As a homeowner, you’re always looking for ways to lower your utility bills. Here’s a fun fact many haven’t realized, though: You can actually do this through some smart usage of your thermostat.

At Whipple Service Champions, part of our air conditioning service includes keeping you in the loop! This means informing you of basic hacks like this to keep your energy usage low without impacting your comfort. Here are some tips on how you can adjust the thermostat to save you major money each year.

Adjustable Thermostat

For starters, we need to talk about the star of the blog: An adjustable thermostat. These thermostats, now present in more and more modern homes, allow you to set advanced settings for your home’s temperature rather than having to do this manually.

So instead of having to physically go over to the thermostat to adjust it every day when you leave for work or return home, you can pre-set your system based on your typical departure and arrival times and worry no longer.

Temperatures During Summer

Whether or not you have an adjustable thermostat, the summer offers a great chance to save money on your utility bill when you aren’t home. You can set your thermostat as high as 85 degrees Fahrenheit in most cases, with the only exception here being if you own pets who stay in the home – and even in these cases, pets can live comfortably at around 80 degrees. Draw the shades on sun-facing windows to help with cooling, but otherwise, you can feel comfortable setting your thermostat to at least 80 during the summer while you’re gone.

Temperatures During Winter

You have similar options during winter while it may be a ways away.  Pet comfortability can be a bit more restrictive, and if you own a pet, you shouldn’t go below 65 degrees or so. If you don’t, however, you can lower your thermostat to around 50 degrees when you leave during winter. Any lower than this risks frozen pipes in the home, so don’t take things too far.

For more on how to use the thermostat intelligently and save money, or to learn about any of our AC repair services, speak to the pros at Whipple Service Champions today.