Until a few months ago, my household was getting by with an ancient control unit.
- It was already installed when the two of us moved into the home 13 years ago.
Although the two of us updated both the central air conditioner and gas furnace, it never occurred to me to update the control unit. Because the device served its purpose, I didn’t give it any thought. Over the years, I’ve made lots of changes to the home. I’ve focused on improving both comfort as well as energy efficiency. I’ve invested into Energy Star rated, thermal pane, low E windows as well as carefully caulked around them. I’ve updated the front as well as back door as well as added weatherstripping. Along with decreasing insulation in the attic, walls as well as ceilings, I’ve installed ceiling fans to help out the air conditioner in the summer time as well as the gas furnace in winter. I’m conscientious about scheduling maintenance as well as replacing air filters in the heating as well as cooling systems. The last time the Heating, Ventilation, as well as A/C contractor ran tests on the gas furnace, he mentioned the pros of smart control units. Our current control unit was a plastic dial that required manual adjustment. When I started looking into the odd models of smart control units, I was amazed by the number of options. Thermostats now come in odd shapes as well as sizes as well as include touchscreen displays. It’s possible to upload favorite photos to customize the displays. They can be programmed to light up as someone approaches, answer to voice commands as well as supply the indoor/outdoor temperature as well as humidity levels. There are control units that can certainly learn a seven-day schedule as well as others that feature geofencing or occupancy sensors. Having access to all of the settings, alerts as well as features through an app on my phone is harshly handy.