When you are about to go on a vacation with your family, saving money is probably not something that is on the top of your mind. Money savings and vacation spending typically do not mesh well. As a homeowner, though, it is important to be aware of the different ways that you can make adjustments to your home to save some cash while you are out of the house. Have a home energy audit Jacksonville done, set that thermostat appropriately, and watch the savings roll in.
Think about a typical week for the thermostat in your home. What is the temperature that you usually leave it at? Do you change the temperature during the day and then again at night? Chances are you make adjustments to the thermostat all of the time, but it is all dependent on how and when you are usually in the house. Setting that thermostat correctly before you head out on vacation can reap many rewards in the short-term.
Figure Out an Away Temperature
The best thing for you to do is to know what the best temperature is going to be to leave the thermostat at while you are away. This is going to be a temperature where the home is going to remain relatively comfortable, maybe not as fresh as you would have it if you were home, but still acceptable. This could be five degrees warmer than when you are home normally; it could be higher, or lower.
What you do not want to do is just to turn off your air conditioning system entirely. This can leave the house warming up and have you come home to a sauna mostly, one that is going to require a lot of energy for your air conditioning system to catch up with and cool the house once again.
A home energy audit Jacksonville can also help with this as it can detect ways you may be able to get energy efficiency gains. One such suggestion could be installing a smart thermostat.
Smart Thermostats
Smart thermostats are powerful as they are going to allow you to program them with great detail. Say you are going away for a seven day period. With a smart thermostat, you can program out the seven days so that the thermostat will change over that course of time. You could have the air conditioning system come on more during the day when it is cool, and then less at night when the outdoor air is not quite as warm.
Smart thermostats can also be enabled with wifi. You may be able to log onto your phone and immediately get in contact with the thermostat that you have in there. You can check on the house, see what the temperature is at, and make some adjustments if you need to.
The smart thermostats are especially nifty when you are heading home from vacation. You may have left your air conditioning system much higher than usual while you were gone, to save on energy usage. Now you want the house cool though for your arrival. With a smart thermostat, you can log onto the thermostat, cool down the home by dropping the temperature, and then enjoy it once you arrive.
Thermostats are something that needs to be programmed appropriately while you are on vacation to enjoy energy efficiency gains. Our team of professionals can identify other chances for energy wins through a home energy audit Jacksonville, but the thermostat is a good starting point. The next time you are going on vacation put potential monetary savings top of mind and set the thermostat appropriately. We also provide commercial thermostat services!