Every year as the season begins to evolve into the winter, homeowners begin to wonder, “what is the best temperature to keep my thermostat at?” With the world working and learning from home, this question has become even more relevant. There are a lot of factors for Mom and Dad to consider other than just the temperature such as financial and energy usage concerns. Air Technical Services has some general recommendations and best practices to help your family ease into the winter.
Our general recommendations for the winter include setting your thermostat based on the occupancy in the house during the day versus at night, as well as the usage of each space.
– If the kids are home during the day, 72° F is a good way to adjust them from the overheated schools they are used to. The goal is to be able to live in the home comfortably at around 68° F.
– If Mom and Dad are at the office and the kids are in school during the day, or the whole house is asleep, between 62° F and 66° F is the optimal heating zone.
However, we recommend focusing on your family’s comfort and establishing a heating strategy to get your home through the winter. Creating a energy-efficient heating strategy will allow you to keep your home warm when needed while also keeping your energy bills down.
The key is to not be always set on one temperature; adjusting is your friend! Determine the peak hours of the day where you will need to adjust and work to only adjust once or twice. Constantly raising or lowering the thermostat can cost more overtime. As your family begins to acclimate, you can work on turning down the temperature every week to help reduce your energy bill.
Take advantage of the opportunities to lower temperatures and reduce costs; program your thermostat to adjust based on your family’s needs. Set them based on your schedules. Encourage your family to close their doors and vents in rooms that go unused during the day to help deliver the heat to the rooms in use. Make sure all cracks are sealed around winters and doors.
Another way to ensure you are saving money, energy, and efficiently heating your house is to have your furnace serviced and inspected annually. The only way you will save energy is if your system is running efficiently. At Air Technical, our HVAC experts can check your until to ensure it is operating at its best. We can replace, upgrade and recommend ways to improve your home’s heating system. We are here to help you start saving energy so give us a call!
