Americans could save a fortune this winter, if they understood their thermostats

▲
0
0
▼

Americans could save a fortune this winter, if they understood their thermostats

invite response
2014 Nov 21, 11:47pm 6,887 views 19 comments

Residential thermostats account for a staggering nine percent of all U.S. energy use. No wonder that according to the Department of Energy, leaving your thermostat set too high can lead to a much higher power bill -- and conversely, setting it back when you're away or asleep can lead to major savings. "You can save 5 percent to 15 percent a year on your heating bill -- a savings of as much as 1 percent for each degree if the setback period is eight hours long," reports the agency.

Much research suggests that many people just don't understand how to use their thermostats -- programmable or otherwise. Indeed, it has been estimated that only about 30 percent of homes actually have thermostats that can be programmed, despite the fact that this technology has been around for more than three decades. "Residential energy use (and savings) still depends largely on the settings of manual thermostats by the owners," notes a recent study.

And even among the programmable thermostat owners, there's reason to think that many or even most people aren't using them correctly. A 2003 study conducted by thermostat-maker Carrier found that just 47 percent of programmable thermostats were actually in the "program" mode -- in which, you know, they can actually be programmed.

The three problems with thermostats

There are three key overlapping problems here -- some of which involve thermostats and some of which involve humans.

1) There are problems with some thermostats themselves.

One ergonomic study found that for the toughest-to-use programmable thermostat sampled, more than half of people could not figure out how to even put it in "heat" mode. Actually programming these devices was, obviously, a much higher bar -- and here, thermostat jargon posed a large problem.

2) We didn't choose them.

Many people don't go out and choose their thermostats because they actually like the product -- it's grandfathered into their lives when they move into an apartment, condo, or home where one already exists. They don't really know how to use it or program it, or even that they can

3) We're the problem, too. There are also numerous myths and misconceptions about how thermostats work and don't work, which may dissuade energy friendly operation.

Take, for instance, the idea that if you set the thermostat to a lower temperature at night or when you're out, it takes more energy to warm the home back up again. Here's DOE's debunking of this falsehood:

In fact, as soon as your house drops below its normal temperature, it will lose energy to the surrounding environment more slowly. The lower the interior temperature, the slower the heat loss. So the longer your house remains at the lower temperature, the more energy you save, because your house has lost less energy than it would have at the higher temperature.

More at:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/11/21/americans-could-save-a-fortune-this-winter-if-they-only-understood-their-thermostats/?hpid=z5

#environment

Comments 1 - 19 of 19 Search these comments

1 HEY YOU 2014 Nov 22, 12:13am

Please don't post good advice on Patnet. We won't follow it. lol

FortWayne 2014 Nov 22, 12:30am

Yes if we all could just freeze to death energy costs would be much lower.

AD 2014 Nov 22, 12:34am

Makes sense. Heat transfer is equal to temperature difference (i.e., between inside and outside) multiplied by resistance to heat flow (i.e., insulation characteristics).

Vicente 2014 Nov 22, 12:59am

The user interfaces on programmable thermostats are generally TERRIBLE.

I got a decent Honeywell. And I do keep it fairly finely tuned. But when our patterns change and say I want to change the "getting home from work warmup" by half an hour for 3 days of the week, I have to do an awful lot of pushing buttons on the screen leading to me not wanting to do it.

My ideal thermostat would be one that's decently smart on it's own, but that I can also program from my iPhone remotely. Last time I looked all the thermostats with the home control integration sacrificed internal flexibility, so then it became entirely dependent on home automation stuff which if it failed you'd lose functionality.

Tenpoundbass 2014 Nov 22, 2:57am

You fuckers act like the Poor don't know how to be poor.

Un-Fucking believable!

Strategist 2014 Nov 22, 3:07am

Vicente says

My ideal thermostat would be one that's decently smart on it's own, but that I can also program from my iPhone remotely.

The "Nest" thermostat does that I think.

AD 2014 Nov 22, 3:21am

It is more manageable living in the cold winter than the hot summer. I could comfortably set my thermostat to 45 F during the winter, whereas my thermostat will not be set above 77 F during the summer due to comfort and mold concerns.

HydroCabron 2014 Nov 22, 4:27am

The flashing "12:00" of the VCR clock is the enduring symbol of why engineers should not design human interfaces.

PC load letter.

The problem is that actual (non-engineer) interface designers represent extra salary load, and the consumer never gives much thought to usability.

FortWayne 2014 Nov 22, 9:24am

Vicente says

The user interfaces on programmable thermostats are generally TERRIBLE.

I got a decent Honeywell. And I do keep it fairly finely tuned. But when our patterns change and say I want to change the "getting home from work warmup" by half an hour for 3 days of the week, I have to do an awful lot of pushing buttons on the screen leading to me not wanting to do it.

My ideal thermostat would be one that's decently smart on it's own, but that I can also program from my iPhone remotely. Last time I looked all the thermostats with the home control integration sacrificed internal flexibility, so then it became entirely dependent on home automation stuff which if it failed you'd lose functionality.

We replaced our old analog thermostat with one that is electronic few years back. Much nicer since it does manage temperature better. Best $30 I've ever spent at Home Depot.

Vicente 2014 Nov 22, 12:27pm

Strategist says

The "Nest" thermostat does that I think.

I heard that the Nest bases some of it's decision process on detecting presence in the room. I stopped looking at it right there. If I don't happen to have people hanging out in it's detection zone, I don't want it thinking the house is unnocupied so it can shut down.

RWSGFY 2014 Nov 24, 10:47am

Vicente says

Strategist says

The "Nest" thermostat does that I think.

I heard that the Nest bases some of it's decision process on detecting presence in the room. I stopped looking at it right there. If I don't happen to have people hanging out in it's detection zone, I don't want it thinking the house is unnocupied so it can shut down.

Rather idiotic indeed. It probably could work for a small studio, but in real family house - fuggedaboutit.

FortWayne 2014 Nov 25, 1:00pm

I'll channel my inner AF. We could save millions this winter if we use realtors and bankers as a lumber substitute in the chimney.

New Renter 2014 Nov 25, 1:29pm

adarmiento says

It is more manageable living in the cold winter than the hot summer. I could comfortably set my thermostat to 45 F during the winter, whereas my thermostat will not be set above 77 F during the summer due to comfort and mold concerns.

Mold concerns above 77F? Did the pre-1950s people living in your area just die unusually early?