Most people have heard of Smart Thermostats.

Why are they called "smart?" Are these controls worth the money?

Why are they called smart?

A smart thermostat is a thermostat that gives greater control to the programming of your system. Why heat or cool your home when you are not in it? 

These thermostats connect to wifi and can be controlled from your smart phone. Your smart thermostat can be programmed to change temperatures based on your lifestyle or it can "learn" your routine and adjust to you. Higher end smart stats can adjust based on motion in the home.

The basic idea is to save you money by using your furnace or AC only when you are there.

Is it smart to purchase a smart thermostat?

Many people are home all day and may not have the as much of a need. But if you leave home for work, or travel frequently, this thermostat will lower your natural gas and electricity bills.

Have you ever left for a week vacation and forgot to adjust your temperature? Your phone can adjust the temperature while in another country. 

The Lennox S30 pictured above has the ability to link to numerous smart phones (all devices in home) and can use GPS to know when someone is headed home. Having this ability allows the thermostat to adapt to the ever changing schedule of our lives. So without thinking, you save money because the thermostat does the work of turning your system up or down based on where you are.

How cool is that?

Are they expensive?

Smart thermostats have a large price range. 

If you are looking to get an affordable wifi smart thermostat installed, the starting costs are about $350. The midrange Smart stat with sensors can be installed for $560. The highest end thermostat available can go as high as $1200 to have installed. 

How much will a smart thermostat save you over time? 

Nest did an independent study and they found that a smart thermostat can save you 10-12% off your heating costs (natural gas consumption) and 15% off your air conditioning costs (electricity consumption). So if we say one spends $100 a month on natural gas in the winter months and $50 on ac electricity usage, you could expect to save around $100 a year. 

Of course, this is just used as an example. How we heat and cool our homes will alter if we save more or less than that. But this gives an idea of what can be saved by simply installing a smart thermostat. 

Depending on your needs and wants, we can price out a smart thermostat that works for you. 

Give us a call to hear what the best option would be for you.