Frugal February Tip #20

Tip #20 - Use a programmable thermostat. I've always heard about them, and how you should use them, but until we actually had one I never realized how much they can actually save you! The majority of people are out of their home for most of the day. Why have your heater(or AC) running keeping it at the same temperature whether you are there or not? We turn our downs about 5 degrees while we are gone. Sure you can do it manually, but the nice thing with the programmable ones is that you can have it set to turn on a few minutes before you arrive home, so your home feels toasty warm when you walk in. Plus, we don't have to try to remember to do it when we are running out the door. The same goes for at night. Our heater rarely kicks on over night, and since we are tucked into a nice warm bed it doesn't matter. It kicks on about 15 minutes before we get up, making it that much more pleasant to get out of a nice warm bed.
It can save you about $100 or so each year and only cost about half that much. If you rent, ask your landlord if they will switch it out. If not, depending on the brand you should be able to find one that just switches out. Just remember to switch it back when you move!