The efficiency of energy usage in your home or business is not just about the source of the energy, but also the implementation of control. You can have solar panels, geothermal, or even wind energy powering your home or small business and still find that your system inefficient.
This has nothing to do with your source and everything to do with your thermostat.
Out With the Old, In With the New
Traditional thermostats allow you to set temperatures within your home and provide a simple design. All you need to do is set a certain degree on your device and the A/C unit will maintain the temperature throughout the house or building all day long. Most of the older thermostats are inefficient because of the lack of control that new, smart thermostat networks have.
For example, if I set my temperature to 73 degrees for the evening to stay cool, and like many Americans across the country, forget to turn the temperature up before leaving for the day – I am wasting a ton of cash each month by cooling a home with no one there. In addition, one central thermostat controls the temperature throughout the entire house, including rooms that are barely used.
If you have ever walked into a bare room within your home or building that is never occupied you know exactly what I am talking about. It’s about 10 degrees colder sometimes!
By investing in a network of smart thermostats you are able to control the climate within the building remotely through a phone application, see your energy consumption through the display, and even allow the device to record human behaviors.
The Best Products on the Market
If you invest in a ‘smart’ device, the long-term savings will be in the hundreds. In fact, you will see a dramatic reduction in energy costs in the first year, which will pay for the cost to purchase and implement this new device. Most of these smart thermostats retail for around $200 to $300, depending on how many features you want, but all of them provide the same basic function – they will save you money long-term. I would recommend getting your feet wet with one of the newest and most successful products on the market called The Nest.
This thermostat retails for about $250.00, but is worth every penny. It will follow your behaviors and has a built-in communication network that allows all of the thermostats that you buy to link into your Wi-Fi connection (if you want to maximize efficiency you want to create a thermostat network throughout your building, including a thermostat in every major room).
Ecobee is also another great product that costs a little more but has a LCD screen that tells you readily available, updated information about your home and the weather outside. It also provides optimal suggested temperatures to set and is able to conduct behavioral patterns, shutting off and turning on based on habits in your lifestyle (i.e. when you are home, day time cycles, etc.)
The Nest and Ecobee are designed for easy installation so you will be able to effortlessly replace your old unit, and save the costs associated with professional installation.
This blog post was composed by Matthew Hall. Matt is an electrical engineer who graduated from UCF and currently works on developing the latest in cutting edge personal use technologies. He has been contributing ideas and information to FacemyerAC.com for the past 6 months. You can read more of his work on his Google+ page.
