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Title: Good news on the setback front. [Making thermostats easier to use]

Journal Article · · Home Energy; (United States)
OSTI ID:5521749

Houses don't use energy, furnaces do. Then again, furnaces don't call for heat, thermostats do. And we all know that the prime mover behind the thermostat - that force that really uses energy - is the building occupant who controls the thermostat. The primary purpose of a thermostat, digital or mechanical, manual or automatic setback, is the same: to provide heat (or cooling in an air-conditioning system) adequate to the occupants' comfort needs. If the resident finds overall lower thermostat settings and temperatures acceptable, there will be across-the-board savings, because the furnace will not be called upon to produce as much heat. If the temperature is set lower for portions of the day, say when people are sleeping or at work, savings will accrue then, too.

OSTI ID:
5521749
Journal Information:
Home Energy; (United States), Vol. 8:1; ISSN 0896-9442
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English