From a much-needed vacation or a lengthy trip for work, traveling means making plans for your heating and cooling system. You won’t be using it as long as you’re on a trip, so you can adjust it as necessary to limit your energy use. Simultaneously, you don’t want to just leave it off for the entire duration of your trip.
For the most part, it’s ideal to leave your HVAC system on and just raise or lower depending on the season. That way you can lower energy costs without stressing about getting back to an uncomfortable home. We’ll walk you through why you shouldn’t turn your HVAC system off as well as the ideal thermostat settings for summer and winter.
Here’s Why You Avoid Leaving Your Thermostat on Hold
While you might be inclined to leave your HVAC system off before a trip, this can end up leading to costly problems by the time you return. This is notably true when the weather will be severely hot or cold while you’re out of town.
For example, shutting the HVAC system down in the summer could lead to very high humidity. Not only will your home feel muggy and uncomfortable when you have returned, but it may have also stimulated mold/mildew growth or pest infestations.
And in the winter, leaving the furnace off will sometimes lead to pipes icing over or even bursting. It’s exhausting to get home from a long trip only to come across extensive water damage nearby a broken pipe.
Energy-Efficient Thermostat Settings While at Work
You can make temperature adjustments even when you're just going to work. Since you’re not home for around 8 hours or so, it doesn’t help your monthly energy bill to keep an empty home the same temperature as when you're home. As a general rule, it’s encouraged to turn up the thermostat by 5 degrees or more. Meaning that if you prefer a comfortable 72 degrees, think about raising it to 76-77 while you’re gone.
But you can save even more if you’re willing to further adjust the temperature. As stated by the Department of Energy, you may save around 10% on your HVAC expenses by raising the temperature by about 7-10 degrees.
Energy-Efficient Thermostat Settings While on Vacation in Summer
If you're on an extended trip in the middle of summer, you can make more significant adjustments. This helps you avoid using too much energy while still protecting your home from the problems that come with leaving it uncooled. Something like 5 degrees is recommended for short trips while around 10 degrees is ideal if you’ll be away from home for 2 weeks or more. If you enjoy keeping the house at 72 in the summer, 78-82 should offer great results.
Ideal Thermostat Settings While On a Trip in Winter
To figure out the best thermostat setting for a winter vacation, consider lowering the temperature by the same amount you would increase it in summer. 68 is a frequent winter thermostat setting, so adjusting to 63-58 will protect your plumbing while limiting how frequently your furnace runs.
A Smart Thermostat Can Help: Advantages of a Smart Thermostat
An ideal strategy to regulate your home’s HVAC system while away from home is using a smart thermostat. This special type of programmable thermostat utilizes intelligent software to monitor your preferred comfort habits. It applies these preferences and makes automatic changes to the schedule for better energy efficiency. And with Wi-Fi connectivity, you can remotely control your heating and cooling using a mobile device or tablet.
Smart thermostats are packed with features to help you save even more. To provide an example, certain models can observe electricity prices to increase heating or cooling when prices are lowest. They can also work with high-efficiency, variable-speed equipment to refine how long your HVAC system should run. It’s the ideal tool to enhance how you use your comfort system. If you’re planning on investing in a smart thermostat, there are multiple ways you can bring down your costs, effectively getting a smart thermostat for free. The next time you are away from home, you can enjoy true peace of mind that your HVAC system won’t stir up any trouble while you’re away from home.