A new smart thermostat offers many benefits for your home, including reduced energy waste. When you’re ready to have a smart thermostat installed in your New Braunfels, Texas, home, you’ll need to follow several steps to get the most out of your investment. Remember to keep these six key factors in mind as you select and use your new smart thermostat.

Improve Your Home’s Energy Use

You’ll get the most out of your new smart thermostat if you use the associated app to remotely adjust the settings and monitor energy use. In addition, you can program your thermostat to not cool or heat while you’re away for hours or days. You can also change other home factors such as improving insulation, updating your HVAC system, or repairing ducts to achieve a more energy-efficient home.

Maximize Benefits From Energy Star Certification

Energy Star, the Department of Energy’s independent certification program, certifies devices that can give you monthly data on your energy savings. This means that several key parameters of your thermostat will exceed the values of average U.S. households by set percentage points.

It calculates the average using the lower 95 percent of households. In other words, it excludes the top 5 percent. Then, it checks products to see how much more they achieve in terms of accuracy and energy savings compared to the average. Only after passing certain thresholds over the average do products receive Energy Star certification. The top smart thermostats on the market have Energy Star certification.

Place Your New Thermostat Near Your Router

Your new smart thermostat will work using your home’s Wi-Fi, Therefore, you’ll need to make sure the location of the thermostat lets it make a clear, uninterrupted connection with your router. While basic thermostat functions will continue even if your Wi-Fi disconnects, the modern and novel features you enjoy with your new thermostat depend on keeping the device’s internet connection active at all times.

Choose a User-Friendly Design

Many smart thermostats come with user-friendly apps, which should excite those with a technical background. However, they remain easy for everyone in the family to use. Many thermostats feature a touch screen just like your smartphone. The size of the screen and the clarity and lighting of the display could easily factor into your choice of a smart thermostat, especially if you prefer large print or simply find a bigger display more convenient.

Let the Data Help Inspire Positive Change

Many smart thermostats, such as the Bryant Wi-Fi Thermostat or Housewise Wi-Fi Thermostat, offer extended weather forecasts and usage reports. This data can help you plan your HVAC settings for the week or help you understand why your energy use may shift over time.

Because the smart thermostats certified by Energy Star must be within at least 2 degrees of the true temperature, you can rely on the data you receive. You can see the difference a degree or two makes. As a result, you can optimize your HVAC system to maximize energy efficiency.

Maintaining your HVAC system regularly should also help it run smoothly and with less waste. So if you get your heating system checked before you turn it on this fall, you should see your usage stats improve. You’ll also help to prevent breakdowns and repairs this winter.

Be Precise With Your Home Heating Zones

Some smart thermostats allow you to program different temperature and humidity settings in various rooms of your home. Your kitchen can stay cool at night in the winter. And you won’t need to shiver in your bed or your home office. You can even adjust your kids’ bedroom temperatures so that everyone can sleep well according to their needs. Thermostats may even work in conjunction with sensors to automatically detect which rooms are in use and which can remain unheated. As a result, you’ll prevent wasting money heating empty rooms.

Smart thermostats also take advantage of the prevalence of smartphones with an option called geofencing. This feature allows your smart thermostat to know when you’ve left the home with your phone. As a result, it’ll reduce its workload until you return.

Are you ready to explore and enjoy the benefits of a smart thermostat and save money on your energy bills? Woods Comfort Systems can help you choose the product that meets your needs. Call us now at 512-842-5066 and see how we can help with smart thermostats and other energy-saving services and products.

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