The thermostat controls your home’s temperature to keep you comfortable at all times, be it chilly winter nights or balmy summer afternoons. That is why you need to ensure you have the best thermostat maintenance procedures in place and take care of your thermostat well. Did you know that some common thermostat practices might actually be causing your energy bills to skyrocket and should be avoided? Here are the 5 most common thermostat mistakes that people make when using a thermostat.
Turning the thermostat up when it’s cold
The thermostat’s primary function is to maintain the temperature of your house at the desired level irrespective of the temperature outside. This means that weather fluctuations will not affect the output of the thermostat. Just because it is cold outside, it does not mean that turning your thermostat up is required to keep your home warm. By doing this, you will only turn up the heat and find your home to be too hot within a few minutes, which is not really required. This simple act of turning up the thermostat can increase the energy consumption of the thermostat and increase your power bills significantly. Don’t turn the thermostat up, no matter what the temperature is outside.
Turning up the thermostat for quicker heating
Stepping into a chilly home can tempt you to turn the thermostat up for instant heating of your house. However, this is one of the biggest mistakes people make when using a thermostat. A thermostat does not control the speed at which your heating systems function. It only controls the final temperature of the house. This means that turning up the temperature for quicker heating is futile. This will only lead to unbearably high temperatures which will make you set the thermostat lower again, leading to energy wastage through the whole process.
Turning it on and off constantly
You might believe that turning the thermostat off when no one is home saves you money. But, it is not so. This practice, in fact, costs you more money when using a thermostat. This is because when you turn the thermostat off when the house is vacant and then turn it back on it takes a higher amount of energy to warm an entirely cold house as compared to one that is slightly cool.
The ideal practice is to set a thermostat at a low temperature when going out for long periods of time. You can also use a timer to modulate the temperature according to the situation in the house. Not only will this save your energy bills from shooting through the roof, but it will also prevent the need for constant thermostat maintenance by keeping the thermostat functioning efficiently.
Knowing the impact of these common mistakes on your energy bills should stop you from repeating them. Set a thermostat to a suitable temperature and forget about it. This is the best way to ensure you do not increase its power consumption. Schedule annual thermostat maintenance checks by trained thermostat professionals to have a well-functioning thermostat for a long time.