3 Mistakes You Don't Want To Make With Your Thermostat

Posted on: 24 January 2019

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If you want to keep your heating bill down this winter, you may want to be smart about how much and how often you are adjusting your thermostat. Making too drastic of a change could cause needless wear and tear on your heating system. Here are three thermostat mistakes to avoid this winter.

Thinking That Turning It Up Will Heat Things Faster

When you get in your car and turn the heat up, the further up on the dial you go, the faster your car will become warm. But far too many homeowners use this same logic when it comes to their home's heating system, and it just doesn't work the same. Turning the temperature reading up on the thermostat will not make the heating system move faster. It's going to continue heating at the same pace as it was before, only now, it's not going to be able to shut off at the temperature that it normally would because you went and raised its target number.

Dropping the Temperature Too Low

Yes, it's true that letting the temperature drop in your home at night while you are asleep can save you a bit of money. But if you drop the temperature too low, you risk additional wear and tear on the system. This is because your heating system will have to kick back on in the morning, and if there is a huge gap between the current temperature and its target, your heating system could spend the better part of the morning or day trying to get back to the correct level again. It's better to let your heating system kick on and off as needed for just a bit at a time instead of forcing it to run for hours at a time.

Not Using Your Programmable Thermostat At All

Just because you're reading advice that says you shouldn't get too fancy with your thermostat does not mean that you should not make any adjustments at all. Far too many homeowners have programmable thermostats but are simply too lazy to make adjustments to them. Go ahead and let the temperature drop at night or when you leave for work; just be sure you're not forcing the system into a huge temperature swing when it comes back on.

If you encounter any problems with your thermostat or you don't yet have a programmable thermostat installed, reach out to a heating repair specialist today.