From a tropical vacation or a long trip for work, traveling means making plans for your HVAC system. You can't use it if you’re not home, so you can adjust the temperature as necessary to limit your energy use. Just the same, you don’t want to just shut it down for the entire time you're out of the house.

Instead, it’s best to leave your HVAC system on and just raise or lower depending on whether it's winter or summer. That way you can minimize energy costs without worrying about returning to an uncomfortable home. We’ll review why you should avoid turning your HVAC system off as well as the ideal thermostat settings for summer and winter.

This Is Why You Avoid Leaving Your Thermostat Alone

While you may be tempted to shut your HVAC system down before a trip, this could end up leading to annoying problems by the time you get back. This is particularly true in case the weather will be severely hot or cold while you’re out of town.

For instance, turning the HVAC system off during the summer will sometimes lead to very high humidity. Not only will your home feel gross when you come back, but it could have also stimulated mold/mildew growth or pest infestations.

And in the winter, leaving the furnace off will sometimes lead to pipes freezing up or even bursting. It’s never fun to get home from a nice trip only to find considerable water damage close to a broken pipe.

Best Thermostat Settings While at Work

You can optimize the temperature even as you come and go to work. Because you’re not home for about 8 hours or longer, it doesn’t help your monthly energy bill to keep an empty home heated or cooled as if you were there. In general, it’s suggested to adjust the thermostat by 5 degrees or more. That means that if you prefer a comfortable 72 degrees, try raising it to 76-77 while you’re at work.

But you could save even more if you try further adjustments to the temperature. As stated by the Department of Energy, you could save about 10% on your HVAC expenses by making an adjustment of 7-10 degrees.

Energy-Efficient Thermostat Settings While on a Trip in Summer

If you're on a lengthier trip in the middle of summer, you can make larger adjustments. This helps you avoid using too much energy while still protecting your home from the hassles that come with leaving it without air conditioning. Something like 5 degrees is recommended for shorter trips while around 10 degrees is worthwhile if you’ll be away from home for 2 weeks or more. If you enjoy keeping the house at 72 in the summer, 78-82 will offer the best results.

Recommended Thermostat Settings While on Vacation in Winter

To figure out the best thermostat setting for a winter vacation, consider lowering the temperature by the same amount you would raise it in summer. 68 is a frequent winter thermostat setting, so turning it down to 63-58 will protect your plumbing while limiting how often your furnace operates.

Smart Thermostats Are Even Better: Advantages of a Smart Thermostat

One of the best ways to manage your home’s HVAC system while away from home is with a smart thermostat. This innovative type of programmable thermostat utilizes intelligent software to track your typical comfort habits. It applies these preferences and makes automatic corrections to the schedule for maximum energy efficiency. And with Wi-Fi connectivity, you can remotely adjust your HVAC system from a smart device like a phone or tablet.

Smart thermostats are stuffed with features to help you save on your energy bill. To provide an example, some models can observe electricity prices to bolster heating or cooling when prices are lower. They are compatible with high-efficiency, variable-speed equipment to fine-tune how long your HVAC system should run. It’s the optimal tool to streamline how you control your comfort system. If you’re planning on investing in a smart thermostat, there are different ways you can bring down your costs, effectively getting a smart thermostat for free. The next time you leave for vacation, you can enjoy true peace of mind that your HVAC system won’t cause any trouble while you’re away from home.