From a tropical vacation or a long trip for work, traveling means making preparations for your heating and cooling system. You won’t be using it while you’re not home, so you can make adjustments as necessary to conserve your energy use. At the same time, you don’t want to just leave it off for the entire duration of your trip.
Instead, it’s ideal to leave your HVAC system running and just make adjustments depending on whether it's winter or summer. That way you can minimize energy costs without stressing about returning to an uncomfortable home. We’ll explain why you shouldn’t turn your HVAC system off as well as the best thermostat settings for different times of year.
Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Leave Your Thermostat Alone
While you might be wanting to turn your HVAC system off before a trip, this will sometimes end up causing annoying problems by the time you come back. This is particularly true when the weather will be severely hot or cold while you’re out of town.
For example, turning the HVAC system down during the summer will sometimes produce very high humidity. Not only will your home feel muggy and uncomfortable when you come back, but it could have also invited mold/mildew growth or pest infestations.
And over the winter, leaving the furnace off could lead to pipes icing over or even bursting. It’s exhausting to come home from a vacation only to discover substantial water damage near a broken pipe.
Energy-Efficient Thermostat Settings While at Work
You can optimize the temperature even as you come and go to work. Considering you’re not home for around 8 hours or so, it doesn’t make sense to keep an empty home at the same temperature you’d usually have. As a general rule, it’s encouraged to adjust the thermostat by 5 degrees or more. Meaning that if you prefer a comfortable 72 degrees, try raising it to 76-77 while you’re out.
But you may save even more if you’re willing to further adjust the temperature. As stated by the Department of Energy, you could save about 10% on your HVAC expenses by raising the temperature by about 7-10 degrees.
Best Thermostat Settings While on a Trip in Summer
If you leave for a longer trip in the heart of summer, you can make more significant adjustments. This helps you avoid using too much energy while still defending your home from the hassles that come with leaving it un-air conditioned. About 5 degrees is suitable for shorter trips while around 10 degrees is worthwhile if you’ll be out of town for 2 weeks or longer. If you like keeping the house at 72 in the summer, 78-82 will offer beneficial results.
Ideal Thermostat Settings While Away from Home in Winter
To determine the best thermostat setting for a winter trip, simply lower it by the same amount you would increase it in summer. 68 is a frequent winter thermostat setting, so turning it down to 63-58 will protect your plumbing while restricting how long your furnace runs.
A Smart Thermostat Can Help: Perks of Smart Thermostat Installation
An ideal strategy to optimize your home’s HVAC system while out of the house is by investing in a smart thermostat. This advanced type of programmable thermostat utilizes intelligent software to monitor your usual comfort habits. It learns these preferences and makes automatic adjustments to the schedule for higher energy efficiency. And with Wi-Fi compatibility, you can remotely access your heating and cooling using a smartphone or tablet.
Smart thermostats are stuffed with features to help you save energy and lower costs. For instance, specific models can track electricity prices to boost heating or cooling when prices are lower. They can be used with high-efficiency, variable-speed equipment to fine-tune how long your HVAC system should run. It’s the ideal tool to enhance how you control your comfort system. If you’re thinking about investing in a smart thermostat, there are multiple ways you can bring down your costs, essentially getting a smart thermostat for free. The next time you leave for vacation, you can appreciate true peace of mind that your HVAC system won’t cause any trouble while you’re away from home.