Technology was created to make our lives easier. Nowadays, we can do everything from our phones, including controlling our home comfort.
In Canada, our temperatures can fluctuate significantly during the course of a day. And always getting up to change your thermostat isn't only an annoying inconvenience; it could be detrimental to your wallet.
Smart thermostats are one of the pieces of a fully-equipped smart home. Here we'll explore smart thermostats and why they should be your next investment toward a greener and more efficient home.
What Does a Smart Thermostat Do?
Chances are you already have Siri or Alexa helping you navigate your day-to-day life. But are they adjusting your home’s temperature for optimum comfort? Well, they could be, with the installation of a smart thermostat.
Before we dive into how a smart thermostat works, here is a helpful reminder of how all thermostats work.
A thermostat is the control centre for your home’s HVAC. It senses temperature changes in your home and tells your HVAC system to either turn on the fan for air conditioning or to turn up the heat. When you set a specific temperature on your thermostat, your unit will run until it reaches that temperature and then turn off.
Behind the scenes, a typical thermostat has a hot wire, a common wire, a wire that connects the fan to the blower, and wires that connect to your HVAC system for heating and cooling prompts. It may even have additional wires for emergency heat or two-stage heating and cooling.
Wow, that’s a lot of wires! And a lot of potential for confusion and problems down the line if your manual thermostat isn't working properly. Enter smart thermostats.
Total Connectivity
A smart thermostat is a wi-fi-enabled device that automatically adjusts your home's heating and cooling temperatures for optimal performance. Smart thermostats can be connected to your most-loved devices allowing for convenience and ease of use.
Unlike traditional, manually operated thermostats, smart thermostats learn your family's preferences and tendencies and create an ideal heating and cooling schedule tailor-made for you. Smart thermostats are constantly learning and adjusting to maximize energy efficiency.
Certain models can even detect a problem with your home’s HVAC system and alert you to schedule a call to your local technician. Smart thermostats can also be programmed to remind you when annual maintenance is needed.
Just-In-Time Heating
Because a smart thermostat can connect to your personal devices, you can even enable proximity heating (or cooling). This means that your thermostat at home can tell when you’re getting close and begin to heat your home back to comfort before your arrival.
Improved Energy Efficiency
Many Canadians are making the switch to a more energy-efficient and sustainable lifestyle. And making their homes greener is the next logical step.
Energy Star Rated Smart Thermostats
Like other appliances in your home, smart thermostats can also be Energy Star certified.
Energy-Star-certified smart thermostats are even equipped with an occupancy sensor that will quickly put your unit into power-save mode during inactivity in your home. This helps ensure your system isn’t running needlessly.
Save the Environment, Save Your Wallet
Smart thermostats help reduce your energy consumption and your impact on the environment. These adaptive units reduce your total energy consumption by lowering your home’s temperature to match your habits. Smart thermostats will also factor in the local climate or weather to optimize heating schedules. This can reduce your energy usage by up to 20%.
In addition to saving the world, you could also be saving your pennies!
Smart thermostats could save you as much as 8% on your annual heating and cooling bills without sacrificing comfort. What could be better than that?
Be Smart with Your Thermostat Upgrade
Smart thermostats are becoming more affordable and practical for homeowners across Ontario. Our HVAC experts at Cross Heating & Air Conditioning can help you choose a thermostat with the features that suit your lifestyle.
Let us install a smart thermostat that will make your daily routine more convenient and help keep your energy bills down!
