Many homeowners are looking for ways to save money on their electricity bills. During the hot summer months, most homeowners will use a programmable thermostat to help make their air conditioning systems as efficient as possible. However, when you get ready to go on summer vacation, you’ll need to consider how to set your thermostat to ensure that you’re not wasting money while you’re out of town.
Avoid Turning It Off
Your first instinct may be just to turn your entire air conditioning system off when you’re not going to be at home for a week or so. All this may seem like a good idea to save yourself some money, but it isn’t the best plan for your home. When it’s humid outside, that air will enter your home. This could cause serious damage due to high humidity being stuck in your home.
In fact, if the humidity level inside of your home gets over 55%, it creates the perfect environment for biological growth. This growth can include mold, fleas, mites, dust, and invasive insects. Trying to save some money by turning your air conditioning system completely off will end up costing you more in having to fix a biological growth problem.
Apart from creating an environment for biological growth, high indoor humidity levels can cause other types of damage. High humidity levels can damage your electronics through condensation. The internal components of your electronics will rust and corrode.
Humidity can be a real problem for both paint and wood throughout your home. Any of your wood furniture, like your dining table and chairs, can end up becoming warped with high indoor humidity levels that span too many days. In addition, you may notice that paint starts peeling from the wall as humidity takes its toll. It’s best to leave your air conditioning system on when you’re out of town to remove humidity from the air inside your home.
Setting Your Thermostat
Now, since you know that you must have your thermostat on when you’re out of town, the next question you likely have is what temperature to set it at. While it can be tempting to set the temperature super high, that defeats the purpose of having it on. You need to ensure that you set your thermostat at a temperature where it will run at least a couple of times a day to remove the humidity from the inside of your home.
As a general rule of thumb, air conditioning experts do not recommend setting your thermostat higher than 84 degrees Fahrenheit. One of the best ways to discover what you should set your home thermostat at is to look at the average daily high temperature in your area. You want to set your thermostat a few degrees below that average temperature so that you can ensure that your system kicks on.
Using a Smart Thermostat
One concern you may have when setting your thermostat before you leave for vacation is a drastic change in the weather conditions outside. Let’s say the daily average temperature outside has been 85 degrees. Using the advice above, you set your thermostat to 82 degrees. However, two days into your vacation, you discover that the temperature back home has been in the low 80s. This lower-than-expected temperature could keep your system from running because it’s set at a high of 82 degrees.
One of the best ways to combat this problem is to have a smart thermostat. Smart thermostats allow you to adjust the setting of your thermostat from your smartphone. This means if there’s a temperature drop in your hometown, you can easily turn your thermostat down to ensure that your system does run for at least a couple of cycles per day.
Be Mindful of Your Pets
While you want to try to be as energy-efficient with your home air conditioning system as possible while you’re on vacation, you need to take your pets into consideration. Many pets are not going to be comfortable in an 84-degree environment. Rather, you’ll likely need to set your thermostat at a lower temperature for your pet to be comfortable. You may want to talk to your vet about what the exact temperature is for a comfortable environment for your pet.
Quality AC Services
When you’re looking for quality air conditioner services in Long Island, look no further than B.A.C. Systems Inc. We provide cooling, heating, masonry, siding and windows, gutters, and roofing services for the entire area. Just give us a call to schedule your next appointment.
