Scottsdale, AZ, has extreme temperatures. Summertime high temperatures regularly reach more than 100 degrees in the summertime, and wintertime low temperatures often drop to below freezing. You’ll need a thermostat that’s easy to control so that you can keep up with these temperature and weather changes. If your home still has an old dial-style thermostat, now is a great time for an upgrade. Consider these six reasons to upgrade your home’s thermostat now and some of the benefits you’ll enjoy by taking this action.
1. Lower Your Energy Bills
One of the top reasons to upgrade your thermostat is for energy savings. A programmable thermostat could lower your heating and cooling costs by 10% or more just by doing automatic temperature adjustments. In the summertime, raising your home’s temperature by eight degrees for eight to ten hours while you’re at work or running errands will decrease the system’s energy use. Since you’re not home, this doesn’t impact your comfort. Smart thermostats have algorithms that automatically do this through geofencing and scheduling functions.
2. Automatically Adjust Your Home’s Temperature
With a manual thermostat, you have to turn the dial any time you want to increase or decrease your home’s temperature. This can be a hassle. If you forget, it means your home is wasting energy. You may even worry about whether or not you adjusted the thermostat before leaving on vacation. With a programmable or smart thermostat, these worries become inconsequential. You program the thermostat, then that’s all you need to do. You can program different temperatures for different times of the day and days of the week.
3. Precisely Control the Heating and Cooling System
Old thermostats don’t make it easy to precisely control your home’s temperature. Their analog sensors need regular calibration, and a bump may be all that it takes to get it out of whack. The lines on the dial can be difficult to read, so your home’s temperature might be +/- two or more degrees from what you want it to be. A digital thermostat that you program makes it easier to achieve precise temperature control. If you set the thermostat to be exactly 68 degrees at night while you sleep, your thermostat will maintain that level of heating or cooling.
4. Access System Performance and Maintenance Data
Smart thermostats monitor the performance of your heating and cooling system. You can log into the app and take a look at a range of performance metrics, such as the system’s energy use, when maintenance needs to be done,d and whether or not there is a system problem. Some system problems will be shown on the status tab of the app. For example, a clog in the condensate drain may trigger the system to shut down, so the app would give you a message that service is needed. If the system develops a refrigerant leak, the app would indicate that the refrigerant pressure is low, and you need to schedule a prompt repair.
5. Control the Temperature With Your Smartphone
Smart thermostats allow you to update your home’s temperature with an app. When you have our technicians install this type of thermostat in your home, we connect it to your Wi-Fi. It uses Wi-Fi to communicate with your phone. If you’re running late from work or your return flight from vacation has a delay, you can log into the app and make adjustments to your home’s temperature from anywhere.
6. Update Your Home With Zoned Climate Control
If you’re thinking about buying a new heating or air conditioning system, you’ll need a modern thermostat to control it. Many Scottsdale homeowners are switching to zoned climate control. These systems, which are also called mini-split ductless systems, allow you to cool or heat different zones of your home separately from each other. For example, with a zoned heating and cooling system, you could cool just your bedroom while you sleep at night. During the daytime, you could set the system to only cool the living areas where you spend time. If your household includes a few members who prefer different sleeping temperatures, each bedroom could be its own zone. Each zone has its own controls and settings within the thermostat.
Benefits of Upgrading Your Thermostat
There are many benefits of upgrading your thermostat now. If you often forget to adjust the thermostat before leaving home, you won’t have to worry about it with a programmable unit. These thermostats offer built-in lights and a battery, so they won’t lose your settings in the event of a power outage. Programmable and smart thermostats work with all makes and models of heating and cooling systems. You can upgrade your thermostat without having to buy a new air conditioner or heating system.
Maintain Comfort
When your preferred temperatures are already programmed into the thermostat, you won’t have to get out of bed and deal with a freezing floor. You won’t return home to a house that’s too hot in the middle of summertime.
Save Money
A smart or programmable thermostat will automatically lower your heating use while you’re sleeping or gone to work in the winter. In the summer, you can set the thermostat to raise your home’s temperature while you’re out. Doing this could save you 10% or more on annual heating and cooling costs.
Fewer Breakdowns
By reducing the number of heating and cooling cycles, your programmable or smart thermostat reduces the system’s wear and tear. This means fewer unexpected breakdowns. You won’t have to deal with as many comfort disruptions. Fewer breakdowns also means fewer emergency repair bills.
Never Miss a Maintenance Visit or Task
Smart thermostats remind you when it’s time to check and change the heating and cooling system’s air filter. Operating your heating or cooling system with a dirty air filter reduces its energy efficiency by as much as 15%. Running a heating or cooling system with a dirty filter also increases wear and tear. The reminders will save you money on monthly heating and cooling costs and avoid unnecessary wear and tear and repairs. The thermostat and its app will also remind you when it’s time to schedule a professional tune-up. Keeping up with a springtime air conditioning tune-up and an autumn heating tune-up boosts system longevity, efficiency and performance.
Longer Heating and Air Conditioning Lifespan
Excessive wear and tear, a lack of maintenance, and system overuse can lead to a decreased heating or cooling system lifespan. A programmable or smart thermostat could extend your heating and cooling system’s lifespan by preventing these issues. A new heating or cooling system is a big investment, and not having to prematurely replace this equipment could save you thousands of dollars.
At AC by J, we’re the trusted installation team for new thermostats in Scottsdale. Homeowners also count on us for heating and air conditioning maintenance, repair, and replacement services. Our plumbers can keep your plumbing system running smoothly with maintenance, repair, drain cleaning, water heaters, sump pump services, and leak detection. You can also rely on us for geothermal, ductless, and indoor air quality solutions. For more information about whether or not to upgrade your thermostat, get in touch with us at AC by J today.
