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Advertisement | Did you know that by adjusting your thermostat by just a few degrees for 8 hours a day can save you as much as 10% on your next heating or cooling bill? Well it can, however it can be a tremendous headache to have to get up and down and go over to the thermostat to manual adjust it everyday, and what if you forget? That’s where a programmable thermostat can save you a lot of time, money and frustration. During the day you might want it warmer while at night you want it cooler. With a programmable thermostat you can preset your thermostat to adjust itself up and down at certain times of the day (As much as six or more times a day on some units). On some you can even just copy the settings to every day of the week so you don’t have to program in separate times for each day. There are even some units which have become so “smart” that they can adjust your temperature for you without any input from you. These units are very expensive and are not Do It Yourselfer friendly, but if you want the ultimate in comfort, luxury and energy efficiency, one of these units may just be for you. They range in price anywhere from $500.00 to upwards of $1000.00 a piece, not including installation, and they typically have to be installed by a licensed HVAC contractor due to the amount of wiring that needs to be done as well as connecting it to a phoneline. These thermostats have the ability to call up the local utility companies and check not only the current temperatures and household energy consumption, but also the current rate for electricity or gas. These prices often fluctuate from day to day and even several times during the day due to mass energy consumption and the current demand for fuel in your location. During the day your electricity or gas may cost you more due to the enormous amount of energy being used to do things such as washing clothes or even watching TV, in fact your furnace or airconditioner could be using more energy than you may want it to due to the high cost of fuel. The “smart” programmable thermostat can adjust not only the temperature in your house to feel more comfortable, but also the amount of electricity or gas you are using so you are not losing so much money. And for those of you who like to be able to still control the temperature yourself manually, you can override any setting at anytime with out interfering with any preset schedule you may have already made on any programmable thermostat. For those of you that want the comfort and energy efficiency without the high price tag you might want to check out one of the regular programmable thermostats that you can pick up at any home improvement center or big box store. A standard 8 day programmable thermostat usually starts around $25 dollars and will give you a lot of comfort and a lot of savings without the big budget and they can be installed by the average Do It Yourselfer. | |