how do smart thermostats work

How Do Smart Thermostats Work? Reasons Why You Need to Upgrade Your Thermostats

, by Thrive Internet Marketing Agency, 6 min reading time

smart thermostats

 

Smart home technology has grown increasingly popular over the years, with more and more homeowners choosing to adopt smart home devices to increase their comfort levels at home. 


One such technology is smart thermostats, which have helped homeowners become more strategic with how they interact with their home heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. In an age where convenience is top-priority, choosing to adopt smart thermostat technology is a wise decision that can lead to comfort and savings for your family.

If you are searching the market for smart thermostats, you may be looking to acquire more information about them before making your decision. Use this blog as your reference on smart thermostat technology. Talking points in this blog include:

 

  • Smart Thermostats, Defined
  • How Do Smart Thermostats Work?
  • Smart Thermostats Benefits
  • Thermostat Pre-Upgrade Checklist
  • Seeking Professional Help

 

What Is a Smart Thermostat?

 

A smart thermostat is a household device that helps you access your home HVAC system through the device itself while enabling remote access through your smartphone. Its numerous features help automate your HVAC system’s heating and cooling functions, including zoned heating and cooling, scheduling, and smart tracking.

 

How Do Smart Thermostats Work?

 

Like traditional thermostats, smart thermostats are also hardwired into your home’s electrical system. Once connected, they can connect to your WiFi system to enable remote functionality. This way, you can connect to your HVAC system through the smart device, giving you complete access to heating and cooling functionalities regardless of whether you’re at home or work. If your WiFi connection goes out for some reason, you can still manually operate the thermostat through the device itself. 

 

Smart Thermostats Benefits

 

Smart thermostats offer a wide range of benefits to ensure comfortable living for you and your family. Learn more about why you need to upgrade your thermostat by reading about smart thermostats benefits below.

 

Helps Minimize Energy Costs

 

One of the biggest reasons to switch to smart thermostats is their ability to reduce energy costs. Thanks to the device’s advanced scheduling and remote access capabilities, you can easily program your thermostat to run less when you’re out of the house, translating to more energy savings.

 

But how much can you really expect to save just by switching thermostats? Experts suggest you can save at least 15% on cooling costs and at least 10% on heating costs. Overall, manufacturers state that using a smart thermostat can save at least 23% on combined heating and cooling costs.

 

Tracks Energy Usage

 

One little-known feature of smart thermostats is their energy usage tracker. Through the mobile app, you can create a profile to keep track of your energy usage to understand your usage habits. Most apps also offer recommendations on how your usage behavior can be affected by specific days of the week or months of the year and how you can adjust your usage to decrease costs even further.

 

Ability to Control Thermostat Remotely

 

Perhaps the most popular feature of smart thermostats is its remote access feature, where homeowners can control the home temperature without needing their physical presence. This feature is useful when you prefer a certain temperature level and want your home to feel cool once you get home during the summer months.

 

Adapts to Your Preferences

 

Some smart thermostats have learning features that take note of your preferences and learn from your usage habits to deliver even better results. For instance, they can understand what temperature settings you prefer to use at certain outdoor temperatures to maximize your comfort level at home.

 

Easy to Install

 

Smart thermostats are generally easy to install. All you have to do is cut the power to your old thermostat, remove the device, and connect the wires to your new thermostat before restoring power to the unit. The manufacturer always provides detailed instructions to help you with installation.

 

Can Your Current Climate Control System Be Upgraded?

 

honeywell thermostat

 

Are you ready to switch to a smart thermostat system at home? Make sure to answer the following questions as part of your pre-installation checklist:

 

Is the current thermostat working?

 

When your current thermostat is malfunctioning, it may be due to a faulty unit or something else entirely. Of course, a defective unit can always be fixed, especially after being replaced with a new unit. But if the issue comes from anywhere but the unit itself, this will have to be addressed first to ensure that your thermostat is in proper working order upon installation.

 

Do you have a working WiFi connection?

 

You will need a working internet connection to enable the smart features of your new thermostat. Otherwise, your thermostat will function just like your old unit. So make sure that your internet connection is on and WiFi-enabled to make full use of the benefits that smart thermostats offer.

 

Does your wiring support smart thermostats?

 

Before installation, you must determine whether your current system is compatible with upgrading to a smart thermostat system. This is a simple matter of removing the old thermostat and checking the wiring to determine whether the C-wire is present. This can usually be found at the back of the old device or on the furnace’s access panel. If you can’t see a C-wire or are unsure whether it’s there, call for professional help from a licensed electrician to assist you.

 

Do I Need Professional Help to Install a Smart Thermostat?

 

As mentioned above, smart thermostats are easy to install. Often, all you need to do is follow the manufacturer’s instructions to successfully install the unit and integrate it with your HVAC system. But in many cases, you may need to call for professional help, especially if:

 

  • Extensive research is required to understand what needs to be done.
  • Too much time is necessary to finish the installation because you have to work slowly to avoid costly mistakes.
  • There is a high risk of destroying your new thermostat.
  • You have no idea about electrical systems and the different wirings involved.

 

Get In Touch With Value Controls Today

 

At Value Controls, we are committed to bringing you the best value on certified pre-owned EMS and HVAC controls and certified thermostats at cost-affordable prices. We stand behind our products with a two-year warranty, and all orders ship the same day when placed by 3 pm CST. Contact us today to find out more.

Tags


Blog posts

Login

Forgot your password?

Don't have an account yet?
Create account