Programmable Thermostats – Saving Energy At Home
Here’s an easy way to save money on your monthly heating bills, simply replace your old thermostat for a new programmable one. Every degree you cutback over an eight hour period will save you 1% on your heating bill and of course this can add up to hundreds of dollars every year.
Programmable thermostats allow you to preset different programmable settings for different times of the day and different days of the week. Program in the day the start and end times and the temperature desired for that time period your thermostat does the rest. Always look for the energy star logo to make sure it meets the energy efficiency standards set by the EPA.
Where To Place Programmable Thermostats
The thermostat should be located on an inside wall about 5 feet from the floor. In order for your thermostat to get a correct reading it should be away from anything that could adversely affect the temperature such as sunlight or drafts etc. If those conditions do exist you do want to talk to your heating and air-conditioning professional about moving your thermostat to a better location.
Before you start to remove your old thermostat turn off the power to your furnace and air conditioning by flipping the breaker in the breaker box. Now remove the cover from your old thermostat, most of them just snap on and off. Now you can remove the thermostat from the wall by simply unscrewing it. Once you remove the plate from the wall take little pieces of tape and mark the wires where they’re connected to the plate terminals such as R-G-Y and W, this will help you remember where to put the wires when hooking up the new programmable thermostats. Because there is no standard color coding this is a very important step to make sure your furnace and air conditioning system will work properly when you hook the new programmable thermostat up.
Once everything is marked simply remove the wires from the terminals using a screwdriver. Another quick tip is to wrap the wires around a pencil when they’re disconnected to keep them from falling back into the wall.
Installing The New Programmable Thermostats
Disconnect the front of your new thermostat from the base, this is usually accomplish simply by unsnapping it. Position the base against the wall with the wires protruding through the allotted opening, small level to line it up properly and mark the screw holes with a pencil. Remove the base and drill 3/16 inch holes in the wall, insert wall anchors using a hammer to tap them into place. Feed the wires back through the base opening and attach the base to the wall with the screws that will be provided.
Now this is where marking the wires will have been very handy, remove the tape from each wire one at a time well attaching it to the proper terminal on the base of the new programmable thermostat. If the connections don’t match consult your instruction manual with the new programmable thermostat. Install new batteries into the control unit of the programmable thermostats and snap the face back onto the base of the thermostat that is attached to the wall.
Testing The New Programmable Therostats
Now it’s time to turn your power back on by flipping the breakers in your service box, and test the new thermostats functions. Make sure both heating and air-conditioning will turn on when the thermostat is used in manual operation.
If you have more than one heating and air-conditioning system in your home then installing programmable thermostats on both systems will mean more energy savings. Programmable thermostats allow you to have a very comfortable home while at the same time increase your energy efficiency.
