Quick Facts Affordability Cost Savings CO2 Reduction		Lower your heating (and cooling) costs by about 10% with a programmable thermostat. It will automatically regulate the temperature in your home to preset levels at different times of the day. Affordability Programmable thermostats are inexpensive, priced between $25 and $100, and can pay for themselves in a matter of months. Buy one that is easy for you to use. Cost savings If you program your thermostat to set back the temperature by five degrees for eight hours of every night, you will save approximately 10% on your heating bill. If you also set back the temperature while you are away from home in the day, you will see even bigger savings. Health & comfort These thermostats work well for people who do not like to come home to a cooler house. You can set them to follow your regular schedule so they turn off when you are out and turn back on before you arrive home. You can also set them to stay off when you are going to be out of town, but come back on a few hours before you return. Environmental considerations A programmable thermostat won’t forget to turn down the heat when you leave the house and it is a great deterrent to household members who rush to the thermostat every time they get a chill.

What you need to know

• If you usually go to bed at 10 p.m., Monday to Friday, you can program your furnace to automatically change from 20°C to 16°C at that time. If you wake up at 6:30 a.m., you can program the system to increase again at 6 a.m. (great for those cold winter mornings), then go back down to 16°C, or even lower, when you leave the house.
• Even with a shifting schedule, a programmable thermostat can work for you. The warm temperature window you set might be wider, but for the small, one-time investment, it can still effectively save money and energy.
• You’ll never have to worry about forgetting to turn the thermostat down at night or when you leave the house.
• You can use the same system for summer cooling energy savings. Visit our Home Cooling Green Guide for more information on cooling efficiency.
• Note that cooler rooms can be more susceptible to dampness. Lowering the thermostat setting by four degrees or more can make a room more humid. Keep this in mind if your home has problems with mould or condensation around the windows. For more information on controlling moisture in your home, check out our Upgrade Your Ventilation tip.

FAQ

Are programmable thermostats difficult to use?
They do not have to be. Look for one that works in a way that is intuitive for you – and one that has the instructions in the front panel, so they are always easy to find. If you have a fairly regular schedule, you will not need to reprogram the thermostat very often.