Setting Your Thermostat for When You're Away

From a tropical vacation or a long trip for work, taking a trip means making plans for your home comfort system. You won’t be using it if you’re not home, so you can adjust the temperature as appropriate to limit your energy use. Simultaneously, you don’t want to just turn it off for the entire time you're out of the house.

In general, it’s best to leave your HVAC system going and just make adjustments depending on the season. That way you can lower energy costs without stressing about returning to an uncomfortable home. We’ll walk you through why you should avoid turning your HVAC system off as well as the most energy-efficient thermostat settings for various times of year.

This Is Why You Don't Leave Your Thermostat Alone

While you may be tempted to shut your HVAC system down before a trip, this could end up stirring up annoying problems by the time you come back. This is particularly true in case the weather will be severely hot or cold while you’re away from home.

As an example, switching the HVAC system off in the summer can cause very high humidity. Not only will your home feel gross when you come back, but it might have also stimulated mold/mildew growth or pest infestations.

And over the winter, leaving the furnace off can lead to pipes freezing up or even bursting. It’s never fun to come home from a nice trip only to come across extensive water damage close to a broken pipe.

Best Thermostat Settings While at Work

You can adjust the temperature even as you come and go to work. Considering you’re away for around 8 hours or so, it doesn’t seem sensible to keep an empty home heated or cooled as if you were there. Generally, it’s recommended to turn up the thermostat by 5 degrees or so. That means that if you prefer a comfortable 72 degrees, consider increasing it to 76-77 while you’re at work.

But you could save even more if you’re willing to further adjust the temperature. According to the Department of Energy, you could save about 10% on your HVAC spending by increasing the adjustment to 7-10 degrees.

Energy-Efficient Thermostat Settings While Away from Home in Summer

If you leave for a lengthier trip in the heart of summer, you can make bigger adjustments. This ensures you don’t waste energy while still safeguarding your home from the issues that come with leaving it without air conditioning. Around 5 degrees is suitable for brief trips while around 10 degrees is ideal if you’ll be out of town for 2 weeks or longer. If you enjoy keeping the house at 72 in the summer, 78-82 can offer the best results.

Recommended Thermostat Settings While Away from Home in Winter

To try and find the ideal thermostat setting for a winter getaway, just lower the temperature by the same amount you would adjust it in summer. 68 is a frequent winter thermostat setting, so lowering it to 63-58 will prevent ice from forming on pipes while restricting how often your furnace operates.

Smart Thermostats Are Even Better: Benefits of Smart Thermostat Installation

One of the best ways to optimize your home’s HVAC system while out of the house is with a smart thermostat. This advanced type of programmable thermostat uses intelligent software to understand your usual comfort habits. It applies these preferences and makes automatic changes to the schedule for maximum energy efficiency. And with Wi-Fi connectivity, you can remotely adjust your HVAC system with a smart device like a phone or tablet.

Smart thermostats are stuffed with features to help you save even more. For instance, certain models can monitor electricity prices to boost heating or cooling when prices are lower. They are compatible with high-efficiency, variable-speed equipment to refine how long your HVAC system should run. It’s the ideal tool to streamline how you use your comfort system. If you’re planning on investing in a smart thermostat, there are a variety of ways you can bring down your costs, in essence getting a smart thermostat for free. The next time you are away from home, you can receive true peace of mind that your HVAC system won’t stir up any trouble while you’re gone.