Your thermostat plays a crucial role in your home. It controls the heating and cooling system to adjust the temperature of your home to ensure comfort. You may have never considered that the actual placement of the thermostat could significantly affect the efficiency of the HVAC system. If your thermostat is located somewhere in your home that is affecting temperature readings, you may be experiencing problems with accuracy at the expense of your comfort and your electricity bill. Proper placement of your thermostat makes a huge difference in accurate heating and cooling of your home.
If you are experiencing high energy bills or hot and cold spots throughout your home, these are signs that your thermostat placement may be off. Another sign is your HVAC system turns on and off frequently without doing its job completely.
3 Frequent Errors of Thermostat Placement
There are some areas of your home that your thermostat should stay clear of. Wrongful thermostat placement can have negative effects in your home, and here are the places to avoid.
Thermostat is in direct sunlight
If your thermostat is placed in direct sunlight, chances are it is reading a much higher temperature than the actual air temperature in your home. In this case, you may notice your cooling system working much harder in the summer and find that your home is very cold during the winter.
Thermostat is too close to air vents
Placing a thermostat too close to air vents can give the thermostat false readings on the temperature of your home. For instance, if you start up your cooling system and your thermostat is next to your air vents, cool air will blow from your air vents onto your thermostat, and will yield a false reading that your home is cool, causing the system to turn off.
Thermostat is not centralized
The best place for your thermostat for an accurate temperature reading is towards the center of your home. This allows the thermostat to read the average temperature of your home, maximizing the system’s accuracy in making your home comfortable. In contract, a thermostat placed on one side of your home may read differently from the temperature of the rest of your home, and cause your heating or cooling to be inaccurate.
The ideal spot for your thermostat is in a hallway in the center of your home, away from direct sunlight and air vents. If you are unsure about where to place your thermostat or think you may need to have it moved, make sure to contact us.
