Testing a smarter thermostat to reduce energy consumption. - Updated

Last edited Fri Jul 19, 2013, 02:00 PM - Edit history (2)

I just installed a new thermostat. My old one needed to go (came with the house), it was too hard to program, it needed to be reprogrammed every time we switched from heating to cooling. It also ran the heat/AC constantly.

So I spent a decent amount of money on a new one. According to the manufacturer and reviews, it learns your home and how quickly it heats and cools, it also learns you and your preferences and will adjust itself accordingly. We shall see.

It can be monitored/adjusted from my phone as it has wifi. It requires no batteries like my old thermostat.

I'll keep updating this post as time passes to see if there indeed is any energy savings. I have my energy bills, daytime temps, usage, etc for the past two years. Hopefully it works.



- UPDATE -
Well... So far so good. I have noticed a small energy savings overall (some months are better/worse than others). I purchased the thermstat in late December, so I have excluded that month from my notes. Here is an analysis of my usage (Ccf's and kWh's).

Jan - I used more this year than last. I did however spend more time at home due to working midnights. So, I was home all day, and my wife was home all night, so my average daily Ccf usage was at 2.257 compared to 2.087 last year. My average daily kWh usage however went down to 11.857 from 12.342.

Feb - Was a rough month here in the northeast. Our average daily temp was 10 degrees colder than the prior year and I was still on midnights. The daily Ccf usage jumped to 2.620 from 2.241 the prior year. However, my daily kWh usage did again drop to 11.448 from 11.758.

Mar - Another month where the average daily temp was 10 degrees colder than the prior year. To the point last year we did not have to run the heat at all for the majority of the month, plus in 2012 we were away for 1 week. So my average Ccf perday was 2.032 up from 1.172 last year. My kWh usage was also up at 10.322 vs 8.275 last year.

Apr - Oddly enough April was as cold as the prior year's March. My Ccf usage compared to the prior April was 1.206 vs 0.871 last year. The kWh usage again was lower however at 8.793 vs 9.064 the prior year.

May - Finally a year where the average temps were almost idential. 60 TY vs 61 LY. My Ccf usage was at 0.482 vs 0.655 last year. My kWh usage was also down at 7.413 compared to 8.413 last year.

Jun - Another month where the average temp was within 1 degree. Ccf this year were at 0.366 compared to 0.466 last year and my kWh were at 12.333 compared to 16.266.

So far this year I have used more natural gas than I did the prior year, but I'm using less electricity. I have not changed any of my other habits. One thing my utility company does is that they rate your usages compared to other folks in your area (within 1/10th of a mile). I am more times than not, consuming less energy than the top 20% of the most energy efficient homes in my area. The beauty is that I am in a condo, so I have the same sq footage, same roof, same construction materials as my neighbors so I am guessing it is a very accurate measure.

So, I will continue to monitor and update...