My neighbor told me to switch to a programmable thermostat 2 years ago. I finally did it last week.

My electric bill dropped $45 in the first month alone. Turns out heating an empty house while I’m at work is really stupid. Anyone else put off easy fixes like this for way too long?

3 comments

3 Comments

allen.charlie3d ago

Turns out heating an empty house while I’m at work is really stupid" - that's the same thing I realized when I finally swapped my old one out. Biggest thing is just remembering to set it and leave it alone, don't keep fiddling with it.

oliviagrant3d ago

Disagree on the fiddling part. If I set my thermostat to 62 while I'm at work and come home to a freezing house, I'm tweaking it until I find what actually works for my schedule. The programmable ones are great but only if you bother to customize the times. I had that same "set it and forget it" mindset for a week and ended up with a massive bill anyway because the default schedule had my heat kicking on at 5 AM when I don't even wake up until 7.

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evaallen2d ago

Gotta push back a little on this (respectfully, of course). I see where @oliviagrant is coming from, but I think the "tweaking" is the problem for a lot of people. I set mine to 64 when I'm out and 68 when I'm home, and I pretty much never touch it after that first month of figuring out what worked. My neighbor actually showed me her schedule and I basically copied it, which saved me the trial and error headache. Once you lock in a routine that matches your actual hours (not the default), you really can just leave it alone and watch the savings pile up.