The Best Settings for Your Thermostat When You're Away

Whether it’s a much-needed vacation or an extended trip for work, leaving home means making preparations for your heating and cooling system. You don't need it while you’re on a trip, so you can make adjustments as appropriate to limit your energy use. At the same time, you don’t want to just shut it down for the entire duration of your trip.

For the most part, it’s ideal to leave your HVAC system going and adjust the temperature depending on whether it's winter or summer. That way you can lower energy costs without stressing about getting back to an uncomfortable home. We’ll review why you should leave your HVAC system on as well as the ideal thermostat settings for summer and winter.

This Is Why You Don't Leave Your Thermostat on Hold

While you might be tempted to shut your HVAC system down before a trip, this could end up causing big problems by the time you get back. This is notably true in case the weather will be severely hot or cold while you’re away from home.

As an example, turning the HVAC system off in the summer could cause very high humidity. Not only will your home feel gross when you return, but it could have also encouraged mold/mildew growth or pest infestations.

And during the winter, letting your house get cold might lead to pipes freezing or even bursting. It’s an awful feeling to get home from a nice trip only to come across considerable water damage near a broken pipe.

Ideal Thermostat Settings While at Work

You can adjust the temperature even when you're just going to work. Since you’re not home for 8 hours or more, it doesn’t help your monthly energy bill to keep an empty home the same temperature as when you're home. Generally, it’s encouraged to raise the thermostat by 5 degrees or more. Meaning that if you prefer a comfortable 72 degrees, try raising it to 76-77 while you’re gone.

But you could save even more if you try further adjustments to the temperature. As reported by the Department of Energy, you could save about 10% on your HVAC spending by increasing the adjustment to 7-10 degrees.

Energy-Efficient Thermostat Settings While Away from Home in Summer

If you're on a longer trip in the middle of summer, you can make bigger adjustments. This helps you avoid using too much energy while still protecting your home from the hassles that come with leaving it uncooled. Something like 5 degrees is suitable for brief trips while a larger adjustment of 10 degrees is ideal if you’ll be gone for 2 weeks or more. If you prefer keeping the house at 72 in the summer, 78-82 will offer the best results.

Ideal Thermostat Settings While Away from Home in Winter

To determine the ideal thermostat setting for a winter getaway, simply lower it by the same amount you would increase it in summer. 68 is a popular winter thermostat setting, so turning it down to 63-58 will keep your plumbing safe while restricting how often your furnace runs.

Smart Thermostats Are Even Better: Benefits of Smart Thermostat Installation

A great way to optimize your home’s HVAC system while out of the house is with a smart thermostat. This innovative type of programmable thermostat employs intelligent software to understand your usual comfort habits. It learns these preferences and makes automatic corrections to the schedule for maximum energy efficiency. And with Wi-Fi connectivity, you can remotely control your heating and cooling using a smartphone or tablet.

Smart thermostats are loaded with features to help you save energy and lower costs. To provide an example, specific models can observe electricity prices to increase heating or cooling when prices are more affordable. They can also work with high-efficiency, variable-speed equipment to fine-tune how long your HVAC system should run. It’s the optimal tool to enhance how you use your comfort system. If you’re planning on investing in a smart thermostat, there are different ways you can bring down your costs, effectively getting a smart thermostat for free. The next time you are away from home, you can appreciate true peace of mind that your HVAC system won’t cause any trouble while you’re away from home.