Over the Summer one of my neighbors went away on vacation and shortly after they left I received a text asking me if I’d adjust their thermostat for them. I was away from the house and wouldn’t be home until late that night but said I would do that for her if she would tell me where she had hidden a spare key. Of course it couldn’t be that simple. She said she had a programmable code on her garage door but she’d have to walk me through that so that she could be on the phone with me to help me disarm her house alarm once I was inside.
This particular weekend we were away for one of Travis’ basketball tournaments which meant we may not be home until close to 11 pm or midnight. Standing outside on the phone being walked through the process of disarming alarms so that I could get their thermostat adjusted wasn’t my idea of fun, but this neighbor is always there for me so it was a great way to pay back my appreciation. Since it was so hot and their therostat was set at such a cool temperature, the neighbor’s didn’t want to wait until that night to get it adjusted so they kept looking for another neighbor to help them out. While we were still at our basketball tournament, I received a text saying that another neighbor had gotten in and the adjustment had been made. I did want to help the neighbor out but I was happy to hear that I wouldn’t be breaking in her home at midnight to adjust the thermostat.
My husband put programmable thermostats in our home awhile back for this same reason. It is so nice to have our thermostats set to an economic, acceptable temperature while we are away and even better to know that our air / heat will be ajusted for us before we return. We have spent so many nights sweating in our home when we return from vacation in the middle of the night when our thermostats have been adjusted before we left. When it is really hot or cold in our home, it takes quite awhile to get lined back out, but when your thermostat can be pre-programmed, this is one less thing for you to worry about while away from your home.
You don’t have to go on vacation to take advantage of these programmable thermostats, they work great while you are away from home throughout the day. There is no need to cool / heat your house as normal if no one will be home to benefit. We have two thermostats in our home which were very easily replaced with programmable ones.
Photo Credit: www.budget.gc.ca
How old are your thermostats? Have they ever been upgraded? Have you ever thought about the benefits of programmable thermostats?