Thermostat advice from the professionals.

Let Betlem's experts help you connect with your thermostat.

As the brains of your heating and cooling system, the thermostat can have a huge effect on energy efficiency and comfort.  Eric St. John, Residential Manager of BETLEM Residential, weighs in on thermostats, and the advantages you’ll enjoy with a programmable model.

The heart of your system.

“The thermostat controls every other part of your system,” says St. John.  “It’s your point of contact.  So it’s important to use a thermostat that can give you maximum return on your system investment.”

For that reason, St. John recommends a programmable thermostat.

Coordinated with your schedule

Programmable thermostats work by reducing system use when your home is empty, so you don’t waste money on heating and cooling an empty home.  They do this by running according to a schedule that you program based on the hours that you are home.

“Changing your heating and cooling settings for different times of day can help you save money,” he says. “ A programmable thermostat makes those changes for you automatically, synchronizing your heating and cooling with your life.”

Set for savings

To program a thermostat for the best mix of comfort and energy efficiency, St. John recommends the following settings.

For summer:

• Set your thermostat for 78 degrees when you’re home
• Set it for 85 degrees when you’re away
• Set it for 82 degrees when you’re asleep

For winter:

• Set your thermostat for 68 degrees when you are home
• Set it for 60 degrees when you are away
• Set it for 60 degrees when you are sleeping

During the transitional months of spring and fall, St. John recommends setting the thermostat based on personal preference, using summer and winter’s settings as a guide.

There’s more to it than temperature

While temperature is the main factor affecting your comfort, St. John says that it’s not the only one.

“Humidity plays a huge role in comfort.  You know how the weather report says it’s 90 but it feels like 100?  That’s humidity.  Moisture levels in the air affect the way the air feels on your skin.”

If your thermostat offers individual humidity control, it can change how your air feels without big changes in temperature.  Which means more energy-efficient cooling and heating.  Systems with variable speed can also help control humidity levels by drawing air across the coil slowly to remove more moisture on startup.

Find your perfect thermostat.

BETLEM Residential currently offers several different models of programmable thermostat:

View BETLEM's Programmable Thermostats