The Thermostat Mistake That's Inflating Your Energy Bill

Are you trying to lower your energy costs but feel like your heating and cooling bills are still too high? You’re not alone. Many people unknowingly make a simple mistake with their thermostat that wastes significant energy. This guide will reveal that common error and show you the proven settings to maximize savings.

The Most Common Thermostat Mistake: "Set It and Forget It"

The single biggest mistake homeowners make is setting their thermostat to one temperature and leaving it there 24⁄7. This “set it and forget it” approach seems simple, but it’s incredibly inefficient. Your home doesn’t need to be kept at a perfect 72 degrees Fahrenheit when everyone is at work or school, or when the whole family is asleep under warm blankets.

Heating and cooling an empty house, or keeping it at peak comfort levels overnight, is a primary source of energy waste. Every degree you heat or cool your home costs money. When you maintain a single temperature around the clock, you are paying for climate control you are not even there to enjoy.

A related mistake is making drastic temperature adjustments. For example, if you come home to a cold house, you might be tempted to crank the thermostat up to 85 degrees, thinking it will heat the house faster. This is a myth. Your furnace or air conditioner produces heat or cold air at a constant rate, regardless of the temperature setting. Setting it to an extreme temperature doesn’t change the speed; it just forces the system to run much longer, overshooting your desired temperature and wasting a lot of energy.

The Smart Way to Set Your Thermostat for Maximum Savings

The key to energy savings is to adjust your thermostat settings based on your daily schedule. By allowing the temperature to be less comfortable when you are away or asleep, you can achieve significant savings. This strategy is often called a “setback.”

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, you can save as much as 10% a year on heating and cooling by simply turning your thermostat back 7 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit from its normal setting for 8 hours a day.

  • When you are home and awake: Set the thermostat to 68°F. This is a comfortable and highly efficient temperature for most people during the day.
  • When you are asleep or away from home: Set the thermostat back to 58°F to 60°F. Your body doesn’t need the same level of heat when you’re bundled up in bed, and there’s no reason to fully heat an empty house.

  • When you are home and awake: Set the thermostat to 78°F. While this may sound warm, your body will adjust. Using ceiling fans can also make the room feel several degrees cooler, allowing you to be comfortable at this higher setting.
  • When you are asleep or away from home: Set the thermostat up to 85°F to 88°F. This significantly reduces the amount of time your air conditioner needs to run, leading to big savings on your electric bill.

Making Savings Easy: The Power of Modern Thermostats

Manually adjusting your thermostat multiple times a day is tedious and easy to forget. This is where programmable and smart thermostats become essential tools for energy savings.

  • Programmable Thermostats: These allow you to pre-set a schedule for the week. You can program it once to automatically lower the heat at night or turn up the AC after you leave for work in the morning. This “set it and forget it” schedule automates the savings for you.
  • Smart Thermostats: Devices like the Google Nest Learning Thermostat, Ecobee Smart Thermostat, and Honeywell Home T9 take things a step further. They can learn your schedule automatically, use sensors to detect if anyone is home, and allow you to control the temperature from your smartphone. Many also use geofencing, which uses your phone’s location to automatically adjust to your “away” settings when you leave and prepare for your return.

More Tips to Boost Your Energy Savings

Proper thermostat management is crucial, but you can enhance its effectiveness with these additional strategies:

  • Seal Air Leaks: Check for drafts around windows and doors. Use weatherstripping or caulk to seal these gaps and keep the conditioned air you’re paying for inside your home.
  • Check Your Filters: A dirty HVAC filter forces your system to work harder, using more energy. Clean or replace your filters every 1 to 3 months.
  • Use Ceiling Fans: In the summer, run your ceiling fan counter-clockwise to create a cooling downdraft. In the winter, reverse it to run clockwise on a low speed to push warm air that has risen back down into the room.
  • Leverage Your Curtains: During sunny winter days, open your curtains on south-facing windows to let in natural heat. In the summer, close them to block out the sun’s intense rays and keep your home cooler.

By avoiding the common mistake of a constant temperature and instead adopting a flexible, schedule-based approach, you can take control of your energy consumption and enjoy noticeable savings on your utility bills.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does turning the thermostat way up or down heat or cool the house faster? No, this is a common misconception. Your HVAC system works at a fixed speed. Setting the thermostat to an extreme temperature only makes the system run for a longer period of time, often past your desired comfort level, which wastes energy.

Is it better to turn the AC off completely when I leave? For short periods away (like a workday), it is generally more efficient to set the thermostat to a higher temperature (e.g., 85°F) rather than turning it off completely. This prevents the system from having to work extremely hard to cool down a very hot house when you return.

How much can a smart thermostat really save me? While savings vary based on climate and usage, many manufacturers and independent studies suggest that a smart thermostat can save homeowners between 10% and 15% on cooling costs and about 10% on heating costs. For the average household, this can translate to over a hundred dollars in savings per year.