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You want your Bat Cave, North Carolina, home to feel comfortable all year-round. While your air conditioner and furnace influence your comfort more than any other component of your HVAC system, a high-quality Wi-Fi thermostat can also make a tremendous difference. To get the best performance from your HVAC system, follow these tips to choose the best Wi-Fi thermostat for your family.

Decide How Much You Want to Spend

Thermostats range in price from less than $30 to more than $200. You won’t find Wi-Fi thermostats for much less than $100, though some budget-friendly options exist. Just remember that a greater budget will provide you with access to extended features and enhanced performance.

Make Sure You Have a Compatible Router

A Wi-Fi thermostat depends on a wireless router to transmit signals. If you don’t have a compatible router, you’ll have to buy one specifically for your thermostat. However, most routers for at-home Internet use should work fine with the most common Wi-Fi thermostats on the market. Just make sure to ask your HVAC technician about this before you make a decision.

Figure Out How Many Settings You Need

Some Wi-Fi thermostats allow you to create a separate program for every day of the week, while others limit you to just one or two settings. If your schedule changes from day-to-day, consider a seven-day programmable thermostat. It gives you maximum control over your environment and ensures you won’t forget to adjust the device manually. Other options include thermostats that offer separate weekday and weekend schedules.

Find Out About Vacation Settings

When you go on vacation or take a business trip, you’ll want to program your Wi-Fi thermostat differently. In the winter, for instance, you don’t want your furnace running throughout the day because it’ll increase your utility bills when you aren’t there to benefit from it. If your thermostat comes equipped with vacation settings, you can temporarily disrupt your regular programming.

Decide Whether You Want an Intuitive Thermostat

An intuitive thermostat makes its own decisions based on environmental conditions and home occupancy. If it detects that nobody is home, for instance, it will stop running as often so you save energy. Similarly, it monitors the exterior temperature to decide whether it needs to run more often. This type of Wi-Fi thermostat works well for homeowners who lead busy lives and might forget to change programming settings.

Consider a Unit With Reminders and Alerts

Maintaining your HVAC system becomes difficult when you’re running the kids to soccer practice, taking unscheduled conference calls, and trying to fit in doctor’s appointments for the whole family. A Wi-Fi thermostat with alerts and reminders will tell you when it detects mechanical failure in one of your HVAC components, such as the furnace or heat pump. It also reminds you to schedule or perform regular maintenance, such as changing the air filter.

Gauge Whether Your Home Experiences High or Low Humidity

The humidity levels in a home can impact how cold or warm it feels. For instance, on a hot summer day, high humidity will make it feel hotter than it actually is. In your home, you don’t want high or low humidity to impact your family’s health or your comfort. A Wi-Fi thermostat that detects humidity levels and adjusts operation based on that factor might help you achieve greater performance in your HVAC system.

Test Drive the System

If you don’t understand how your Wi-Fi thermostat works or if you don’t find the user interface intuitive, you might not get the same performance as you would from a more user-friendly unit. Ask your HVAC technician if you can look at the thermostat and interact with it. If you can intuitively find the necessary buttons and controls, it might serve your family well. However, if you struggle to learn how it works, consider a different device.

Your thermostat serves as the communication tool that links your family with your HVAC system. A wireless unit gives you more control over your home’s comfort and energy consumption. To discuss your thermostat needs or other forms of HVAC maintenance, call Nicholson Company at 828-697-2638.