As our homes become more technology-oriented, they’re slowly, but surely becoming smarter. And, if you decided to replace your old thermostat with one that is smart and more energy-efficient, you might end up being completely surprised when you see that your energy bills have increased. In most cases, this is probably the result of you using the thermostat incorrectly.
If you found yourself in this situation, you might be wondering – what are some of the most common mistakes people make with their room thermostat? Luckily for all homeowners that are wondering the same thing, the article below will shed some light on the entire topic. So, let’s take a look at the list:
Table of Contents
1. Turning The Heat Up
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One of the first mistakes that people don’t realize they’re making is when it’s extremely cold outside and they turn up the thermostat as high as they can in order to heat their home quickly. However, if you choose to do this, you should know that there are a few issues that you should be aware of.
For starters, it doesn’t really matter how high you set your thermostat, the furnace will only be able to operate at its max capacity and it won’t heat your house any faster. Also, if you neglect to turn it back to its regular temperature, the furnace will operate for longer, which means that it’ll simply waste electricity.
2. Obstructing The Air Vents
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In order to control the temperature in some rooms in your residence, you might have opted for closing some air vents. Now, the concept behind this is that it’ll redirect the warm air to other places, specifically the ones that you want to heat up. However, this will hinder the entire system from functioning properly.
After all, it’s designed to take in the same amount of air as it releases, hence, closing the vents off will only disrupt the efficiency of the system and it’ll also increase the pressure within it. If the pressure gets too high, it’ll create leaks, which is something you’ll want to avoid, especially since the HVAC system won’t be able to distribute the heat evenly.
3. Not Maintaining The Filters
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The filters within your system are responsible for holding all the harmful particles and dust from entering the components of the HVAC. But, if they aren’t maintained and cleaned properly, they’ll become clogged, which means that it’ll be harder for the air to flow – something that’ll cause your bills to skyrocket.
The HVAC requires a specific amount of air to function efficiently, since if not, it’ll need to work longer and harder. This is why you might want to use smart technology such as the one offered by www.futofolia.hu, something that’ll help you ensure that your entire HVAC system works properly.
4. Turning it Completely Off
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If you’re striving to save money, you might decide to turn the entire system off while you’re on vacation or while you’re outside of your home. However, this will make your entire house cold, which means that, when you come back home, the heater will need to work for longer in order to overcome the drop in the temperature.
This means that it’ll try harder to make your residence warm, which will in return drastically increase the bills you’ll receive. For a more cost-effective strategy, you should set the thermostat to a lower temperature, which will allow the heater to turn on from time to time, meaning that it won’t need as much time to heat your home as it would need if you completely turned it off.
5. Keeping The Curtains Open
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If you have older windows, they might release cold air into your home and if you choose to leave your curtains or any other covering open at night, your house will be colder. How is that possible? Well, blinds or curtains could help you with retaining the heat during the night.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that you should keep them closed at all times, but it does mean that you must close them during the evening and nights as the temperatures drop even further. By simply closing them, you’ll ensure that the heat cannot escape, but more importantly, that cold air doesn’t enter your home.
6. Not Maintaining The System Regularly
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If there is one thing that you must take away from this article, it’s the fact that you must maintain and clean your entire HVAC system regularly. After all, there will be a lot of particles, dust, and dirt in the filters and vents, and if you leave them lingering, it can cause some really expensive repairs later on.
However, you should know, you might want to hire a professional HVAC maintenance company, mostly because they’ll know exactly what they’ll need to do to maintain the system, but more importantly if they learn there is a problem with it, they’ll be capable of fixing it.
7. Sticking to a Single Temperature
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You might think that leaving your thermostat set to one temperature is wise, especially since it might heat your home better, however, this isn’t entirely true and it might cause your energy bills to rise. After all, it’ll constantly use the same amount of power, hence, it could easily increase the bills you’ll receive.
This is why it’s important for you to adjust the thermostat every day. For example, you can lower the temperature while your outside or during the night, or you could choose to use a programmable device that’ll automatically set the temperatures at a specific time, meaning that your house will be warmed up when you come back home.
Conclusion
Although you might have not realized it, you probably did make some of the aforementioned mistakes. Of course, you probably won’t make them in the future, however, you’ll want your HVAC system to be inspected for any leaks or issues that it might have, especially since fixing the problems the system has will also help you with lowering your utility bills.
So, now that you’re aware of all the mistakes you might have been making, you shouldn’t really waste any more of your time. Instead, you should determine what you might have to do, and then ensure that your HVAC system functions efficiently, and more importantly, without any hindrances.
