Whether it’s a tropical vacation or a long trip for work, traveling means making preparations for your HVAC system. You won’t be using it while you’re on a trip, so you can adjust it as needed to minimize your energy use. Simultaneously, you don’t want to just turn it off for the entire time you're out of the house.
In general, it’s best to leave your HVAC system going and just make adjustments depending on the season. That way you can minimize energy costs without having to worry about returning to an uncomfortable home. We’ll walk you through why you shouldn’t turn your HVAC system off as well as the best thermostat settings for different times of year.
Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Leave Your Thermostat Alone
While you might be wanting to turn your HVAC system off before a trip, this will sometimes end up causing annoying problems by the time you get back. This is especially true when the weather will be severely hot or cold while you’re away from home.
For instance, turning the HVAC system off in the summer can produce very high humidity. Not only will your home feel like a swamp when you return, but it could have also stimulated mold/mildew growth or pest infestations.
And over the winter, not using the furnace could lead to pipes freezing or even bursting. It’s exhausting to return home from a nice trip only to discover considerable water damage close to a broken pipe.
Ideal Thermostat Settings While at Work
You can adjust the temperature even if you’re coming and going to work. Considering you’re not home for about 8 hours or longer, it doesn’t help your monthly energy bill to keep an empty home heated or cooled as if you were there. Generally, it’s recommended to turn up the thermostat by 5 degrees or so. This means that if you prefer a comfortable 72 degrees, think about raising it to 76-77 while you’re out.
But you can save even more if you’re willing to further adjust the temperature. As stated by the Department of Energy, you could save about 10% on your HVAC expenses by making an adjustment of 7-10 degrees.
Energy-Efficient Thermostat Settings While on a Trip in Summer
If you're on an extended trip in the hottest part of summer, you can make bigger adjustments. This prevents wasting energy while still protecting your home from the problems that come with leaving it uncooled. Around 5 degrees is suitable for short trips while a larger adjustment of 10 degrees is best if you’ll be gone for 2 weeks or more. If you enjoy keeping the house at 72 in the summer, 78-82 can offer beneficial results.
Best Thermostat Settings While Away from Home in Winter
To determine the most energy-efficient thermostat setting for a winter vacation, simply lower it by the same amount you would raise it in summer. 68 is a popular winter thermostat setting, so turning it down to 63-58 will protect your plumbing while restricting how frequently your furnace runs.
Smart Thermostats Are Even Better: Advantages of Smart Thermostat Installation
One of the best ways to manage your home’s HVAC system while out of the house is using a smart thermostat. This innovative type of programmable thermostat employs intelligent software to understand your typical 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 mobile device or tablet.
Smart thermostats are stuffed with features to help you save even more. To provide an example, certain models can monitor electricity prices to boost heating or cooling when prices are lower. They can be used with high-efficiency, variable-speed equipment to fine-tune how long your HVAC system has to run. It’s the optimal tool to enhance how you control your comfort system. If you’re thinking about investing in a smart thermostat, there are a variety of ways you can bring down your costs, effectively getting a smart thermostat for free. The next time you are away from home, you can enjoy true peace of mind that your HVAC system won’t cause any trouble while you’re away from home.
