Using a programmable thermostat can help your furnace run much more efficiently throughout the day. The important thing to keep in mind is basically to let your home get cooler during when nobody is there, and only keep it at a comfortable temperature when people are around to enjoy it. A few other ways to increase your furnace’s efficiency with programmable thermostats include:

  • Setting up a full weekly schedule
  • Letting your home get a little cooler at night
  • Keeping wild temperature fluctuations to a minimum

Weekly Schedules

Programming your thermostat to coincide with you and your family’s weekly schedule will help keep your energy bills as low as possible. There is no need for your furnace to be working hard to keep the temperature at 72 degrees, in the middle of a harsh Kansas winter, if nobody is going to be home to enjoy it.

Climate Control at Night

Most people prefer a slightly cooler environment at night, usually resulting in them turning down the furnace in order to achieve it. With a programmable thermostat, this can be done automatically, without the need to remember to turn it back up in the morning. Another benefit is that you can set it to start warming up 15-30 minutes before you get out of bed, so that you are not getting out of the covers and into a very chilly home.

Steady Temperatures

Keeping the temperature in your house fairly steady can be done easily with a programmable thermostat, especially when combined with a variable speed furnace. You can take advantage of the fact that a variable speed furnace will use less energy getting your home to the right temperature by gradually increasing the thermostat throughout the day.

If you have more questions about how a programmable thermostat works, or if you have any concerns about your home’s heating and cooling system, get in touch with us at Comfort Systems. Our expert team has been dealing with home heating and cooling problems for 18 years. Let us help with any problems you are having, big or small.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Wichita, Kansas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about programmable thermostat and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.