How Do Smart Thermostats Work?

With today’s smart thermostats, it is now possible to program your heating and cooling system to maintain the ideal temperature in your home no matter where you are in the building, sometimes no matter where you are in the world! Of course, it is possible that you have experienced a cold or hot room despite the fact that your thermostat indicates that everything should be perfect. A drafty room or one that receives more sunlight in the summer can cause you to constantly adjust the temperature setting, raising your energy bills and making it impossible to achieve the perfect balance. So the best way around this: don’t try to achieve a “perfect balance”. Many homes, particularly older homes, are just not suited to achieving the “perfect balance”.

Remote Sensors: The Brains That Make Smart Thermostats Genius!

Remote sensors, however, can provide the thermostat with a more accurate picture of the temperature in your home.

As is customary, your HVAC system is likely controlled by a single thermostat, which is typically located in a common area such as a living or family room. While new systems still have a single point of control, these can gather information from a variety of different rooms throughout your home by using remote sensors.

The majority of smart thermostat options, from such manufacturers as NEST, Ecobee, and Honeywell, allow you to add additional sensors in other parts of the house. Because these remote sensors communicate wirelessly, they are quick and simple to install, even if you have very little mechanical know-how.

Remote sensors can also help to balance the heat in a home that has several different types of heating. If you have a fireplace in your home, it can provide a wonderful source of warmth and relaxation. However, if the thermostat is located in the same room as the fireplace, the entire house can quickly become a deep freeze. While you’re relaxing in front of the fire, remote sensors can help keep the rest of the house comfortable as well.

While the addition of remote sensors does not provide the ability to control the system directly from each room, it can ensure that your legacy system knows more about the home and works to maintain a more consistent temperature throughout. Certainly, the time when HVAC equipment can address the needs of specific rooms cannot be too far off!

Thermostat Control From Anywhere: A Double-Edged Sword

It is an age-old battle to try to keep your house at a comfortable temperature. But it is important to note that constantly adjusting the thermostat up or down can result in premature wear and tear on HVAC systems, as well as wildly fluctuating utility bills. With a properly programmed or learning thermostat, you can help to maintain control over the situation.

Knowing when you are at home and when you are away can assist in establishing a baseline for your level of comfort. However, your schedule may shift and you may find yourself wishing for a little more heat in the room you are currently in, but not feeling like getting up and running around the house to make the necessary adjustments. Temperature controls that are WIFI based can be adjusted from any room or any location in the world using a smartphone or tablet.

Some smart thermostats now even include voice-controlled virtual assistants that can be instructed to raise or lower the temperature from your phone or any other connected system in your house. You may already have smart devices that can communicate with your thermostat. If so, you should consider upgrading. Consider the example of asking your television to increase the temperature in your home using the Google Assistant. Twenty years ago, this would have been something you saw on an old rerun of the Jetsons. Now, it’s real.

While the new methods of changing the thermostat setting from a distance may not put an end to the battle over the thermostat setting, they will provide you with some additional control in your efforts to keep the family comfortable. Of course, as we all know, there is NEVER anything wrong with putting on a sweater. Never!

What If Your Thermostat Can’t Achieve A Consistent Temperature?

If you are unable to achieve a satisfactory balance of temperature settings that allows you to enjoy your entire home, it may be necessary to consider the supply side of the equation, namely, your HVAC system. Warm blankets and cooling fans will only get you so far if your current HVAC system treats each room the same way in which they are placed.

The team at Air Check Mechanical Service can assess your current heating and cooling system and make adjustments to the way each room is supplied with warm or cold air, depending on your needs. Our experts can also recommend improvements to your current systems as well as alternative options such as mini-splits, which can provide targeted heating and cooling to problem areas of your home. Contact us today for an AC maintenance service!

from Air Check Mechanical Service
via https://www.aircheckms.com/ac-maintenance-services/how-do-smart-thermostats-work/