thermostat savings?

goodneighbor

I"ve wondered for some time about the claims that getting a programmable thermostat can lower your energy costs by 10%. Granted, digital thermostats will be more accurate then by-metal thermostats. But why should a customer purchase a $150+ thermostat over an $35 didital TT. Is it to compensate for when they forget to turn it down at night or when they leave? Now, thermostats that "talk" to energy controls I see as worth it for both comfort and savings. However I find it hard to justify purchasing an expensive thermostat that learns its own schedule and you can turn up and down from your phone for any other reason than you think its cool, of now until you find something better to do. Again where is the 10% savings

nicholas bonham-carter

programmable thermostat

many of us here do not think that there is any savings to be had with a setback, unless it is for a few days. heating everything back up consumes most of the fuel not burned during the setback. do a search here for setback, and you will have plenty to read on the subject.

just make sure that the simple thermostat can be set for steam, as not all can.--nbc

chapchap70

One percent per degree of setback

I believe a decent programmable thermostat can be had for around 50 bucks.  If your emitters, whether they be baseboard or forced air, etc can heat your rooms rapidly, you can see savings.  Radiant heat and steam react too slowly for setback.



If you turn down your thermostats when you leave the house or retire for the night, you get savings but then you return or wake up to a cold house so the programmable benefits in comfort over regular thermostats.  You can program the thermostats to start heating the rooms before you notice the cold house.



As your house cools closer to the outside temperature, less heat is lost to the outside than it would have been if there was a wider temperature disparity.  Obviously your heating system will come on less to maintain the cooler temperature.



My title is a rule thumb.  

Wesman

Tstats have come a long way

While exact savings can be debated, My rule of thumb is that you need to set back for at least 3 hours to start to save.  A TH6110 with large display can be had for around $60. Its a lot of stat in a small box.

From a comfort stand point if you set it at 70 in the occupied mode, you should never see 71 or 69...always 70...pretty amazing.  On the setback side of it, the time you set to be in the "wake" mode is the time your feet hit the floor.  It will learn your specific system, how far it is from required setpoint and slowly ramp up to hit the target.  Pretty cool. 

If you don't see the cost of fuel retreating and you don't mind it being cooler when you sleep or when no ones home you can see it could pay for itself in one season...after that it's gravy.

Once you have the basic 4 programs over 7 days, the other bells and whistles are marginal.  the other feature I like for 2nd homes or rental properties is warm weather shutdown.  This prevents the heat from coming on at all if the temp outside is above x degrees.