling Is Here For You
Smart thermostats have many benefits for your comfort and budget. At Patterson & Stirling, we love supporting homeowners like you get the best results out of smart thermostats and other smart HVAC technology. If you're interested, we can include a smart thermostat with furnace or air conditioning installation—helping you get the maximum benefit your HVAC system. Or, we can demonstrate how a smart thermostat and zoned HVAC system can make your upcoming AC or furnace installation that much more eco-friendly. We're also happy to provide you with thermostat efficiency advice and show you what these innovative tools are capable of.
Learning more about smart thermostats begins with a phone call. Set up your appointment with Patterson & Stirling by calling 814-739-6977 today.
