Save money on energy during the Hot Hot Summer

By William May
Published: 06/16/03 Topics: Comments: 0

It is either hot in your area or it soon will be (except maybe for homes in Alaska) so I think its a good time to talk about how to get the most of our your Air Conditioning unit and to save energy.

Would you like your electric or gas bills to be lower? Then consider using the simplest thermostat you can find.

Most newer homes feature heating - air conditioning thermostats that can be programmed. You just set the day and time and have the temperature raised or lowed automatically.

But what's good in your full time home doesn't work so well in your vacation rental. Because each type of thermostat works differently guests frequently fail to program the device correctly. Or they leave the units running when they are out of the house.

You can post clear instructions and the guests will still mis-use the device.

That means they heat it too hot or cool it to cold. Or they leave the unit running when it needn't be.

Cleaning and maintenance staff seem unable to operate the thermostats much better.

All of this means your energy bills will usually be far higher than need be.

A better idea is to install a basic thermostat that has a simple on/off switch and the ability to move the temperature higher or lower with a lever or even a digital control.

Best of all these thermostats are cheaper than the programmable ones. Even if you have to remove a perfectly good programmable thermostat the simpler one will easily pay for itself with energy savings.

Author: William May – Volunteer, Vacation Rental Association
Blog #: 0016 – 06/16/03