DB Heating & Cooling, Inc. Blog : Posts Tagged ‘Thermostat’

These Thermostat Practices Could Be Costing You

Monday, May 9th, 2016

Weather has been relatively mild as of lately, so you probably haven’t turned on your AC yet this season. When temperatures do warm up though—and they will—you’ll want to ensure you are using your air conditioning system as efficiently as possible, to save energy and money. You may not be aware that how you use your thermostat plays a significant role in how efficiently you are cooling your home. Below we’ve highlighted a few thermostat practices that may actually be costing you money every time you use your AC.

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Myths About Temperature Setting

Monday, September 14th, 2015

There is so much advice and so many suggestions about how to set your thermostat for maximum energy conservation that it can be overwhelming, and some of what you hear can even be contradictory. It is the information that is wrong that will cost you dollars in the end, so the cooling and heating experts from DB Heating & Cooling are here to help dispel some of the more common myths that abound around Mahwah, NJ:

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Is It Time for a Thermostat Upgrade in Bergen County?

Saturday, February 21st, 2015

Your thermostat is the control center for your HVAC system, but it is often the last part of your system to be upgraded. Having an outdated thermostat can make it difficult to achieve the maximum energy efficiency level for your home and can also add stress to your HVAC system. So what are your choices when it comes to a thermostat upgrade for your Bergen County home? Let’s take a look.

Types of Thermostats

Here are the main types of thermostats available to homeowners:

  • Digital – digital thermostats can replace a slide or dial thermostat simply by wiring it in. Digital thermostats have easy-to-read faces, precise temperature-setting and easy-to-use buttons. These features make them more energy efficient because you can set an exact temperature on them rather than aiming for a range, as can happen with a slide or dial thermostat.
  • Programmable – a programmable thermostat is a digital thermostat that can be programmed for up to 7 days. With a programmable thermostat, you can set up to 4 different temperature changes throughout a given day, which allows you to power down your heating or cooling when no one is home. This can save you a great deal of energy.
  • Wireless – a wireless thermostat is actually a small system in which the main thermostat, which acts as both a thermostat and receiver, communicates with wireless thermostats you can place around your home; the wireless thermostats just need to be within a certain range of the receiver, which is usually no more than 500 feet. Wireless thermostats can allow you to set the thermostat from wherever you are, adding a level of convenience to your home.
  • Smart – smart thermostats use all these technologies and then some to give you the highest level of control over your HVAC system. A smart thermostat can be accessed by any smart device you own, so you can manage, program, track and monitor your heating and cooling from virtually anywhere – you just need access to the internet.

Mismatched, outdated or just poorly-performing thermostats can put stress on your HVAC system and cause issues with comfort.

If your thermostat is no longer doing the job you need it to, call DB Heating & Cooling today and schedule an appointment with one of our experts.

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Is My Thermostat Causing Problems with My Heating System?

Tuesday, January 28th, 2014

It’s good to keep your thermostat in mind whenever you have issues with your furnace, heat pump, or boiler. No matter what type of heater you have, if the thermostat won’t work, the heater won’t work.

For heating repair in Oradell, NJ that extends from your thermostat to the innermost workings of your heater, call DB Heating & Cooling.

How Your Thermostat May be Causing Problems

The most frequent difficulty that heating specialists see with thermostats is a miscalibration in the heat sensor. Modern thermostats use a device called a thermistor to gauge heat; a thermistor registers electrical resistance that increases with the ambient heat, which a processor then translates into data for the system to read. A fault in the thermistor will make it sense incorrect temperatures, and it will start turning your heater on and off at the wrong times, leading to uneven heating or too much heating. Sometimes, the miscalibration will cause the heater not to turn on at all. Technicians can easily recalibrate the thermostat.

Electrical trouble can also plague thermostats. Most thermostats are connected to the heating system using five different wires, which control turning the heater and the fans on and off. Crossed and broken wires can cause the thermostat to lose its connection to the heater, or cause the heater and the fans to run continuously. Repair technicians with knowledge of thermostat wiring will need to fix this problem.

