Common Smart Thermostat Issues

A smart thermostat comes with a variety of useful features that increase the comfort of your Broken Arrow home and help lower heating and cooling costs. However, even though it contains the latest technology, you may experience some problems when using it.

Here are a few smart thermostat issues that you may encounter.

Software Glitch

A number of homeowners have had their smart thermostats go offline unexpectedly due to a server outage or software bug on the part of the manufacturer. Consequently, they're not able to set the temperature remotely as advertised.

If you're planning to be away from home for a significant period, you may want to have an HVAC technician wire in a failsafe thermostat. That will prevent a failed smart thermostat from wreaking havoc on your property while you're not around.

Malfunctioning HVAC System

Older HVAC systems don't provide a common ('C') wire for thermostats. The C wire is a 24-volt supply that's dedicated to charging your smart thermostat. Power stealing smart thermostats can work with the older HVAC models without needing a C wire. They do so by "stealing" power from your system's existing circuits.

Your HVAC circuits aren't designed to power anything. Therefore, your smart thermostat can cause your HVAC system to malfunction as it steals power. To solve the problem, let a technician add a C wire for you.

Dead Batteries

If your smart thermostat is unable to steal enough power, its battery can go dead. You can solve the problem by using the more reliable C wire.

A failed update could also cause your thermostat's battery to behave erratically. If restarting the device manually doesn't help, you may need to contact a pro to check if you have a wiring problem.

Whether smart or normal, any thermostat can fail and cause damage to your HVAC system and property. Whenever you encounter smart thermostat issues that you can't fix yourself, contact an HVAC professional as soon as possible.

If you're in the Broken Arrow area, solve any of your heating and cooling problems now by contacting the HVAC pros at Air Assurance.

How to Adjust Your Thermostat for the End of Daylight Saving Time

With Daylight Saving Time over, you'll need to set back all your clocks by an hour. For peace of mind that your HVAC can provide optimal comfort and energy savings throughout the winter, you can use the fall time change as a reminder to adjust your thermostat in the following ways:

Check That the Thermostat Clock Changes

If you own a programmable thermostat, it probably makes automatic clock adjustments twice a year, at the beginning and end of the daylight saving time period. To ensure that your programming stays on schedule, it's good to verify that this time change was made so you can adjust it manually if necessary.

Switch to Heating Mode

If your HVAC is still in cooling mode, now's the time to make the change over to heating so your home stays comfortably warm and cozy.

Recheck Your Programming Schedule

When you've made the switch to heating, you should look at your programming schedule and make any necessary adjustments to maximize your comfort and energy savings. You should set a personalized schedule to match your family's usual routine, but you can also follow these basic setting tips:

• Make overnight temperature setbacks. At night when the family is sleeping, schedule 10--15-degree temperature setbacks.

• Set weekday temperature adjustments. If the house isn't occupied on weekdays when everyone off to school or work, program setbacks of up to 10 degrees.

• Prime your setback periods for savings. To reap the greatest energy savings, aim for eight-hour setback periods each day.

• Allow ample time for warming up the house. When you're programming your setbacks, don't forget to factor in warm up periods so the house reaches your target temperature when you normally get up and arrive home.

Replace Your Thermostat Batteries

When you're at the thermostat making necessary adjustments for daylight saving time, take a few extra moments to put in fresh batteries so you know the device will stay working reliably all through the winter.

For more advice about adjusting your Broken Arrow home's thermostat for the end of daylight saving time, contact us today at Air Assurance.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about other HVAC topics, call us at 918-217-8273.

Daylight Saving Time and Your Programmable Thermostat

Your programmable thermostat gives you an easy way to set up a daily schedule of energy-saving temperature setbacks, without the inconvenience of making multiple manual adjustments.The one-hour change that occurs in early November with the end of daylight saving time can throw off your established schedule, though, unless your thermostat's internal clock is equipped to automatically “fall back.” If your model doesn't include this feature, you'll have to change the time for each scheduled temperature setback so your thermostat works accurately during heating season.

Additional Thermostat Recommendations for the Winter

While you're making needed scheduling changes on your thermostat to reflect daylight saving time, it's a good opportunity to make any necessary adjustments to the various temperature settings you've programmed in, to ensure your family's comfort throughout heating season.Here are some suggestions for beneficial changes:

• Set a temperature of 68 degrees for the usual time your family wakes up each morning.

• Program in a 10-degree temperature setback for the daytime periods when family members are away at school or work, and your home isn't occupied.

• Set the thermostat to raise the temperature up to 68 degrees again at the time when the first person usually arrives back home each day.

• For nighttime periods when your family is usually sleeping, program in a temperature setback of 15 degrees. Setting daily eight-hour temperature setback periods generate the greatest energy savings, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

• If it's necessary to change your normal routine on occasion, simply use the thermostat's override feature instead of making manual adjustments, so it can automatically revert back to your established schedule.

• Once you've made all your needed scheduling and temperature adjustments, it's the ideal time to put fresh batteries in your thermostat. Tackling these thermostat-related tasks is also a good reminder to test and replace the batteries in each of your carbon monoxide detectors, so you know they're ready and able to protect your family throughout the coming heating season.

