Homeowner guide
Thermostat settings that save money
Your thermostat controls more of your energy bill than anything else in the house. A few settings make a real difference.
Good starting points
Many households are comfortable around 68°F in winter while they're home and awake, and around 78°F in summer. Set it back while you sleep or are away.
Setbacks save money
The U.S. Department of Energy says you can save as much as 1% on heating for each degree you set back over an 8-hour period. A programmable or smart thermostat does it for you on a schedule.
Heat pumps are different
A big setback can make a heat pump turn on its backup electric heat to catch up, which costs more than it saved. With a heat pump, keep setbacks small, or use a thermostat made for heat pumps that recovers slowly.
Fan: Auto or On?
Auto runs the blower only while heating or cooling, which is right for most homes. On runs it all the time. That can even out temperatures between rooms, but it uses more electricity, and in summer it can put moisture back into the air.
Turning it way down doesn't cool faster
Most systems run at the same speed no matter how far you move the setting. Setting it to 60°F won't cool the house any faster. It just runs longer and overshoots.