Never Set Your Thermostat Higher Than It Needs to Be

Winter has arrived, and that means you’ll be using your heating system on a daily basis. Admittedly Austin, TX enjoys plenty of mild temperatures, but we still get plenty of cold days, and regular use of your heating system is a fact of life. But people, as always, want their house to be warmed up as quickly as possible and sometimes, that causes them to make mistakes. Those mistakes can end up costing you. For instance, many people have a tendency to set their thermostat higher than they actually need the heat to be, in an effort to get their furnaces up and running as fast as possible. This is a huge mistake: you should never set your thermostat higher than it needs to be.

THERMOSTATS DON’T SET HIGHER TEMPERATURES

At the heart of the fallacy lies the notion that your heater will blow air “hotter” if you set the thermostat higher. In almost every case, this is a mistake. Heaters have two settings: on and off. When they’re on, the system generates hot air at the same basic temperature, without variation. The thermostat simply keeps the system running until it’s heated the entire home. In other words, the heater turns on and will run until the temperature is what you want it to be.

WHY IS THAT A PROBLEM?

Setting the thermostat higher than you want won’t help the system heat up more quickly. Instead, it forces the heater to work harder getting the temperature up higher than you need it. That increases strain on the system and results in higher bills, as well as raising the chances that your heater will suffer a breakdown at some point in the future.

Intelligent Air Services can handle heating repairs and installation throughout the Austin, TX area, so call us today!