For help changing the thermostat programming in your Broken Arrow home at the end of daylight saving time, contact us at Air Assurance.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about programmable thermostats and other HVAC topics, call us at 918-217-8273. Credit/Copyright Attribution: “thatpalletguy/Pixabay”

Where It Pays to Have a Wi-Fi Thermostat

Thermostats have come a long way in the last few years. They've progressed from manual to programmable, and now Wi-Fi enabled devices. With the ability to connect to a home's wireless internet connection and remotely change the temperature, a Wi-Fi thermostat can do a lot for your homes – especially vacation and second homes.Let's take a look at how this thermostat can benefit you:

Comfortable Home Upon Arrival

A vacation home that hasn't been used for months will have stagnant, stale air. Walking into such a home can quickly dampen your spirits. A Wi-Fi enabled thermostat offers the convenience of adjusting your vacation home's temperature from wherever you are. You can turn on your heating or cooling system using your phone or tablet just before you arrive, and the home will welcome you and your family with the pleasant ambiance you desire.

Peace of Mind for the Traveling Homeowner

If you travel frequently, you should get a Wi-Fi thermostat to keep tabs on your home. You can monitor your home's environmental conditions and change the settings from anywhere as long as you have Internet access. In the winter, you'll be able to control your furnace to prevent issues like frozen pipes and water damage. You'll have peace of mind while you're away, knowing you won't come home to a disaster.

Planning Assistance

The mobile app of many Wi-Fi thermostats provides the latest local weather information. You can easily view the current temperature of where you're going to and get a good idea of what to carry with you to your vacation home.

More Savings

A Wi-Fi thermostat allows you to easily change the temperature settings of your second home when it's not in use. That saves you money not only on energy bills but also on expensive maintenance fees because it reduces the wear and tear on your HVAC system.

Upgrading to a Wi-Fi thermostat helps you gain more control over your home than ever before. For more information on Wi-Fi thermostats, please contact us at Air Assurance. We've been proudly serving the Broken Arrow area since 1985.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about wi-fi thermostats and other HVAC topics, call us at 918-217-8273.

The Well-Designed Zoning System: Key Principles

Homeowners with multiple-story or larger houses can benefit greatly from a well-designed zoning system. These sophisticated home temperature-control systems allow you to divide your home into separate areas, or zones, that are controlled by individual thermostats. A series of motorized dampers in the ductwork system opens or closes the ducts to provide heating or cooling as desired within each zone.Here are some key principles for designing and implementing a well-designed zoning system in your home:

• Keep zones to an area no larger than a single floor: Zoning systems work best in smaller areas such as individual rooms. If you put more than one floor of your home in a single zone, you'll lose the primary benefit of the zoning system as rising warm air and sinking cool air will continue to cause inconsistent temperatures.

• Put newly constructed or remodeled rooms in the same zone: Newly constructed or remodeled rooms will probably have better levels of insulation and other thermal characteristics than older rooms, so keep them within the same zone.

• Put zone thermostats in the room that is used most often: It makes sense to keep a zone's most-used room comfortable and to install the temperature controller there. Thermostats in hallways won't always give the best level of temperature control since they might be affected by factors such as sunshine or extreme outdoor temperatures.

• Put rooms with outer perimeter walls in separate zones: Rooms with walls that make contact with the outdoor environment are more likely to be affected by exterior temperatures, resulting in inconsistent heating and cooling.

• Combine rooms with similar heating loads within the same zone: Rooms with different heating and cooling loads will still have inconsistent temperatures if they are placed within the same zone. Keep rooms with similar thermal characteristics in the same zone as much as possible.

Air Assurance has been a professional heating and air conditioning services provider in the Tulsa area for more than three decades. Contact us today for more information on well-designed zoning systems and the many benefits they can provide.Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). Image courtesy of Shutterstock

Zoned Temperature Control -- Would It Be Beneficial In Your Home?

Zoned temperature control is a unique solution to home heating and cooling problems. By dividing your home into zones, and with dampers installed in ductwork that are controlled by a series of corresponding thermostats, you can better manage not only energy costs, but home comfort, too.Home comfort problemsTwo homes with the same square footage can differ dramatically in design; however, they might utilize the same-sized capacity air conditioner. Certain design features can greatly inhibit the ability of any one system to effectively cool a home, including:

• Rooms with cathedral ceilings

• Great rooms

• Two-story homes

• Rooms with large windows

• Additions over a garage or in an attic space

The problem with these types of features is that they often require more cooling than traditional spaces. But with just one thermostat monitoring your home’s temperature, it can be difficult to accomplish whole-house comfort. Further, if you were to turn up the thermostat to provide additional cooling to a great room, the rest of the home would become too cold—and you’d waste energy dollars.With zoned temperature control, you can achieve both goals: better comfort and decreased energy costs. By designating your great room as one zone, you can set the temperature for that space, and then the dampers to that zone’s ductwork will stay open until it reaches the pre-set temperature. With each zone independently controlled, the dampers will close once each space is appropriately cooled, limiting your energy costs.Zoned temperature control is convenient, too. It’s particularly useful when family members have differing ideas about what constitutes a comfortable temperature. You can set one temperature in the space you’re occupying, and another family member can set their zone to what they think is a comfortable setting. Zoned temperature control puts an end to thermostat wars!Consider how zoned temperature control can solve your home comfort problems and help you to manage energy costs at the same time. For more information, or to schedule a free consultation, contact Air Assurance Heating, Cooling & Air Quality today!  We've been serving homeowners in the greater Broken Arrow area for more than 30 years.Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). Air Assurance services Tulsa, Broken Arrow and the surrounding areas. Visit our websiteto see our current promotionsand get started today!