Smart Thermostat Secrets for the Smart Home Initiated
If you have already implemented smart home technologies, you probably based your decision on one of the top two reasons people opt in to smart home technologies: Improved security or increased energy savings. At the core of those energy savings is the smart thermostat, which alone can be responsible for significant annual savings and more when coupled with other smart home technologies, such as smart lighting and enabled appliances.
If you are new to smart technologies, you likely have questions about the smart thermostat and how the technology can help you reduce energy consumption and increase your savings related to cooling and heating. Here is a brief explanation to get you started on your smart home journey.
Why a Smart Thermostat? We’ll Tell You.
You might be wondering why you should opt in to a smart thermostat versus a traditional one. With traditional thermostats, you set the temperature and the system responds by working to keep the home at that designated temperature. If you want a different temperature because of a change in activity levels or number of people in the room for example, you must reset the thermostat. One of the biggest and most obvious problems is that if you forget to turn off they system, it continues to run and consume energy resulting in huge energy bills. A smart thermostat connects to a platform and network of other smart devices and utilizes its own capabilities to respond and adjust to your needs according to your usage patterns.
What’s the difference Between a Smart and Programmable Thermostat?
This one is a little tricky because some use the name interchangeably. To make matters even more confusing, they do share some qualities so a smart thermostat is also programmable. But a programmable thermostat isn’t necessarily smart. Sometimes you’ll hear the term Smart programmable thermostat, and now you know why. A programmable thermostat has settings you can use throughout the day. A smart thermostat has programmable settings but also has the capacity to dynamically respond to your usage patterns by converting information into automated responses.
Smart Components Make the Difference
To really understand smart thermostats, you need to understand a few of the basic components. Here is what makes the thermostats so smart.
Sensors. All thermostats have temperature sensors so they can respond to temperature changes within the home. What makes smart thermostats different is that they are equipped with additional sensors, such as motion or remote room temperature sensors to help them respond more precisely and intuitively to your need.
Automation. Smart thermostats take the information gained form the sensors and converts it into automatic actions. This is how the system “learns” and responds to your usage patterns.
A control interface. Many thermostats have a screen interface but smart thermostats allow you to control them from various platforms such as your phone or tablet, even remotely. You can even set your own scenes to respond to set triggers.
JM Resources is an award-winning company, named one of the nation’s top 100 installation companies by Security Distributing and Marketing Magazine. Our clients are the center of all of our business decisions, and the heart of our company. If you have questions about this or other home security topics, feel free to give us a call.
