For most people, a traditional mercury thermostat or a programmable thermostat is good enough for daily use. In today’s post, local heating repair and installation company Modern Air Solutions discusses why upgrading to a smart thermostat is a worthy investment and shines the spotlight on one such product: the Ecobee smart thermostat.
Mercury Thermostats vs. Programmable Thermostats vs. Smart Thermostats
All kinds of thermostats are designed to set and maintain a building’s temperature. The traditional mercury thermostat uses the different expansion and contraction rates of two metal strips (a “bi-strip”) to detect changes in temperature, which then causes a glass capsule to move, triggering small adjustments to the HVAC system’s output. Programmable thermostats are a step up from mercury thermostats, with digital features that allow users to program different temperatures for different times of the day. More advanced versions allow weekday-weekend cycles.
Smart thermostats feature computer-like controls that provide even more flexibility, such as a detailed interface, integration with other devices such as sensors and expanded programmability. Certain types of smart thermostats, like those offered by Ecobee, have additional features that help you monitor energy usage and factors that affect energy consumption, such as heat from windows. Such information can be useful when deciding on future home improvements and heating service upgrades.
Why Choose Ecobee?
Ecobee smart thermostats offer more features than other products in the same category. They can “learn” how you use your heating and cooling systems, enabling them to make adjustments automatically. Ecobee smart thermostats work with multiple remote sensors installed around the house. These sensors can take temperature readings from each room. The Ecobee thermostat uses these to set a more accurate temperature for the entire house.
The same sensors can also tell which rooms are occupied and which are unoccupied, and can be set to ignore the latter when taking an average reading of the home’s temperature. It can also sense if the house is empty, after which it switches to “away” mode and reduces HVAC output accordingly. Its smartphone app also has a geofencing feature, which senses how far the phone is from the house and switches to “away” mode instantly.
These are just some of Ecobee’s features that can help make HVAC usage more efficient. To learn more about it, as well as our air conditioning installation and repair services, call Modern Air Solutions at 630-884-4181. You can also fill out our contact form to schedule an appointment.