If you have an older manual thermostat, or even a standard digital model, you should consider upgrading to a programmable or wireless model. Even if the old thermostat isn’t creating “problems” for your heater, it is probably making it less efficient.

If you do not have training with HVAC repair, you will not be able to easily determine if a thermostat is causing the problems you are encountering with your heater. Professionals will need to make the diagnosis so they can provide targeted repairs.

DB Heating & Cooling is glad to assist you with any thermostat issues, as well as any heating repairs in Oradell, NJ that you might need.

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Bergen County, NJ Air Conditioning: Boosting Efficiency at the Thermostat

Monday, April 29th, 2013

Your thermostat is critical to the operation of your Bergen County, NJ air conditioning system. While small and compact, the thermostat can nevertheless make or break your system. Using a thermostat wisely may be able to boost your energy efficiency, which may be on your mind as the summer heat and humidity approaches. For more information about thermostats or our Bergen County, NJ air conditioning services, call DB Heating & Cooling today!

Here are some tips about your thermostat:

  • Make sure your thermostat is professionally installed: It should be installed in a place out of the sunlight, and away from doors, windows, and duct registers, so that it does not falsely read the temperature. It also needs to be properly calibrated for your home, so that it can send accurate information to the AC about what temperature it is, and therefore how much work the AC should do to meet that temperature.
  • Upgrade: There are numerous thermostat options on the market today. If you still have a manual thermostat, you may be missing out on substantial energy savings every cooling season. Digital, programmable thermostats allow you to customize your home’s temperature according to your schedule. For example, you can set it to raise the temperature just after you leave the home, and then to begin cooling again about an hour before you get home. That way, you don’t have to come home to a hot home, and you don’t have to pay to keep your home cool all day long. That type of thermostatic control is a great combination of comfort and energy efficiency.
  • Use it wisely: Even if you only have a manual conventional thermostat, remember that it’s not only the temperature that counts, but also the way your AC reaches that temperature. Rapid and drastic temperature shifts can often require boosts of electrical energy that may increase your bills. Turning the thermostat way down will not actually cool your home faster, and it will waste energy as your AC works harder than it needs to.

If you think you need a new thermostat, call the Bergen County, NJ air conditioning experts at DB Heating & Cooling today! 

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Air Conditioning in Bergen County: Why Your Thermostat Matters

Monday, April 8th, 2013

While spring has only just begun, many homeowners are already thinking of the approaching heat this summer. Spring is the time of cleaning, organizing, and ensuring that your air conditioning system is ready to perform on even the hottest days of the summer. While we think about the compressor motor, the various coils, refrigerant, and ductwork, the thermostat is just as important as other aspects of the AC system. Without it, your AC cannot properly adjust to your desired temperature. For more information about the role your thermostat plays in cooling your home, call DB Heating & Cooling for air conditioning in Bergen County, NJ today.

The conventional non-digital thermostat uses a mercury switch to assess the temperature. Because mercury is a liquid metal, it conducts electricity and flows in a way not dissimilar to water. Inside this switch shaped like a vial are three different wires. The circular rotation of thermostat displaces the balance of the mercury switch, itself connected to a bimetallic strip that expands and contracts according to the temperature, which communicates to the heater or AC to turn on. Digital thermostats use something called a thermistor to sense the temperature and a microcontroller to convert that information into a LCD display. Programmable and wifi-enabled thermostats allow for greater customization.

Your thermostat controls your entire heating and cooling system. That’s a lot of responsibility for such a compact device. If there is something wrong with it, it can throw off the performance and efficiency of the heating and cooling systems. It’s imperative that your thermostat is properly calibrated so that it can accurately sense the temperature in the home and send that information to the heater or AC. Installing a programmable thermostat can dramatically increase the energy-efficiency of your home, without sacrificing any comfort.

Thermostats can have a significant impact on your cooling system. Make sure you’re ready for the summer heat with a programmable thermostat. For air conditioning service in Bergen County, NJ, call the experts at DB Heating & Cooling today! 

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