Programmable thermostats have long been touted as the gold standard for achieving energy savings while using your home’s heating and cooling systems. Over the past few years, though, a new type of thermostat has gained popularity in homes throughout the Wilmington and Ocean Isle Beach area and beyond smart thermostats.

Which should you choose – a smart thermostat or a programmable model? A+ Heating & Cooling – Electrical explains more about each choice and how they can help you meet your energy conservation goals as well as keep your home comfortable!

About programmable thermostats

Programmable thermostats are a type of heating and cooling system control that allows a homeowner to program temperature changes for automated indoor climate control. Both programmable and smart thermostats or similar in this respect. There are several different models available with four basic programming options:

• 1-week models allow the homeowner to program one set of temperature changes that will run the same each day of the week.
• 5-2 models have the option to select one set of temperature changes to run on weekdays and a second set to run over weekend days.
• 5-1-1 models allow you to program a set of temperature changes to run across all weekdays, with a separate program for Saturdays and another schedule for Sundays.
• 7-day models give homeowners the flexibility to set seven unique sets of temperature changes for each individual day of the week.

Installing a programmable thermostat can save a homeowner as much as 30 percent on heating and cooling costs. However, they must be installed and used correctly to achieve such energy savings.

What is a smart thermostat?

Smart thermostats are a type of heating and cooling system control that also allows the user to program temperature adjustments throughout the day. What differentiates a smart thermostat and a programmable model is that smart thermostats offer additional features to help homeowners achieve energy savings with their HVAC systems.

• Smart thermostats have the ability to learn household behaviors and automatically adjust temperature settings based on this information to ensure the heating and cooling system is operated using the most efficient settings at all points throughout the day. This can be achieved through the use of occupancy sensors and technology like geofencing, which collects location data from connected devices like smartphones to detect the location of members of the household.
• Many smart thermostats offer Wi-Fi connectivity. This gives homeowners the ability to access the thermostat even when away from home to adjust temperatures. Using a mobile app on a smartphone or tablet or a web portal on a computer, users can control home climate settings from anywhere with an Internet connection. 
• These thermostat apps and web portals also commonly collect energy use data for the household which can be reviewed to better understand where energy is used so further adjustments can be made to increase energy conservation.

Programmable vs smart thermostat: Which should I choose?

Simply put, smart thermostats remove the element of user error that prevents many homeowners from achieving the desired energy savings when using programmable thermostats. Because of its ability to learn occupancy schedules and preferences as well as automatically adjust temperatures, you are more likely to save money on your heating and cooling bills using a smart thermostat over a programmable or manual thermostat.

Smart thermostat installation in Wilmington, NC

If you’re ready to start using a smart thermostat, call A+ Heating & Cooling – Electrical today and request an estimate for smart thermostat installation in your Wilmington or Ocean Isle Beach area home. Our skilled technicians will help you choose the best smart thermostat model for your needs and provide flawless installation so your new thermostat is able to generate the energy savings you expect.