Palm | Kelapa Sawit

By Amy Padilla

I am amazed at how many homes do not have programmable thermostats installed. These thermostats can cost as little as $29.00, but can save the average homeowner as much as $150.00 per year. I can honestly say that I had no idea the amount of money a simple programmable thermostat can save. It always seemed like a large task that would take a professional to deal with the wires for installation. Not only will it save your pocket book, but it also helps reduce unnecessary energy consumption. The old thermostats contained mercury, but the new programmable ones do not. It is yet another reason that these are better for our environment.

The installation of a programmable thermostat has never taken me longer than an hour and I have now installed 3. Different utility companies and some government agencies may even provide incentives for upgrading your home thermostat to a programmable model. This is something everyone should look into if they have one of the old mercury thermostats. Some of the thermostats also have the ability to program ventilation into them that will help keep fresh air circulating in your home to aid in our personal health.

There are calculators on the internet for everything these days and the amount of money that can be saved in your home from a new programmable thermostat is no different. Click on the following link to see how you can benefit from the installation of one of these: http://www.energystar.gov/ia/business/bulk_purchasing/bpsavings_calc/CalculatorProgrammableThermostat.xls. If your normal thermostat setting is 70 degrees and you lowered your thermostat to 65 degrees, with an average outside temperature of 45 degrees, you will use approximately 19% less energy for that time period. Why would you not install one? If the wires make you nervous then ask around. I bet you could find a friend that is comfortable installing them.