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TIME TO BUST A FEW THERMOSTAT MYTHS

When it comes to climate control in your home, it all begins with your HVAC system’s thermostat. That’s right, probably the smallest component of the system – that little circular or square thing mounted on the wall in the hallway – plays a very big part in how your heating and cooling system operates. Your thermostat tells the A/C and furnace when to come on and for how long. When functioning properly, it maintains whatever temperature you set it to in your home.
Here at Sanborn’s Air Conditioning & Heating, we receive a lot of questions from our Redlands customers about the operation of the thermostat. Here are five we hear quite a bit and our responses.

  1. If I turn my thermostat to its lowest temperature, will it cool my home more quickly? In a word, no. Once the thermostat sends the message to your air conditioner to begin cooling your home, it can only do this so fast. Turning it all the way down will not speed up the process.  
  2. Is it better to turn the thermostat off to save money? Again, the simple answer is no. The job of the thermostat is to maintain a constant temperature, based on what you set it to. Turning it off means when you turn it back on, it will have to run longer and harder to get back to the preferred temperature.
  3. Do programmable thermostats really save me money? Yes. A programmable thermostat saves you money on your utility bills by allowing you to program it to lower or higher temperatures during peak hours. By programming your thermostat, this will eliminate the need for you to manually turn it up and down several times during the day.
  4. Should I switch to a Wi-Fi thermostat? If you travel frequently or just want to be in complete control of your home’s HVAC system no matter where you are, a Wi-Fi thermostat is a great investment. It allows you to monitor and control your home’s climate control remotely, via personal devices such as smartphones and tablets. This can allow you to turn the thermostat up or down if you forgot to adjust or program it before leaving, or if the weather changes while you are out of town or on vacation.
  5. When do I need to replace my thermostat? This a good question and depends on several variables. Thermostats are like everything else mechanical: they don’t last forever. Perhaps yours is old, inefficient and simply needs to be updated. Or it may be malfunctioning, which is recognizable by temperature swings throughout your home.

Call Sanborn’s today if you suspect your thermostat may be acting up and find out about our complete line of Daikin/Nexia and Honeywell thermostats. And if you want to try something really cool, ask us about our SmartWay Solutions talking thermostat!