5 Settings on Your Thermostat That Are Quietly Costing You $400 a Year

Your thermostat is the brain of your HVAC system. But if it's programmed poorly, it's a brain that's actively wasting your money. We see the same five mistakes in almost every home we visit.

1. The 'Hold' Button Mistake

If you have a programmable thermostat but you just hit 'Hold' at 70 degrees 24/7, you're throwing money away. Your house doesn't need to be 70 degrees when nobody is home. Program a 5-8 degree setback for when you're at work.

2. Cranking It Down to Cool Faster

If the house is 80 degrees and you want it to be 72, setting the thermostat to 65 doesn't make the AC work any faster. An AC only has one speed: ON. It pumps out air at the same temperature until it hits the target. Setting it lower just ensures it will run longer and waste energy if you forget to turn it back up.

3. The 'Fan ON' Setting

Your fan setting should almost always be on 'AUTO'. If it's set to 'ON', the blower motor runs 24/7, even when the AC isn't cooling. This can add $30-$50 a month to your electric bill and pull humidity back into the house after the cooling cycle finishes.

4. Ignoring the Deadband

If you have an auto-changeover thermostat (one that switches between heat and cool automatically), make sure there's a 'deadband' of at least 4-5 degrees. Otherwise, your system might heat the house to 72, overshoot to 73, and immediately turn on the AC to cool it back down.

5. Bad Placement

If your thermostat is in direct sunlight, near an oven, or right under a supply vent, it's getting false readings. It will run the AC constantly because it thinks the whole house is 85 degrees. If your thermostat is in a bad spot, we can easily relocate it or install a wireless remote sensor.