Adjusting the thermostat a few degrees can have significant positive impacts on your wallet and the environment. By reducing the temperature in the house during the winter, you stand to lessen your overall heating bill each month. The bigger impact is how you preserve the limited natural resources on this planet, and ensure that future generations get to enjoy the luxuries we have today.
Ideal Temperature Setting for the Winter
The ideal winter setting on your home thermostat should be approximately 67-68 degrees. This will keep the chill out of the air and help to reduce your heating costs tremendously. If you feel the rooms might be a little too chilly, throw on a sweater or flannel shirt, they cost nothing and will keep you just as warm as heating the entire house. Sealing up drafts around doors and windows will further reduce the running of the furnace in the winter.
Ideal Temperature Setting for the Spring/Fall
Spring and fall can be challenging for forecasters to predict each year. It seems that in the spring each year there is a stretch of extreme hot and cold day, then the same repeats itself in the fall later that year. Keep your thermostat at or around 67-68 in the winter, then on the cool setting you can raise it to 77-78 degrees. The stretch of hot and cold in these seasons never lasts very long, so worst case scenario you have the heating and cooling running a few days each month.
Ideal Temperature Setting for the Summer
When the summer months do arrive, that heat can really make it a challenge to go outdoors. The tendency to lower the temperature in the home is extremely costly, especially when the average electrical bills runs in the hundreds during these months. Keep the thermostat in the home set at 77-78 degrees, then take some additional precautions to ensure you are cool.
If you don't already have them, purchase some interior or ceiling fans to circulate the air and make it cooler on the skin. Close any blinds or curtains when the room has direct sunlight, it will cut down on the room heating up too quickly and causing the cooling system to have to work harder to cool,that area of the house near the thermostat.
Your local HVAC technician can help by installing a new programmable thermostat so the process is automatic as each season finally approaches.
If you're ever experiencing trouble with your Vancouver heating or cooling system, call Lambert Home Comfort at (604) 734-0890!
