Your thermostat is a critical part of the climate control system in your Hillsboro, OR home. This device tells your heater and air conditioner when to turn off and on. Simple, standard thermostats read indoor temperatures and compare them to their temperature settings. They then send call and hold signals to furnaces, boilers, heat pumps, and ACs so that HVAC systems can function accordingly. Smart, Wi-Fi-enabled thermostats provide this same service. However, they also offer advanced functions that save homeowners money, optimize indoor comfort, and provide many other important benefits.
Enjoy Hassle-Free Mobile Access
All Wi-Fi-enabled thermostats come with branded mobile apps. When you install a smart thermostat, you can download its app and monitor and adjust your thermostat’s temperature setting from any location. If you forget to make a temperature adjustment before leaving home or if you’re worried that residents have dramatically altered your thermostat’s setting, the mobile access provided by your Wi-Fi thermostat will give you instant peace of mind.
Cut Your Yearly Heating and Cooling Costs
According to ENERGY STAR, installing a Wi-Fi thermostat could save you as much as 10% annually on your heating and cooling costs. Best of all, these are savings that you’ll continue to enjoy from year to year.
To maximize HVAC-related energy savings and maintain a modest carbon footprint year-round, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recommends raising or lowering your thermostat’s setting before exiting the building or going to bed. As per the DOE, adjustments of just seven to 10 degrees throughout these times will have a noticeable impact on your home energy bill.
Wi-Fi-enabled thermostats allow homeowners to program these changes. This eliminates human error and oversight while making it both convenient and easy to leverage this recommendation and make additional, as-needed temperature adjustments.
Get Filter Maintenance Reminders
Routine filter maintenance reminders are another important perk provided by smart, Wi-Fi-enabled thermostats. Keeping your HVAC air filter clean is one of the best ways to keep your heating and cooling equipment working efficiently. However, this simple task is easy to overlook.
According to most HVAC equipment manufacturers, this is something that homeowners should do every one to three months. With a smart thermostat, you’ll get timely filter change reminders to keep your filter maintenance on track. Your smart thermostat can also inform you of airflow problems and other functional issues resulting from a dirty air filter.
In addition to helping you stay up to date with general filter maintenance, these alerts can also help you troubleshoot common problems like icing, overheating, and short cycling. If your heater or AC isn’t performing as it should, a filter alert from your smart thermostat will let you know where the problem lies.
Receive General HVAC Performance Alerts
Smart thermostats additionally provide general HVAC performance alerts. If you’re working on a hot summer day and your AC malfunctions, you’ll get notifications via your mobile app. This way, you can schedule service, have someone check your air filter, or take other actions to keep your home and household cool.
Catch and Correct Problems Early On
HVAC performance alerts help homeowners save money by allowing them to catch and correct developing problems early on. For instance, if your AC or heat pump has a refrigerant leak, you can have the problem diagnosed and repaired before it causes extreme compressor stress or outright compressor failure. Scheduling repairs before minor problems spiral out of control can also help you maintain compliance with your HVAC equipment manufacturers’ warranties and other relevant coverage.
Prevent Building Damage
Dirty filters, clogged AC and heat pump condensate drains, and icing can lead to pooling water on your floors. Getting updates about problems like these when you’re away could help you avoid significant property damage. With early notifications and the right interventions, you can prevent damaged floors, sub-floors, baseboards, drywall, and more.
Avoid Unwanted Temperature Changes
The biggest concern that most homeowners have with their thermostats is unauthorized use. People often believe that cranking thermostats way up or way down will cool or heat homes much faster. Instead, these dramatic temperature changes result in unnecessary energy use, undue HVAC system stress, and other potentially costly problems.
With a mobile app that allows you to monitor and adjust your Wi-Fi thermostat from any location, you can make sure that your kids or other household members aren’t making radical changes in your absence. You can also correct temperature settings wherever you are, whether you’re at work or resting comfortably in your bed. More importantly, you can lock your thermostats in person or remotely and establish a list of authorized users.
Use Collected Data to Inform Your Future Decisions
Smart, Wi-Fi-enabled thermostats constantly collect data. Far more than programmable, these devices are always learning. With time, many grow adept at adjusting themselves to match the comings and goings of building residents, user preferences, and other factors.
You can leverage the data collected by your Wi-Fi thermostat to inform your purchase and replacement decisions throughout the years. This data will show you year-to-year or month-to-month changes in your HVAC-related energy use, how often functional problems recur, age-related efficiency losses, and more.
Enjoy Indoor Air Quality Monitoring
There are even smart thermostats that constantly monitor the quality of the indoor air. These appliances check for and report high levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other harmful, gaseous chemical contaminants. Indoor air quality (IAQ) alerts from a Wi-Fi thermostat will also inform you of higher-than-normal concentrations of dust, pollen, and other airborne particulates.
Track Humidity Control
Humidity regulation is an important function of fixed heating and cooling systems. Along with IAQ monitoring, a smart thermostat can also monitor your indoor humidity. This way, you can spot and address problems that could lead to mold and mildew infestation, undermine your IAQ, or make your home feel muggy and oppressive.
With the IAQ and humidity tracking provided by Wi-Fi thermostats, homeowners can also identify the need for integrated accessories like:
- Air purifiers
- Whole-house fans
- Whole-house humidifiers or dehumidifiers
- Air scrubbers
- Media filters
Staying abreast of changes in your indoor humidity and IAQ will help you maintain a clean, healthy living environment. It can also extend the lifespan of your current HVAC equipment by limiting functional stress and allowing for shorter and more effective heating and cooling cycles.
Discover the Benefits of Geo-Fencing
Some Wi-Fi-enabled thermostats also seamlessly integrate with other smart home technologies while offering geo-fencing. Geo-fencing establishes perimeters throughout and around homes. With boundaries in place, smart thermostats can auto-adjust their settings to reflect the movements of residents.
With a whole-home perimeter, your smart thermostat can automatically raise or lower its temperature setting when you enter or exit the building, even when you do so outside of your normal schedule. With interior boundaries, smart thermostats for zoned HVAC systems can adjust heating and cooling to reflect residents’ movements from room to room. The DOE reports that HVAC zoning governed by smart thermostats could result in energy savings of up to 30%.
Partner with the HVAC Pros
We help homeowners in Hillsboro and the surrounding cities create clean, efficient, and comfortable homes. We offer expert heating and cooling replacement, repair, and maintenance services. We also provide high-quality Wi-Fi-thermostats, integrated IAQ support, and customized climate control solutions. To learn more about Wi-Fi thermostats or schedule installation, contact Pro Heating and Cooling, Inc. today.
