Florida households rely on their HVAC systems to keep them comfortable and safe all year. A thermostat has an integral role in comfort, convenience, and energy efficiency. Selecting the right thermostat for your home can make a big difference in your utility costs and quality of life. Most homes in Florida have a digital thermostat that can read and set temperature precisely. Programmable thermostats are advanced digital units that provide automatic temperature adjustment. Smart thermostats build on those qualities with Wi-Fi and other advanced features.
Automatic Temperature Adjustment
Automatic temperature adjustment provides several benefits. It keeps your home at the right temperature for the season and time of day or night. Many households, for instance, prefer cooler temperatures when sleeping than when awake. It takes the inconvenience of having to change the temperature setting manually. It can also lower your cooling and heating costs. A conservative estimate is that the average household can lower utility costs by up to 10% a year.
Schedules and Profiles
Schedules are what the user programs to allow the thermostat to adjust automatically. Many households can adjust their temperature by several degrees or more during their bedtime hours. They can often adjust it by as much as 8 degrees Fahrenheit while away from home during the day. Profiles simplify having multiple schedules. Users can have one profile for weekdays and another for weekends. You can also have different profile sets for the various seasons.
Presence Sensing
Through presence sensing, your thermostat can detect when you’re at home or away. It can then change which profile and schedule it uses based on that information. This feature takes many different forms. A prominent example is geofencing. A thermostat with geofencing can track family members through their phones and other devices. This is powerful for households where scheduling isn’t ideal due to busy work and school schedules.
Many smart thermostats also provide local presence sensing that can complement scheduling or geofencing. These thermostats can detect manual temperature adjustments and automatically enable the hold mode. They can also detect presence within a room. This is particularly notable for zone HVAC control systems. When no one is in a particular zone, the thermostat can set a far more economical setting. That can lower annual costs by 30% or more.
Learning
Smart thermostats can often learn through algorithms that have only gotten more sophisticated through cloud computing and artificial intelligence. Studies suggest that a large percentage of homes with a programmable thermostat never set a schedule. Even among those who do, they often do it once and never adjust it. There are now smart thermostats that don’t need programming. They monitor usage and develop a schedule, usually within several days. These systems can continue to monitor and refine that schedule over time.
Another way learning can make a big difference is in the setback feature. Consider a thermostat that lowers the temperature an hour after bedtime and restores it an hour before waking. The latter is the setback period and a time when many systems waste significant energy. It’s still a net gain, but the loss here can be significant. Reducing it can help you save even more. Thermostats with smart setback can monitor this cycle and make fine adjustments over time to curb that loss.
Remote Sensors
Remote sensors are integral to zoned HVAC systems, but you can use them with traditional systems as well. One reason is more accurate temperature sensing. With multiple temperature sensors throughout a home, the thermostat can better sense hot and cold spots. It also makes a central location for the thermostat unimportant. That allows you to move it to where it’s most convenient rather than where it will give you the most accurate reading.
Vacation Mode
Whenever you’ll be away from home for 48 hours or more, you can save significant money through aggressive temperature adjustment. Experts recommend 85 degrees Fahrenheit as a safe temperature in summer. In winter, you can set the temperature as low as 45 degrees Fahrenheit if freezing pipes aren’t a concern and 55 degrees Fahrenheit if they are. Smart thermostats with vacation mode let you set both values, and you can just enable the mode when you leave.
Remote Access and Control
Wi-Fi capabilities are what separate smart and programmable thermostats. Many smart thermostats include an app you can run on your phone and other devices. Access to your home network and the internet lets your thermostat push notifications to you. It also provides you access and control whether you’re on the couch or many miles away. Already on the road and forgot to activate vacation mode? You can simply enable it from your phone.
Energy Usage Tracking and Analysis
An industry recommendation is to track your HVAC-related energy consumption from month to month and year to year. High energy usage is often among the first signs of an HVAC problem. Through that data, you can also identify inefficiencies and change household behaviors. An energy-monitoring thermostat does the work for you. These systems can often alert you to spikes in usage within hours. Many perform analysis as well and provide those insights to you in the form of customizable reports.
Maintenance Reminders and Predictive Maintenance
Smart thermostats can remind you to change filters and schedule heating and cooling tune-ups. Some do this through a simple calendar feature. Others have more advanced features. These models can alert you to clogged filters through changes to air pressure in the ducts. They can also detect performance outside normal parameters and alert you to schedule an inspection.
Rate Awareness and Demand Response Support
Demand on the grid in Florida can be quite high at times. Many local electric companies charge different rates based on the season and time of day. Thermostats with rate awareness can adjust the temperature automatically during peak rate periods. Some providers also have demand response programs. These are opt-in programs that let the electric company adjust your thermostat automatically as needed. Participation usually comes with bill credits and other perks.
Energy Incentives
Investing in a smart thermostat is worth it because it will save you money over the life of the unit. There may also be energy incentives available that can significantly reduce or even cover the initial investment. Look for thermostats with the ENERGY STAR label. Most rebates and other incentives require that certification. The label also gives you peace of mind that the product you choose delivers on the manufacturer’s marketing promises. You can check for rebates by zip code online through the ENERGY STAR website. We also recommend checking the website of your local electricity provider.
Install a Smart Thermostat in Your Florida Home
Snowbird Heating & Cooling in Auburndale, FL offers many thermostats from the top brands. Our technicians also install and repair all ducted and ductless cooling and heating technologies for the home. For indoor air quality issues, we offer testing, HVAC filters, whole-home air purifiers, ventilation, and humidity control. Further, our plumbers clean and repair drains and pipe and repipe water, sewer, and gas lines. We also install and service tank and tankless water heaters and water softener and purification systems.
Contact us today to learn more about these services and to schedule an appointment.
