Auto Vs. On?

Brookline, New Hampshire Homeowner Makes a Change

Many homeowners aren’t really sure what the most efficient setting for their thermostat should be. A homeowner recently asked us about the ‘Auto’ vs. ‘On’ options on her thermostat, wondering what is the best setting for her home. She had been defaulting to the ‘On’ setting.

To answer her question, it is first important to explain what each of these settings means. In ‘Auto’ setting the fan will turn on automatically only when your system is heating or cooling the home. When the desired temperature is reached the system and the blower will shut off. ‘On’ means that the fan is constantly blowing, regardless of whether the system is working to heat or cool the air.

Avoiding The ‘On’ Setting Saved Brookline Homeowner Money

The answer for this homeowner was to change her setting to ‘Auto’ and fast! There are many advantages to keeping your thermostat setting to ‘Auto’, not the least of which is the energy savings. Running the fan constantly, regardless of the need to heat or cool the home is a tremendous energy waste. This can also lead to more wear and tear on the system over time, requiring more service on the unit.

Running the thermostat in ‘On’ can also lead to increased humidity in the home, as your air conditioning unit will not be able to dehumidify as well as it should. Additionally, this setting leads to more air duct leakage through both the supply and the return air ducts. With the fan blowing all of the time, you will continuously be losing heat and air conditioning, increasing your energy consumption.

There are exceptions to this, particularly with the newer, high-end furnaces. Many of these offer variable speed blowers which are more efficient, preventing this loss of energy when the fan is left on.

With this new knowledge, this homeowner quickly changed her thermostat setting to ‘Auto’ and is already realizing the energy savings that this small change can mean.

The post Brookline, NH Homeowner – Thermostat Setting? appeared first on Joyce Cooling & Heating Inc. – Nashua, NH.

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