According to estimates by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), you can save up to $180 per year on energy costs by properly using a programmable thermostat. If you do the installation yourself, you can recoup the cost of the thermostat in about six months or less.
Unless you are confident that you can install the thermostat correctly, you should have it installed by a reputable HVAC contractor who sells and installs HVAC accessories and optional components. Costs vary, but you can probably recover the cost of the professionally installed thermostat in about one to two years.
In either case, these thermostats can last for fifteen to twenty years or longer. That means whether you install the thermostat yourself or rely on a professional HVAC contractor, you will enjoy many years of savings if you follow the EPA guidelines.
The EPA recommends that you program the thermostat to hold the temperature at the energy saving level for long periods of time such as all day while you are at work or all night while you are asleep. Avoid using the “override” feature to adjust the temperature setting. The more often you use this feature, the lower your energy savings will be.
Instead, try to program the unit so that you will remain comfortable without having to adjust the temperature manually. These thermostats work best when they are “set and forget”. The less you manually adjust the temperature, the more consistently the thermostat will be saving you energy.
If your home has multiple heating and cooling systems such as a separate system for each level of your home, use a separate thermostat for each system.
