While out of town for the holidays I will turn off my HVAC unit to conserve energy
During the holiday season, there are many people who spend time away from home visiting with their family members. Personally, I have always left town because I prefer to spend the holidays in an area with colder weather. I live in the south, and the weather here is typically mild during the holidays, therefore, I enjoy going up north where the temperatures feel more like Winter. When I leave town, one thing that I always have to decide is what to do about my HVAC system. When you leave town do you turn off your HVAC system or do you set the temperature accordingly? I don’t have a programmable thermostat, so this is an issue that I have struggled with in the past. In the Winter months, when I leave for a week or more, I have tried both methods. I have turned off the HVAC unit, and I have set the temperature 5 degrees lower than normal, but I didn’t know which method conserved the most energy. Also, does it matter how long I am away from home? A programmable thermostat would solve this issue as I could easily set it accordingly and not worry about it. But since I don’t own one, I must make those decisions each time I decide to leave town. I finally did some research and found that if I leave for a week or more, it is ideal to turn off the HVAC unit to conserve energy and save money. Perhaps it is time I invest in a programmable thermostat, so that I could put this issue behind me and focus more on the holiday season.