Over the last few years, thermostats have undergone a major transformation, completely changing how homeowners manage heating and cooling in their homes. The latest smart models are packed with cutting-edge features that help homeowners reduce energy waste and slash utility bills while increasing comfort. Let’s dive into some of these features and see how they can revolutionize how you heat and cool your residence.
1. Geofencing
Geofencing is a feature that makes you wonder how you ever lived without it. The smart thermostat creates a geofence radius, or virtual boundary, around your home. It uses your smartphone’s location to change your home’s temperature based on how close you are to your house. For instance, when you head out for the day in winter, the thermostat adjusts to an energy-saving mode to avoid heating an empty house. But as soon as you start heading back toward the geofence, it turns your heat back up, and you arrive at a cozy home.
If you currently have a non-programable thermostat, this feature means you will no longer have to adjust it manually before you leave. For those with programable thermostats, it eliminates the tedious task of entering and constantly updating your family’s schedule to reduce energy waste. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) suggests that smart thermostats can save homeowners 10% per year on heating and cooling bills by adjusting temperatures automatically.
2. Advanced Hot Water Controls
By updating to a smart thermostat and adding a module to your water heater, you can reduce your monthly utility bills. With programmable schedules, you can customize when your water heater operates to align with your daily routine. You can set it to heat water before you wake up for morning showers or during evenings for post-dinner dishwashing. This precise scheduling ensures that you have an ample hot water supply exactly when you need it, optimizing energy usage and reducing unnecessary heating cycles.
The thermostat’s learning capabilities further enhance its efficiency over time. By analyzing your usage patterns, it adapts and adjusts the hot water schedule automatically, eliminating the need for manual intervention. This intelligent optimization ensures maximum comfort and convenience while minimizing energy waste.
3. Energy Usage Insights
The smart thermostat app offers valuable insights into your home’s energy consumption, allowing you to make informed decisions about energy efficiency. Monthly reports will enable you to track your energy usage trends. By scrutinizing this data, you can identify problem areas in your home.
For instance, the app may reveal that your living room requires more heating and cooling than it should. The culprit may be insufficient insulation or outdated windows. With this information, you can take proactive steps to address these issues, such as improving insulation or investing in energy-efficient windows. You can optimize your home’s energy usage and reduce utility costs by pinpointing inefficiencies.
4. Remote Temperature Control
The companion app provided with a smart thermostat offers remote access to your home’s temperature settings. Whether on vacation, at work, or simply away from home, you can easily monitor and adjust the thermostat settings from anywhere using your smartphone or tablet. In addition, you can receive notifications of problems such as freezing temperatures or HVAC system failures. This allows you to take prompt action to prevent costly damage, such as frozen pipes.
5. Compatibility With Other Smart Home Devices
Many modern thermostats are team players, too. They effortlessly synchronize with voice assistants like Alexa or Google, allowing you to control the temperature with simple voice commands.
You can also create customized routines where the thermostat adjusts automatically based on triggers from other smart devices. For example, the thermostat can adjust your home’s temperature when your smart lights turn off at night or your smart lock detects that you’ve left the house. The thermostat can even work with smart shades to tell them to close during sunny summer days to save on cooling costs.
This integration ensures that your smart thermostat works harmoniously with other smart devices. They offer a streamlined smart home experience without the hassle of disjointed apps or clunky setups.
Schedule an Appointment With the Pros Today
At Efficiency Plumbing, we have been serving the residents of Hanover, MA, since 2015. We install, maintain, and repair all types of heating and cooling systems, and are experts in indoor air quality. Additionally, we are expert plumbers who provide drain cleaning, leak detection, and water treatment services. Contact us today if you have questions about how smart technology can benefit you or would like to schedule an appointment with one of our expert team members.
