Surprisingly enough, most people are ineffectively heating and cooling their homes and consequently pushing up their energy bills. The vast majority of people think they know how to use their home heating controls, but new research shows that more than 60% of people are making at least one basic error that could be costing them a lot of money!
Something as simple as setting your thermostat to 71.6 degrees Fahrenheit, not 69.8 degrees Fahrenheit, could add almost $100 a year to your energy bill.
Here are five common myths – busted.
Myth 1: Turn the thermostat up when it’s cold outside
The whole point of the thermostat is to maintain the desired temperature in your home, no matter what the weather outside is like. Therefore, it shouldn’t be necessary to turn up the thermostat when it is cold outside.
It makes sense that if you turn your thermostat up even higher, you’ll probably end up feeling that it’s a bit too hot and have to turn it back down anyway – and you’ll have wasted energy and cash in the process.
Myth 2: Turn up the thermostat to maximum to heat the room more quickly
If you come home to a chilly house its very tempting to turn the thermostat up as high as it will go in an effort to heat the room (or the house) as quickly as possible. Sadly, blasting maximum heat won’t get you back up to a comfortable temperature any sooner.
The thermostat has no control over how fast your home heats up – it only controls the final temperature . So you won’t get to the temperature you want any sooner, but you will end up with an overly-warm house unless you turn it back down in time.
Myth 3: Leaving the heating on low constantly is more efficient than turning it on and off
This simply means that the home is heated when no-one is there to benefit and then the home is too cold when people are in the home. Not a good or efficient situation either way.
It makes more sense better to use a thermostat programmer which will control the timing of your heating – keeping you warmer when you are at home, and saving you money when you’re not.
Myth 4: You need to keep your water heater on all day to make sure hot water doesn’t run out
A lot of people seem to think their hot water will run out easily, and so they leave their water heater on all day. This could be costing far more on their energy bills than is necessary. You want to make sure your hot water tank is properly insulated. If it is, when you heat the water, it should remain at a comfortable temperature for use for at least half of the day.
Set your hot water to come on roughly half an hour before you want to get up and start showering in the morning. You might then want it to come on again for a bit later in the day if you’re likely to be doing things like washing up – but leaving it on all day will simply waste money.
Myth 5: Keep electric storage heaters on all the time
Electric storage heaters are designed to work by using cheaper, off-peak electricity to charge up overnight and then release the heat during the day.
A standard electric storage heater has two controls, an Output setting and an Input setting. The Output setting will control how much heat the heater gives out (as long as there is stored heat available). The Input control determines how much electricity the heater will take from the grid during the coming night, and hence how much stored heat will be available the following day.
To keep your system running smoothly and efficiently (to save you money!) make sure to keep it updated and maintained. Contact Alpine Temperature Control today! Send us a message or give us a call at 435-673-5746.
